Titans DL coach Kenechi Udeze joins Houston Cougars staff as pass rush specialist

The Houston Cougars have added Kenechi Udeze as an analyst and pass rush specialist, On3‘s Matt Zenitz reported Wednesday. He previously spent the past two seasons with the Tennessee Titans serving as an assistant defensive line coach.

A former defensive lineman at USC from 2001-03, Udeze was a first-round pick to the Minnesota Vikings in 2004. He played four seasons in the NFL but unfortunately had his career cut short after being diagnosed with leukemia in 2008.

Following his retirement from the NFL in 2009, Udeze joined the Washington Huskies staff as an assistant strength and conditioning coach. He later made the move to the NFL in 2012 as an assistant defensive line coach for the Seattle Seahawks before being part of a fellowship program with the Vikings in 2013.

Not long after that, Udeze returned to USC as an assistant strength and conditioning coach in 2015. He was later promoted to defensive line coach the following position and stayed in that role through 2018 before joining LSU as a defensive analyst. He was also a linebackers coach at Vanderbilt in 2020 before going back to the NFL.

Udeze joins Houston just as the Cougars are set to make the move from the AAC to the Big 12. Houston is coming off of an 8-5 finish and Independence Bowl victory in 2022. The Cougars defense ranked 122nd in points allowed per game (32.2) and tied for 45th with 31 sacks. They are slated to open conference play on Sept. 16 against TCU and also have Texas, West Virginia and Texas Tech on the schedule among others.

The Titans ranked 18th in the NFL last season under Udeze with 39 sacks. The coach will hope to bring that over with him to Houston, which returns defensive end Nelson Ceaser, who had four sacks and 10 tackles for loss this past year.

The Cougars also added a recent transfer piece to their defense in former USC and Oklahoma defensive back Latrell McCutchin. Last season with the Trojans, McCutchin played in 14 games and had 22 tackles, an interception, a sack, and a forced fumble.

Given that this is his second transfer in as many years, it’s still up in the air whether McCutchin will be eligible to play in 2023. He will need to acquire a waiver from the NCAA to do so.

Houston is set to kick off the season on Sept. 2 against UTSA.