ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia football has hired Larry Knight as its next Outside Linebackers Coach, according to an announcement from Bulldog head coach Kirby Smart.
 
An Augusta, Ga., native, Knight joins the Bulldogs following a brief stint in a similar position for the West Virginia Mountaineers.  
 
“We are excited to add a coach and a man of Coach Knight’s caliber to the staff,” said Smart.  “He has produced on the field at all of his coaching stops and has also proven his worth as one of the best recruiters around.  Coach Knight was a conference champion on the field when he played for Central Michigan and I know he is ready to get to work in his home state.”
 
Knight came to West Virginia after serving as the defensive ends coach and run game coordinator at Arkansas State for the 2025 season.  He helped lead the Red Wolves to seven wins, including a second-place finish in the Sun Belt Conference Western Division.
 
The Red Wolves registered 39 sacks for the year, tying for No. 1 in the Sun Belt Conference in total sacks and tying for No. 6 nationally for average sacks per game (3.00). That season, ASU had a season-best nine sacks against Troy, tying for the best single-game mark in the nation.
 
Arkansas State boasted having three of the top seven sack leaders in the conference and all four starting defensive linemen earned a spot on one of the Sun Belt Conference All-League teams.  The Red Wolves finished No. 4 in the league in tackles for loss and No. 30 nationally and were No. 4 in the league in scoring defense, bettering their mark from the previous year by eight spots.
 
Knight worked as the defensive line Bill Walsh Minority Internship during the 2025 spring with the Green Bay Packers after spending the 2023 and 2024 seasons as the defensive line coach at Temple.
 
His coaching career also included stints at Georgia Tech as the defensive line and defensive recruiting coordinator (2019-22), Temple (2017-19) as the outside linebackers coach and defensive recruiting coordinator (2018-19) and the defensive line quality control and assistant director of player personnel for the defense (2017) and outside linebackers coach at Georgia State (2015-16).
 
While at Georgia Tech, Knight helped the Yellow Jackets sign the second highest recruiting class in program’s history, ranking top 25 (2020) and secure the highest rated defensive line recruiting class (2021).  He also helped coach and develop several All-Atlantic Coast Conference honorees, a Bronko Nagurski winner and three NFL Draft selections.
 
He also spent time as a defensive line intern with the Atlanta Falcons (2015), a defensive graduate assistant and defensive quality control coach at Tennessee (2013-15) and a defensive line graduate assistant at Cincinnati (2011-12).
 
Knight earned his bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship and marketing from Central Michigan in 2010.  He was a four-year letterwinner, a Mid-American Conference all-league performer at defensive end in 2009 and helped lead the Chippewas to three conference titles.
 
Knight is married to Marquita Knight and his parents, Larry Knight Sr. and Delores Knight, still reside in Augusta.