Football
- Title:
- Outside Linebackers Coach
C.J. Ah You, a top developer of edge-type rushers in the country, enters his fourth season on the Texas Tech staff as the Red Raiders’ outside linebackers coach.
Over his tenure, Texas Tech has made three bowl appearances, defeating Ole Miss in the 2022 TaxAct Texas Bowl and then Cal in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl. The Red Raiders have been among the Big 12 Conference’s most-consistent programs with 16 league wins the past three years as Texas Tech and Kansas State are the only two conference schools to post a winning league record each season, regardless of conference affiliation.
The Red Raiders led the Big 12 Conference and ranked 18th in the FBS for tackles for loss per game during Ah You’s debut season as Texas Tech capped the 2022 campaign with four-consecutive victories, including a memorable win over Ole Miss in the TaxAct Texas Bowl. Texas Tech recorded eight stops behind the line of scrimmage in the win over Ole Miss with four coming from two emerging members of Ah You’s position room in Myles Cole and Isaac Smith. That pushed Texas Tech’s season total up to 91.0 tackles for loss, its most since 2003.
Texas Tech’s performance in the Texas Bowl came without Tyree Wilson, who flourished under Ah You’s direction, developing into a first team All-American and one of the top defensive prospects in the country. Wilson, an All-Big 12 first team honoree, was the Big 12 leader in tackles for loss per game and ranked among the national leaders in that category as well as sacks despite missing the final four games of the season due to injury.
Wilson became the 32nd Red Raider all-time to be named a first team All-American as he was recognized by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) following his final season in scarlet and black. He was the first defensive end or outside linebacker to be honored on a first team All-America list since Montae Reagor in 1998 and was the first to earn All-Big 12 first team honors since Brandon Sharpe in 2009.
His success on the field pushed Wilson up draft boards as he was ultimately selected seventh overall by the Las Vegas Raiders in the 2023 NFL Draft, making him the highest-drafted Red Raider defensive player in program history. Wilson matched Ring of Honor member Donny Anderson as being the second-highest drafted Red Raider in program history (all positions) and the highest in the modern era. Wilson was among the handful of prospects invited to attend the NFL Draft in Kansas City, allowing him to walk the stage to hug NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and immediately find a waiting Ah You in the audience.
Ah You watched one of his pupils hear his name called during the NFL Draft in each of his first two seasons as Cole was selected in the seventh round in 2024 by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Cole developed into an NFL Draft selection in two seasons under Ah You after transferring to Texas Tech prior to the 2022 campaign from Louisiana-Monroe.
The 2022 season kicked off Ah You’s second stint in the Big 12 Conference where he previously starred at Oklahoma from 2005-06 before enjoying a five-year NFL career with the St. Louis Rams. Ah You, who began his college career at BYU before transferring to Snow College and then Oklahoma, was the Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year as a junior in 2005 and garnered All-Big 12 first team honors a year later. The St. Louis Rams selected Ah You in the seventh round of the 2007 NFL Draft after he started in 21 of 26 games as a Sooner where he recorded 88 tackles, including 22.0 for a loss, 11.0 sacks and four forced fumbles.
After completing his tenure with the Rams, Ah You immediately joined the coaching profession, returning to his alma mater as a defensive quality control assistant for the Sooners during the 2014-15 seasons. Oklahoma played in the Russell Athletic Bowl his first year on staff before qualifying for the College Football Playoff in 2015 after the Sooners won the Big 12 title.
His success in helping develop the Oklahoma front paved the way for his first full-time coaching possession at Vanderbilt in 2016 where he enjoyed a three-year stint as the Commodores’ defensive line coach. Vanderbilt made two bowl trips during his tenure, playing in the 2016 Independence Bowl and the 2018 Texas Bowl.
From there, Ah You moved to the professional ranks, joining the resurrected XFL in 2019 to serve as the defensive line coach for the New York Guardians. He later served a minority coaching internship with the Los Angeles Chargers in the summer of 2020 after the XFL’s lone season was canceled earlier that spring due to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ah You returned to the college ranks a year ago to accept a defensive quality control analyst position at USC. He had previously been named the defensive line coach at Nevada prior to his hire with the Red Raiders.
Prior to beginning his professional career, Ah You earned his bachelor’s degree in sociology from Oklahoma in 2006. He and his wife, Chynea, are parents to four daughters, Makiah, Atiana, Alei’a and Milani.
C.J. AH YOU COACHING HISTORY
2022-present – Texas Tech Assistant Coach (Outside Linebackers)
2021 – USC Defensive Quality Control
2020 – Los Angeles Chargers Minority Coaching Internship (Summer)
2019-20 – New York Guardians Defensive Line Coach (XFL)
2016-18 – Vanderbilt Assistant Coach (Defensive Line)
2014-15 – Oklahoma Defensive Quality Control Assistant
