Upon the departure of defensive coordinator Marcus Patton, the Tarleton football team faced a unique task – fill the top defensive spot in the coaching staff for the first time since becoming an NCAA Division I program.
 
It was a challenge the program had not yet faced, with head coach Todd Whitten leading the team through its reclassification period, keeping much of his coaching staff together since he came back to Stephenville in 2016. That included Patton, who had been at Tarleton for six years, staying through the team's reclassification from Division II to Division I.
 
With the DC job vacant, Tarleton entered a new world with the highest level of applicants hoping to join an elite program that grows each day at the highest level of college football. The Texans found their man, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a more qualified candidate.
 
Tyrone Nix was hired to be Tarleton's defensive coordinator in March. When the 2022 season kicks off, it will be Nix's 27th year coaching football at the Division I level, his 18th season as a Division I defensive coordinator, his fifth stop as a D1 DC.
 
"What brought me here as a coach was an opportunity," Nix said. "We don't know why things happen the way they do, but I give credit to the Lord for opening up the doors the way he wants to direct my path. I'd never heard of Tarleton before until I came here, but it's a football program with a lot of rich tradition. Coach Whitten has done an outstanding job, and as the program has continued to elevate, I'm just here at the right time with (the team) not only going to Division I, but taking the next step also."


 
Nix has been around some of the best programs and coaches in college football since he began his career in 1995. He's coached at Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Virginia Tech, South Carolina, UTSA, Middle Tennessee and Southern Miss, all in defensive roles – defensive coordinator, linebackers coach, safeties coach, defensive backs coach, defensive tackles coach, and defensive analyst.
 
That's seven different Division I programs, where he's spent 15 years in Conference USA, nine years in the Southeastern Conference, one year in the Atlantic Coast Conference and one year in the Sun Belt Conference.
 
Nix served as assistant head coach and defensive coordinator under Houston Nutt at Ole Miss and under Steve Spurrier at South Carolina. He's coached several elite defenses and several future NFL All-Pro players. He's even been a Broyles Award finalist, given to the nation's top assistant coach.
 
None of that though was considered the proudest moment of his career. That came last year, in his first season away from the game in over three decades.
 
"My proudest moment is probably the year I missed," Nix said. "I coached 26 years, I took the season off, and it was a season to self-reflect. It was a chance for me to re-evaluate my life and get a lot of things in order, and those things I hope are a direct correlation of where I'm at now. I feel like the sky's the limit. I haven't touched the surface of where I want to go and where I want to be, and I'm just truly blessed to be here."
 
Nix has already been putting his stamp on things since joining the program, with spring ball getting underway last week.
 
He inherits a defense that returns many of the same players who allowed the 19th fewest total passing yards (2,090) and the 24th fewest passing yards per game (190.0) in the FCS. Overall last season, Tarleton forced quarterbacks to have the 10th lowest passing efficiency in all of FCS (110.69).
 
Turnovers were key, with the Texans recording the tied-25th most interceptions (13). That fits a Nix defense well, who usually feeds off of takeaways. Twice while the DC at Middle Tennessee, his defense was in the FBS' top-25 in total takeaways, including a 2013 season where the Blue Raiders were tied-fifth at 33.
 
"Hopefully we can get a defense that plays with an attitude, that's very aggressive, that's also smart and disciplined in doing the little things right," Nix said. "I feel like if we can go out there and do those things and get the ball back for our offense at a quicker pace, the sky's the limit. We possibly can do something that hasn't been done here before."
 
No one is credited more on this Tarleton defense for having the energy and attitude for shutting down offenses than linebacker D.J. Harris, who will be a junior when the 2022 season begins. Last season, Harris had the most total tackles on the team and the sixth most in the Western Athletic Conference at 66. He ranked fourth in the conference in tackles per game (7.3) and had the team's third most tackles for loss at seven, including a safety.
 
Tarleton has grown accustomed to playing elite defense, going from 49.0 points per game allowed in 2015, to 25.6 points per game allowed when Whitten took over in 2016, peaking at 16.5 points per game allowed in 2018.
 
For now, though, spring ball is all about improving each and every practice, 15 in total, from March 23 to the Spring Game on April 23. Nix and his new players will learn each other well, as will Nix and Stephenville, where the Attalla, Alabama, native has enjoyed his time thus far.
 
"Tarleton, it's been great," Nix said. "It's been a blessing to be around Coach Whitten and his staff, these kids. This town is really a football town and they've welcomed each and every one of us here, and I can't wait to get my entire family here with me.
 
"Fans should know about me – I'm really a nice guy, I love the Lord and I love my players."