When John Grass needed a new linebackers coach to continue the championship culture he’s built at JSU, he turned to another used to winning titles of its own.
Grass turned to one of the Top programs in FBS in Clemson, where he found Andrew Warwick. Warwick enters his first season leading the Gamecocks defense and their linebackers corps.
Warwick comes to JSU from Clemson, where he spent the previous six years in different capacities. He was most recently the Tigers’ Director of Defensive Player Development, a position he held for the previous three seasons.
In 2013, he helped the Clemson defense to a top-25 finish in tackles for loss, sacks, total defense and scoring defense. The 2014 Tigers led the nation in total defense, while the 2015 group paced the country in tackles for loss.
He helped the No. 8 defense in the nation lead the 2016 Tigers to the National Championship, a unit that also finished third in tackles for loss and fourth in pass efficiency defense. Another ACC title followed in 2017, thanks to a defense that ranked fourth nationally in total defense, second in scoring defense, fourth in passing defense and fifth in sacks.
Warwick is a 2007 graduate of Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., where he was a three-year starter at tight end and wide out. He won the Mike Cross Award as the team’s top receiver in 2006.
The native of Oklahoma City, Okla., began his coaching career in 2008, when he became the defensive backs coach at Thomas More College and helped it to a league title. He spent the 2009 and 2010 seasons at Central Oklahoma, where he coached defensive backs. He had three All-Lone Star Conference players in his two seasons, placing two on the team in 2010. His all-conference player in 2009, Giorgio Durham, also earned All-America honors in 2009.
In 2011, he coached at Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College.
He is married to the former Anita Kirankumar. The couple had their first child, Kiran James, in May of 2018.
