Josh Bookbinder - Football Coach - Texas Tech Red Raiders

Josh Bookbinder

Title:
Inside Linebackers Coach

Josh Bookbinder served three seasons on the Texas Tech coaching staff as the inside linebackers coach during the 2022-24 campaigns.

Texas Tech appeared in three-consecutive bowl games during Bookbinder’s tenure, defeating Ole Miss in the 2022 TaxAct Texas Bowl and then Cal in the 2023 Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl. The Red Raiders finished with a winning Big 12 Conference record in each of his three seasons, joining Kansas State as the only two conference programs to do so during that stretch, regardless of league affiliation. Texas Tech wrapped the 2024 season with six Big 12 wins, its most since 2009.

The Red Raiders were led by All-Big 12 first team selection Jacob Rodriguez throughout the 2024 season as the junior was among the FBS leaders with 127 tackles. Rodriguez, only the third linebacker in history to garner first team accolades by the league coaches, closed the season tied for seventh in the FBS for total tackles and tied for second among power conference players. Rodriguez, also an honorable mention All-America selection by Phil Steele Magazine, was third nationally for solo tackles per game with 5.9 stops a contest on his own.

Rodriguez led the Big 12 for total tackles, total tackles per game (9.8) and solo tackles per game as he was credited with the most stops by a Red Raiders since Lawrence Flugence set the NCAA FBS record with 193 in 2002. Rodriguez also garnered Bednarik National Linebacker of the Week and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors for his ability to create takeaways for an opportunistic Red Raider defense. Rodriguez played a part in six takeaways during the 2024 season alone, including a key forced fumble late in the win at Arizona and a fumble recovery for a touchdown to seal Texas Tech’s victory at Oklahoma State.

Bookbinder was responsible during his tenure for developing not only Rodriguez but also Ben Roberts, the Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year by the league coaches in 2023. Roberts emerged as a more-than-suitable replacement for an injured Rodriguez early in that season, boosting a Texas Tech defense that surrendered only 26.0 points per game, its fewest since 2009. Roberts also earned second team Freshman All-America honors by The Athletic in 2023 after totaling 107 tackles, the most for a Red Raider freshman dating back to 1980.

Bookbinder’s position room was among Texas Tech’s best during his debut season as the Red Raiders were led by the duo of Krishon Merriweather and Kosi Eldridge in the middle of an aggressive defense that ranked among the nation’s best in fourth-down stops and red zone efficiency. The Red Raiders gave up only 29.2 points per game in 2022 en route to wins over not only Ole Miss in the Texas Bowl but also Texas and Oklahoma in the same season for the first time in school history.

Merriweather and Eldridge played a large part in Texas Tech’s success defensively, combining for more than 200 stops between the duo as the Red Raiders’ leading tacklers. Merriweather led the team with 112 tackles, the most for a Red Raider at the time since 2015, while Eldridge chipped in 91 of his own in easily his most-productive season of his career. The successful season earned Merriweather honorable mention All-Big 12 accolades.

Bookbinder reunited with head coach Joey McGuire after the two previously served on the defensive staff at Baylor over the previous three seasons. Bookbinder was a defensive quality control assistant during that span for a Baylor program that recorded a pair of 10-win seasons and appeared in two Big 12 Championship games, winning the conference crown in 2021.

During his time with the Bears, Bookbinder worked under former Baylor and Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Phil Snow, assisting with the safeties in 2019. From there, he transitioned to working with the outside linebackers under McGuire in 2020 before moving back to the safety position at the start of 2021 campaign.

Prior to his time at Baylor, Bookbinder was a defensive assistant for the San Antonio Commanders in the now-defunct Alliance of American Football (AAF). The Commanders were tied atop the Western Conference standings at 5-3 when the league folded midway through its inaugural season in 2019.

Bookbinder previously spent seven seasons at Liberty, rising from a defensive quality control assistant at the time of hire to eventually being named the Flames’ linebackers coach. Liberty began its transition to the FBS level late in Bookbinder’s tenure, kicking off the two-year process with a 48-45 upset win at his alma mater, Baylor, to start the 2017 season.

Liberty celebrated four Big South titles prior to its move to the FBS level, claiming the conference crown over Bookbinder’s first three seasons on staff (2012-14) and again in 2016. That third conference crown helped Liberty receive its first-ever selection to the NCAA FCS Playoffs as the Flames eventually finished the 2014 campaign ranked No. 17 in the country, their highest end-of-season ranking since 2008.

The Flames produced one of the FCS’s top defenses during Bookbinder’s first year as an assistant coach as Liberty closed the 2013 season ranked fifth in scoring defense (17.6 points allowed per game), ninth for total defense (313.9 yards allowed per game) and 16th in passing yards allowed per game (178.6). Liberty was also third nationally in turnover margin per game (1.3) and fifth with 19 interceptions.

Over this tenure, Bookbinder mentored several of Liberty’s most-productive linebackers in its history, namely Nick Sigmon, who garnered All-Big South first team honors in 2013 and then second-team accolades as a senior in 2014. The four-year starter was one of one five linebackers to earn All-Big South honors under Bookbinder as Scott Hyland was a second-team recipient in 2013, while Nick Newman was a second-team selection following the 2014 and 2015 seasons and a first-team honoree in 2016. The list also features Dexter Robbins, a second-team honoree in 2016, as well as Solomon McGinty, who garnered second-team accolades in 2017.

Bookbinder began his coaching career as an undergraduate coach at Baylor from 2007-08. He served as a defensive quality control coach for the 2009 season at Richmond following graduation before spending two seasons at Division II Carson-Newman, coaching linebackers in 2010 and then the defensive ends and special teams in 2011.

A native of San Antonio, Bookbinder earned his degree in sports sponsorships and sales from Baylor in 2009. He and his wife, Ashley, are parents to two sons, Grant and Walt, and a daughter, Annie.

Bookbinder is the grandson of legendary Baylor head coach Grant Teaff and the son of Russ Bookbinder, who served as Vice Chancellor and Chief Marketing Officer for the Texas Tech University System from 2009-12. Teaff, a West Texas native and former assistant coach at Texas Tech from 1966-68, remains the winningest head coach in Baylor history after compiling 128 victories over his 21 seasons (1972-92).

JOSH BOOKBINDER CAREER EXPERIENCE
2022-24– Texas Tech Assistant Coach (Inside Linebackers)
2019-21 – Baylor Defensive Quality Control Assistant
2019 – San Antonio Commanders Defensive Assistant (AAF)
2014-18 – Liberty Assistant Coach (Linebackers)
2013 – Liberty Assistant Coach (Outside Linebackers)
2012 – Liberty Defensive Quality Control Assistant
2011 – Carson-Newman Assistant Coach (Special Teams/Defensive Ends)
2010 – Carson-Newman Assistant Coach (Linebackers)
2009 – Richmond Defensive Quality Control Assistant
2007-08 – Baylor Student Assistant