The Trojans inked Tyler Hancock as their new special teams analyst to add to head coach Gerad Parker’s staff. Hancock previously coached atf Buffalo last season as their special teams coordinator before joining the Trojans for next season.
“Tyler has proven success at multiple programs,” said Parker in an interview with Troy Athletics. “We were on Neal Brown’s staff together at West Virginia, and I saw firsthand how good of a coach he is.”
Hancock started his career at Kentucky from 2014-16, where he worked with special teams, outside linebackers and secondary. During these three seasons Kentucky’s kickers made 54 field goals out of 67 attempts for an 80.6 completion rate. The team also had 2,361 kick return yards and 403 punt return yards while retuning one punt for a touchdown.
Hancock was only an assistant and intern at Kentucky, but the stats were good enough to land him a job at Maryland. While with the Terrapins from 2016-18, Hancock served as the quality control coach for special teams. He assisted Maryland special teams coach Peter Lembo before getting a call from former Troy coach Neal Brown offering him a larger role.
While at West Virginia, Hancock served as the senior analyst for special teams. His role included game planning for the special teams unit by watching game film to create game plans.
Mountaineers kickers saw a gradual increase in production over his three seasons, peaking at a field goal kicking percentage of 82.6. The special teams unit also returned two kickoffs for touchdowns.
All of Hancock’s time spent as an analyst finally landed him a job as the special teams coordinator with the Charlotte. He spent the 2021 season with the 49ers before a Power Four team came calling once again. In that one season, Charlotte had 860 kick return yards and made 66.7% of their field goals.
Hancock returned to being a quality control coach, but this time at Baylor. In the 2022 season Baylor made 66.7% of their field goals and even had a punt returned for a touchdown. However, Hancock got a call he could not refuse after one season with the Bears.
The former special teams coordinator of Maryland, Peter Lembo, is now the head coach at Buffalo. Lembo offered Hancock the role of special teams coordinator and the Bulls saw an immediate uptick in production.
The Bulls were second place in the MAC in punt return and kick return yards while also being fourth in average punt yardage. The Bulls place kicker was named to All-MAC Third Team under Hancock’s watch.
Now, Hancock returns to a familiar position with a former colleague. Hancock will have a similar role to what he had at West Virginia, overseeing the analytical side of special teams for the Trojans. He will have plenty of chances against quality opponents as Troy looks to reclaim the Sun Belt Conference crown next season.
Comments