Through his many stops at the college and professional levels, everywhere he’s gone, and everything he’s done, Jerry Mack consistently sought opportunities to grow.
Mack was named the head coach at Kennesaw State, only the second in the program’s history, last December. KSU will be entering its second season in Conference USA, and this will be Mack’s first chance at being the head coach in the FBS.
Since he arrived at Kennesaw, Georgia, just northwest of Atlanta, Mack has consistently harped on letting the country know what KSU is all about.
But what is that exactly? During an interview with HERO Sports, Mack had a concrete answer to that question. And it goes well beyond football.
Kennesaw State, Mack believes, is all about growth.
“We want to be able to tell our story,” Mack said. “That’s the biggest thing we want to do here at Kennesaw. We want people to understand what this program is all about and where we’re headed.”
From a football standpoint, that notion is apparent. Just over a decade ago, Kennesaw State didn’t even have an NCAA football program. But the Owls were successful rapidly. Previous head coach Brian Bohannon led KSU to three Big South championships and four appearances in the FCS playoffs, getting to the quarterfinals twice.
And in that short amount of time, KSU showcased growth and positioned itself for a jump to the FBS. The Owls may have gone 2-10 overall in 2024, but other members of CUSA like Sam Houston and Jacksonville State have been competitive in the league quickly after success in the FCS, which should give KSU some hope that it can do the same.
Mack pointed to KSU’s enrollment. The university announced that 47,829 students were taking classes in the fall of 2024, which marked the school’s sixth consecutive year of growth.
And growth has been central to Mack’s career. He’s been a head coach at the FCS level, a position coach in the SEC, and an assistant in the NFL. It’s all prepared him for this moment.
“Whenever you sit in that chair and be a head coach and a leader of a program like I had been previously before, there’s always an itch to get back to doing that,” Mack said, “and this opportunity at Kennesaw presented what I felt like was the right place, right time with the right people.”
Head Coach Jerry Mack’s Path To Kennesaw State
Mack was previously the Jacksonville Jaguars’ running backs coach before going to Kennesaw State. But he had experience as a head coach and had recruited in the region.
Before going to the Jaguars, Mack was Tennessee’s running backs coach from 2021-23. In his last year there, the Volunteers were 10th in the country with 204.8 rushing yards per game. Leading rusher Jaylen Wright was among the 45 running backs in the country to rush for at least 1,000 yards.
Previously, he was an associate head coach, offensive coordinator, and quarterbacks coach at Rice. He’s also been a head coach at North Carolina Central, where he helped the Eagles attain at least a share of three straight Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference titles and an appearance in the 2016 Celebration Bowl. He went 31-15 over four years as one of the youngest head coaches in Division I football.
He was also a wide receivers coach at South Alabama (2012-13) and Memphis (2011). He was an OC and quarterbacks coach at Arkansas-Pine Bluff in 2010, a passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach at Central Arkansas from 2008-09, and a wide receivers/tight ends coach at Jackson State from 2006-07.
He began coaching as an offensive graduate assistant at Delta State from 2004-05 after playing at Jackson State in 1999 and at Arkansas State from 2001-03. He also was an intern for the Buffalo Bills (2008), New York Jets (2009 and 2010), Houston Texans (2018), and Miami Dolphins (2019).
Mack felt Kennesaw State was the right move for him, not just because it was a head coaching opportunity, but because he believes the university and football program are in positions to succeed. He pointed out KSU’s proximity to downtown Atlanta and that he’s emphasizing recruiting in the area.
“We’re going to have a strong, strong foundation regionally and in this part of the country,” he said. “From a football perspective, we’re about being transparent. We’re about being real, about having fun as a football program. One of the things, offensive, defensive schemes-wise, we’re going to be on the cutting edge. With my background in the National Football League and being in the SEC, how we go about preparation, how we go about practicing, how we go about just taking care of our players on and off the field is one of the things I’m going to apply to those guys.
“You wanna go to the National Football League? Well I’ve coached in the National Football League, I’ve been in those draft rooms, I’ve sat in those meetings, I’ve been to the combine. I’ve seen all those different things that if you aspire to do that, me and my staff can help show you the way to accomplish those things.”
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Kennesaw State’s Transfer Portal & Coaching Additions
Granted, a game hasn’t been played yet, but Mack said he’s thoroughly enjoying his new job. And that’s after a great deal of turnover as KSU added 20-plus new players through the transfer portal.
He’s relished seeing all of those new faces go through offseason workouts and spring ball.
“Just to see those schemes and Xs and Os all come to life, what we were installing over the last several weeks,” he said, “so just that part alone being able to see these guys in our schemes and the way we’re attacking the coaching piece, it’s been fun to see those guys and how they’re responding to everything that we’re doing.”
Mack is also “really excited” about KSU’s new coaching staff. He said, over the past half decade, he’s mentally kept track of coaches who could potentially be solid hires if he were to become a head coach again. Whether it was people he worked with before or people he learned about from coaching clinic videos online, Mack had an idea of who he would like to hire for a long time.
Mitch Militello will be the team’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach after he was an offensive analyst at Tennessee when Mack was there. Militello worked with eventual NFL Draft picks Hendon Hooker and Joe Milton.
Marc Mattioli will be KSU’s new defensive coordinator. He was previously the head coach of the Paris Musketeers, who went 11-3 this past season, in the European League of Football. He was also a defensive backs coach at Vanderbilt.
“I’ve always got my eyes open for those guys that are next up-and-comers, because I know at the end of the day those are the guys who are gonna take this game that we love so much, they’re gonna be that next generation of guys who take it to another level.
“Now as the years go by, those guys get opportunities, but you always gotta keep a running list, so I was extremely happy to be able to hit on some of the guys that, over the years, I’ve identified and I feel like are gonna be guys that are gonna be elite and Power Four coaches at a very high level one day and maybe even coach in the National Football League. Some of these guys on my staff, they got approached by other opportunities when we hired them, but they chose to stay here because they believe in the vision and this program and what we can do here.”
Regarding his team’s identity on the field and what kind of schemes KSU’s coaches will implement, Mack said the Owls are still figuring some things out. They’re going to see what the players currently on the roster can do, then take another informed approach when considering more transfer portal additions.
For Kennesaw State, that just ultimately means there’s more room to grow.
