Marcel Yates - Football Coach - Texas Tech Red Raiders

Marcel Yates

Title:
Passing Game Coordinator/Secondary Coach

Veteran defensive coach Marcel Yates enters his third season on the Texas Tech defensive staff where he serves as passing game coordinator and oversees the Red Raider secondary.

Yates, a former defensive coordinator at both Boise State and Arizona, arrived in Lubbock with a strong understanding of Tim DeRuyter’s defensive scheme as the 2024 campaign will mark their fifth-consecutive season working together after previous stops at both Cal (2020) and Oregon (2021). Yates has more than 20 years of coaching experience at the collegiate level and has been part of 17 bowl teams over his successful career.

That experience has paid dividends as Texas Tech implemented a new system that has resulted in two of its best seasons in recent memory. The Red Raiders allowed only 29.2 points per game in Yates’ debut season in 2022 before improving to 26.0 points per game average this past season, its lowest clip in more than a decade. In fact, it marked Texas Tech’s lowest scoring average since the 2009 season, the same year the Red Raiders had previously recorded five or more Big 12 victories prior to each of the past two seasons.

The Red Raider secondary has shown significant improvement under Yates after surrendering only 256.8 passing yards per game in 2022, their lowest clip since 2014. Texas Tech lowered that average even further this past season, giving up only 229.2 yards per game through the air en route to an eventual victory over Cal in the Radiant Technologies Independence Bowl. The Red Raiders previously closed the 2022 campaign with four-straight victories following a win over Ole Miss in the TaxAct Texas Bowl.

Yates has had six members from his position room garner All-Big 12 accolades during his tenure with two earning second team honors in Malik Dunlap (2022) and Dadrion Taylor-Demerson (2023). The list of recognitions has also included Rayshad Williams and Marquis Waters as honorable mention selections in 2022 as well as C.J. Baskerville, Bralyn Lux and Dunlap this past season.

Taylor-Demerson closed his Red Raider career with 10 interceptions, including six that came during Yates’ tenure, which ranked tied for 10th in program history. He later heard his name called during the 2024 NFL Draft as the Arizona Cardinals selected the safety in the fourth round. Taylor-Demerson became the 11th defensive back during Yates’ career to be chosen in the NFL Draft and the sixth to go in the first four rounds. Yates has had three other defensive backs sign free agent agreements during his Texas Tech tenure in Waters (New York Jets), Williams (Las Vegas Raiders) and Tyler Owens (Washington Commanders).

Yates served in a similar role at Oregon where he was the secondary and passing game coordinator during the 2021 season. The Ducks boasted one of the nation's most opportunistic defenses in the country in 2021, especially in the secondary where Oregon recorded 17 interceptions. Oregon closed the season ranked fifth in the FBS for total interceptions and 26th nationally with 22 takeaways following an appearance in the Valero Alamo Bowl. The Ducks ended the regular season ranked 13th in the final College Football Playoff poll following an appearance in the Pac-12 title game.

Oregon's success defending the passing game continued a trend from Yates' season at Cal where the Golden Bears ranked 23rd nationally and second in the Pac-12 after allowing only 197.8 yards per game through the air. Cal closed the 2020 season by defeating Yates' future employer with a 21-17 victory over No. 20 Oregon at home.

Yates accepted the position at Cal following four seasons as the defensive coordinator at Arizona where he worked with both the defensive backs and linebackers during various points of his tenure, including former Red Raider linebacker Colin Schooler. Schooler was a Freshman All-American and the Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year under Yates in 2017 after racking up 13.5 tackles for loss, all in conference play, which was the most by an Arizona freshman since at least 1997.

Prior to Arizona, Yates spent a combined 11 seasons at Boise State, rising from cornerbacks (2003-05) and defensive backs (2006-10) coach to eventually being named the defensive coordinator (2014-15) for his alma mater. In between, Yates spent two seasons as the co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach at Texas A&M where he oversaw the defensive backs room.

Boise State won 87.6 percent of its games during Yates' tenure, compiling a 127-18 record after winning at least 10 games in nine of his 11 seasons with two undefeated campaigns. The Broncos qualified for a bowl game in each of Yates' 11 seasons on staff, while claiming eight conference championships (7 WAC, 1 Mountain West). Boise State wrapped both undefeated seasons with victories in the Fiesta Bowl, defeating No. 10 Oklahoma to wrap the 2006 campaign and then No. 4 TCU to end a memorable 2009 year.

Besides the slew of wins, Yates excelled in developing often overlooked prospects into successful college football players and eventual NFL selections. From 2007 to 2016 alone, seven of Yates' defensive backs heard their name called during the NFL Draft with two more that signed free agent deals on their way to long professional careers. Of those seven draft picks, four were selected in the first three rounds, which was highlighted by cornerback Kyle Wilson in the first round in 2010.

During his two seasons at Texas A&M, the Aggies were among the best teams in the country, wrapping the 2012 campaign at No. 5 in the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls after winning 11 games for the first time since 1998. Texas A&M followed with a 9-4 campaign in 2013, concluding that season at No. 18 in each poll.

Yates began his coaching career as an assistant secondary coach at Montana State. In his second season, the Bobcats won their first Big Sky Conference title and earned their first trip to the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs in 18 years.

Yates was a four-year letterwinner as a defensive back at Boise State (1996-99), which coincided with the school's first four years as a FBS program. His career culminated in the Broncos' first-ever bowl appearance and bowl win over Louisville in the 1999 Crucial.com Humanitarian Bowl.

Yates earned a degree in social science from Boise State in 2000. He has a son, Eric, and a daughter, Kaybrie.

MARCEL YATES COACHING HISTORY
2022-present – Texas Tech Passing Game Coordinator (Secondary)
2021 – Oregon Passing Game Coordinator (Secondary)
2020 – California Assistant Coach (Defensive Backs)
2019 – Arizona Defensive Coordinator (Safeties)
2018 – Arizona Defensive Coordinator (Linebackers)
2017 – Arizona Defensive Coordinator (Cornerbacks)
2016 – Arizona Defensive Coordinator (Linebackers)
2014-15 – Boise State Defensive Coordinator (Safeties)
2012-13 – Texas A&M Co-Defensive Coordinator (Defensive Backs)
2011 – Boise State Passing Game Coordinator (Defensive Backs)
2006-10 – Boise State Assistant Coach (Defensive Backs)
2003-05 – Boise State Assistant Coach (Cornerbacks)
2001-02 – Montana State Assistant Defensive Backs Coach

BOWL GAMES AS A COACH (17): 2023 Radiant Technologies Independence Bowl (Texas Tech); 2022 TaxAct Texas Bowl (Texas Tech); 2021 Valero Alamo Bowl (Oregon); 2017 Foster Farms Bowl (Arizona); 2015 Poinsettia Bowl (Boise State); 2014 Fiesta Bowl (Boise State); 2013 Chick-fil-A Bowl (Texas A&M); 2012 Cotton Bowl (Texas A&M); 2011 Las Vegas Bowl (Boise State); 2010 Las Vegas Bowl (Boise State); 2010 Fiesta Bowl (Boise State); 2008 Poinsettia Bowl (Boise State); 2007 Hawaii Bowl (Boise State); 2007 Fiesta Bowl (Boise State); 2005 MPC Computers Bowl (Boise State); 2004 Liberty Bowl (Boise State); 2003 Fort Worth Bowl (Boise State).