TAT: Segrest Named as Defensive Line and Specialists Coach

This article originally appeared on January 8, 2014 on The Arkansas Traveler website, uatrav.com.

Rory Segrest became Arkansas’ new defensive line and specialist coach, replacing Charlie Partridge, Wednesday, according to a press release.

Segrest comes to Arkansas from Samford, where he held the same position. Before coaching at Samford, he spent five seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL.

“We had an exceptional pool of candidates and Rory’s name kept coming to the top in every category as I went through the search process,” head coach Bret Bielema said. “All of the coaches I visited with about him spoke very highly about his abilities, including (former Eagles and current Kansas City Chiefs head coach) Andy Reid.”

At Samford, Segrest coached Fabian Truss and Nick Williams. This season, Truss was named an FCS All-American all-purpose player, as his 32.1 yards per kickoff return ranked second nationally.

Last season, Williams earned first-team All-Conference honors after racking up seven sacks. He played well enough to be selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the seventh round of the NFL Draft.

As a team under Segrest, the Bulldogs finished first in the Southern Conference in sacks the last two seasons.

Segrest had many different positions with the Eagles. He was an assistant defensive line coach in 2006 and 2007, the special teams coordinator from 2007-2009 and the defensive line coach in 2009 and 2010.

In his two seasons as the defensive line coach, the Eagles finished second and fourth in the NFL in sacks by defensive linemen.

Success has followed Segrest everywhere he has gone.

Before he helped lead the Eagles to the 2008 NFC Championship game and the Bulldogs to a No. 18 ranking and the FCS playoffs in 2013. Segrest played for the 1992 Alabama team that won the National Championship.

When Samford played Arkansas last season, the Bulldogs gave the Razorbacks a scare before falling 31-21. In that game, Segrest’s defensive line combined for 28 tackles and one quarterback hurry. His special teams combined for 47 yards on two returns, four punts downed inside the 20 and two touchbacks on kickoffs.

Segrest’s coaching career began in 1994 as a student assistant at Alabama. He went to Auburn as a graduate assistant in 1997, then moved to Southeast Missouri State in 1999 as the defensive line coach. His time in the NFL was sandwiched between two stints as the defensive line coach and special teams coordinator at Samford.