North Greenville University’s new football coach comes with an impressive résumé and significantly more.
Athletic Director Will Lowrey announced at a Tuesday morning press conference (Jan. 14) that former New York Jet and Miami Dolphin Nate Garner has been hired as the new head coach. Lowrey replaces Jeff Farrington, who resigned in December after 12 years of leading NGU’s program.
Garner will be the 10th head football coach in NGU’s history.
“This is a really big day, it’s a really big deal,” NGU President Gene Fant said. “We love our student athletes and our coaches at North Greenville. It is absolutely a high function of what we’re doing relative to cultivating transformational leaders for church and society.”
NGU’s search committee received more than 100 applications, Fant said, but saw Garner as a clear choice to take the helm of NGU football.
Garner brings experience both as an athlete and a coach. He played for the University of Arkansas as an offensive lineman. Following his collegiate success, he was drafted by the New York Jets in the seventh round of the 2008 NFL draft, before he joined the Miami Dolphins for seven years.
Garner began his coaching career in 2018 by volunteering with the New Orleans Saints and the Arkansas football program. He then coached at Asa College Miami and St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., before serving as Limestone University’s offensive line coach for three years.
It was clear from Lowrey’s impressive résumé that he knew football, Lowrey said, but he wanted more than that.
“Our committee was very slow and deliberate to get to know him beyond the game, the ‘bigger than ball’ aspect,” Lowrey said.
“All those things we talk about in the game — those things come from the world. And while they’re very valuable in the world of coaching, we also needed someone who brought that skillset in disciplining young men. We needed someone who had a heart for modeling Christ.”
Lowrey and the search committee aren’t the only ones to recognize Garner’s character. Several coaches and leaders celebrated his new position at North Greenville.
Houston D. Nutt Jr., head coach at Arkansas from 1998 to 2007, said, “Congratulations to NGU for hiring Nate Garner. I had the privilege to coach and be around Nate for five years at the University of Arkansas. Nate was an excellent player and even better teammate. Nate has such great character and integrity.”
Mike Furrey, South Carolina Gamecocks passing game coordinator/wide receiver coach, said, “You won’t find a coach who has a bigger heart for helping others. NGU is lucky to have him on board.”
North Greenville University’s football season begins Sept. 6 at Delta State University. The Trailblazers’ first home game will be Sept. 13 against Barton College. NGU has transitioned out of the Gulf South Conference and will be part of Conference Carolinas’ first football season since 1974-1975.
“I’m excited to be here,” Garner said. “[I’m] ready to rock and roll and go get some wins and also develop these guys on and off the field.”