Barris Grant
Defensive Line Coach

2009 marks Barris Grant’s 10th season to coach football. Along with his colleague Kendall Roberson, Grant is connected with Hal Mumme’s staff through defensive coordinator Joe Lee Dunn and will serve as McMurry’s defensive line coach. Grant played two seasons at Mississippi State University where Dunn was the defensive coordinator.

After the 1999 season, Grant suffered a neck injury that kept him from participating in his senior season at MSU, but he began his coaching career as a student assistant in 2000 and was promoted to graduate assistant in 2001 after receiving his bachelor’s degree in Educational Psychology. His tenure with the Bulldogs, Grant returned to his hometown of Irvington, N.J. and served as the defensive coordinator and assistant head coach in 2002.

Then, he hooked back up with his former teammate Roberson, who played at MSU along side Grant, and joined Benedict College’s (NCAA Division II) coaching staff as the linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator from 2003-2005. There he helped lead a defense that had two top-10 finishes in NCAA Division II in total defense.

From there, he went back to Irvington High School for a season in 2006 where he worked for head coach and brother Darnell Grant. In his second stint at Irvington, Grant worked on the other side of the ball as the offensive coordinator and the assistant head coach. Irvington High was selected as an NFL Play it Smart School and Grant also served as the academic coordinator and helped the team to its first state championship appearance in the school’s history.

He moved to Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pa. where he served as the defensive coordinator and helped his team to a third-best national ranking in passing defense.

Dunn and Mumme added Grant to their staff along with Roberson beginning with the 2008 season at NCAA Division I New Mexico State. There, Grant coached linebackers for one season.

As a player, Grant began his collegiate playing career at Dodge City Community College where he was a two-time all-conference selection and was named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year in 1998. Then, he transferred to NCAA Division I MSU where he played a full season in 1999. He capped his playing career by earning Defensive MVP honors at the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl where MSU downed Clemson 17-7 at the Georgia Dome Dec 30, 1999.

In his first season with McMurry, Grant will get to see senior linebacker Andrew Wallace move up McMurry’s career tackle list as Wallace enters the season with 183 and ranks 12th on McMurry’s career list since the school joined the American Southwest Conference and the NCAA in 1996.

Grant, 30, lives in Abilene and is a member of the American Football Coaches Association. He is working on a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Bloomfield College in New Jersey.

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