Texas Tech University Athletics
Football
- Title:
- Special Teams Quality Control Assistant
Tim McGrath enters his second season as a quality control assistant on the Texas Tech staff where he works primarily with associate head coach Mark Tommerdahl and the Red Raiders’ special teams units.
In only his first full season, Texas Tech helped in the continued development of punter Austin McNamara, who garnered All-Big 12 first team honors after easily leading the league in punting average. McNamara averaged a booming 46.3 yards per punt in 2020, which ranked fifth among FBS punters. Additionally, it was the second-highest season average in program history, placing McNamara in an exclusive category as the only punter with two of the top-five years marks as a Red Raider.
The highlight of McNamara’s season came midway through the year against West Virginia where he launched an 87-yard punt, essentially flipping the field at a critical moment for the Red Raiders. It set the Tech and Big 12 single-game records for the longest punt in history and followed a 74-yard attempt earlier in the game.
McGrath arrived in Lubbock following one season in a similar role at UMass and five seasons as a special teams assistant at Georgia Tech. He was a staff assistant for his first four seasons with the Yellow Jackets before being promoted to a quality control assistant prior to the 2018 campaign.
McGrath, worked primarily with Georgia Tech’s special teams units throughout this tenure where he helped mentor current Kansas City Chiefs place kicker Harrison Butker, punter Pressley Harvin III, a Freshman All-American in 2017 and kick returner Juanyeh Thomas, a Freshman All-American in 2018.
Butker helped Georgia Tech lead the ACC in field goal percentage and PAT percentage in 2016, while Havin led all FBS freshmen with a 44.1 punting average a year later en route to earning third team All-ACC honors. Harvin followed his Freshman All-America season by earning second team All-ACC accolades in 2018. Thomas, meanwhile, was named a True Freshman All-American by 247Sports and to the All-ACC first team by Pro Football Focus in 2018 after returning 24 kickoffs for 606 yards and two touchdowns.
During his one season at UMass, kick returner Isaiah Rodgers garnered first team All-America and All-Independent honors by Pro Football Focus after returning 53 kickoffs for 1,295 yards, both of which ranked first among all FBS players during the 2019 season. Rodgers, who also earned All-Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) first team honors as well, set the program single-season and career records for kick returns and kick return yardage during his senior year before being selected in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts. McGrath was also involved in place kicker Cooper Garcia’s progress as he finished his career with the second-highest career field goal percentage in program history.
McGrath joined the Georgia Tech staff after serving as video coordinator and special teams quality control assistant at his alma mater, Villanova. As an undergraduate at Villanova, McGrath was a student assistant for the Wildcats’ nationally-prominent FCS program. He also served on staff at Episcopal Academy during that time, helping the prep squad to an 8-3 record in 2013.
In addition to his experience at the college level, McGrath has worked with various professional indoor football leagues as well. He coached the 2013 and 2014 seasons with the Harrisburg Stampede, winning an American Indoor Football Championship in only his first year. He was also on the staff of the Indoor Football League’s Reading Express during the 2012 season.
A native of Andover, Massachusetts, graduate from Villanova in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering.
