Anthony Poindexter - Football Coach - University of Tennessee Athletics

Anthony Poindexter

Title:
Co-Defensive Coordinator/Secondary

Anthony Poindexter, a Class of 2020 College Football Hall of Fame inductee and Super Bowl champion, brings an accomplished resume to Rocky Top, including the last five seasons as the co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Penn State.

He was named Tennessee's co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach on Jan. 2.

Poindexter coached in five College Football Playoff or New Year’s Six games during his Penn State tenure. Four of his safeties were selected in the NFL Draft, including three in the first three rounds.

Poindexter spent the 2025 season with Knowles in Happy Valley, and he served as the acting defensive coordinator in the Nittany Lions’ 22-10 win over Clemson in the Pinstripe Bowl. Poindexter’s group limited the Tigers to 236 total yards and only 3.6 yards per play.

Poindexter’s 2024 safeties unit contributed to a secondary and defense that ranked fourth in the FBS in interceptions (20), seventh in total defense (294.8), eighth in scoring defense (16.5), 10th in takeaways (26) and 13th in passes defended (72).

In Poindexter’s third season, Penn State finished the 2023 campaign second in the country in total defense (247.6) and allowed just 172.1 passing yards per game, good for seventh in the nation.

A 23-year coaching veteran, Poindexter also coached at Virginia (2003-13), UConn (2014-16) and Purdue (2017-20). He has spent 12 seasons as either a defensive coordinator or co-defensive coordinator.

Poindexter’s players produced a combined nine All-Big Ten laurels – first, second or honorable mention – during his nine seasons coaching in the Big Ten.

Regarded as one of the fiercest hitters in the game during his collegiate career at Virginia from 1994-98, Poindexter was a two-time consensus first-team All-American as a safety (1997, ‘98) and the 1998 ACC Defensive Player of the Year. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in December 2020.

A seventh-round pick in the 1999 NFL Draft, Poindexter played for the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns during three seasons in the league. During the 2000 season, he played in 10 games for the Ravens on the way to their victory in Super Bowl XXXV.