Zarnell Fitch - Football Coach - Texas Tech Red Raiders

Zarnell Fitch

Title:
Defensive Line Coach

Zarnell Fitch, another one-time Texas High School Coaches Association member on Joey McGuire's charter staff, enters his fourth season at Texas Tech as the Red Raiders’ defensive line coach.

Fitch, no stranger to the Big 12 Conference, is regarded as one of the top defensive line developers in the country based on his work previously at TCU, his alma mater, and now with the Red Raiders. Texas Tech has recorded two of its best defensive seasons in recent memory during Fitch’s tenure as the Red Raiders gave up 29.2 points per game in 2022 before lowering that mark to 26.0 in 2023, their lowest average since 2009.

The Red Raiders finished 8-5 overall in Fitch’s debut season in 2022 thanks to four-consecutive victories to close the season, including a strong defensive performance to top Ole Miss in the TaxAct Texas Bowl. It marked the first time since 1995 the Red Raiders had ended a season on a four-game winning streak, which also helped Texas Tech record its most Big 12 victories in a year since 2009. The Red Raiders utilized another strong end-of-season finish to advance to the Radiant Technologies Independence Bowl a year later, topping Cal after shutting out the Golden Bears over the final three quarters.

Texas Tech upped its Big 12 win total to six during the 2024 season en route to playing Arkansas in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. Over the course of Fitch’s tenure, Texas Tech is one of only two Big 12 programs to record a winning conference record in each season, joining only Kansas State on that list.

Texas Tech’s early success defensively stemmed, in part, by the play of Jaylon Hutchings and Tony Bradford Jr., who were both honorable mention All-Big 12 selections in each of Fitch’s first two seasons. The two combined for 339 tackles, 56.5 tackles for loss and 26.0 sacks over 118 career games and 95 starts as one of the top interior defensive line duos in the country. In fact, they were the only pair of power-five interior linemen to create 30 or more quarterback pressures each during the 2022 campaign, according to Pro Football Focus.

Hutchings was credited with 50 tackles that season, the most for a Red Raider interior defensive lineman since NFL standout Kerry Hyder Jr. in 2013. Bradford added 32 tackles of his own to go along with 5.5 sacks as part of an impressive tandem that ranked as the only pair of Big 12 interior defensive linemen to both record at least 30 tackles and 5.0 tackles for loss on the season.

That pressure allowed Texas Tech to rank eighth nationally in fourth-down defense, ninth in the FBS for red zone efficiency and 18th for total tackles for loss during the 2022 season where the Red Raiders finished 8-5 overall and recorded its best finish in the Big 12 standings in more than a decade.

Fitch arrived at Texas Tech after previously serving in a similar role at TCU prior to his hiring by McGuire. Fitch oversaw the TCU defensive line in each of his previous six seasons with the Horned Frogs after beginning his tenure as Director of High School Relations in 2014. Fitch served his alma mater in that role for two years before earning the promotion to a full-time position coach. Over his tenure, Fitch was part of six bowl teams at TCU and three seasons of 10 or more wins.

Fitch helped TCU rank near the top of the Big 12 in combined sacks annually as the Horned Frogs found the quarterback 183 times over his six seasons, the third-highest total among conference members. During that time, TCU ranked among the top-40 schools nationally in sacks per game and tackles for loss per contest in four different seasons, rising to as high as No. 6 for sacks in 2016 and No. 10 in tackles for loss in 2020.

Fitch mentored 11 Horned Frogs who earned All-Big 12 honors during his tenure, a list that featured four first-team selections in Josh Carroway (2016), Ben Banogu (2017-18), L.J. Collier (2018) and Ross Blacklock (2019). Blacklock is among the most prominent defensive linemen of the Fitch era as he also garnered Big 12 Co-Defensive Freshman of the Year honors in 2017. As a senior, he helped boost a TCU defense that topped the league in nearly all major defensive categories en route to being picked in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft by the Houston Texans.

Blacklock was one of two Horned Frog defensive lineman who heard their name called during the NFL Draft under Fitch as Collier was chosen 29th overall by the Seattle Seahawks in 2019. He was the first TCU defensive lineman to be selected in the first round since 2010 and only the third in program history to do so.

Fitch was a 2017 finalist for National Defensive Line Coach of the Year by FootballScoop.com after TCU notched 42 sacks that season, 11 more than any other conference team. The Horned Frogs were fifth nationally in rushing defense after allowing only 103.9 yards per game on the ground behind a dominating defensive line. Blacklock and Corey Bethley both earned Freshman All-America honors that season, while Banogu was tabbed the Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year.

TCU had at least one defensive lineman recognized on the All-Big 12 teams in each of Fitch's six years as Aaron Curry was on the second team during his debut season in 2016, while Ochaun Mathis was a two-time selection to the second team in 2020 and 2021. Khari Coleman was also tabbed the Big 12 Co-Defensive Freshman of the Year under Fitch following the 2020 season.

Fitch's hire as TCU's defensive line coach returned him to the same position he once starred at for the Horned Frogs as he was a two-year letterman from 2004-05. A transfer from Navarro College, Fitch appeared in all 12 contests and made three starts as a senior, notably making a pair of interceptions that season with the final one coming in TCU's win over Iowa State in the EV1.net Houston Bowl.

Following his collegiate career, Fitch later spent time with the New York Jets, Baltimore Ravens and Washington Commanders as an undrafted free agent before eventually playing two additional seasons in arena football.

After retiring from football, Fitch joined the coaching staff at Lincoln High School in 2012, serving as an assistant coach for two seasons before being named head coach for the 2013 season. Fitch led the Tigers to a 7-4 record that season, which included a win over Dallas Carter in the Class 4A playoffs. He was also a special education teacher during his time at Lincoln.

Fitch earned his degree in communications and a minor in social work from TCU in 2006. Fitch and his wife, Mollie, have three sons, Zarnell III, Hunter and King, as well as two daughters, Haylee and Hope.

ZARNELL FITCH COACHING HISTORY
2022-present – Texas Tech Assistant Coach (Defensive Line)
2016-21 – TCU Assistant Coach (Defensive Line)
2014-15 – TCU Director of High School Relations
2013 – Lincoln High School Head Coach
2011-12 – Lincoln High School Assistant Coach