Michael Hunter Jr. - Football Coach - University of Tennessee Athletics

Michael Hunter Jr.

Title:
Cornerbacks

Michael Hunter Jr. enters his first season as Tennessee's cornerbacks coach in 2026. He was officially hired to defensive coordinator Jim Knowles' staff on Jan. 2.

Hunter comes to Tennessee after spending the past two seasons working with the cornerbacks at Ohio State where he coached in multiple College Football Playoffs. He previously served as the defensive pass game coordinator and cornerbacks coach at Tulsa in 2023. Prior to that, he was a defensive assistant at Oklahoma State from 2021-22, working with the secondary.

Hunter worked alongside Knowles during his first year with the Buckeyes and his two years at Oklahoma State. The two coached a 2024 Ohio State defense that allowed a nation-fewest 12.9 points per game and 18.8 points per playoff contest against four straight top 10 teams en route to the national championship. Cornerbacks Jordan Hancock and Denzel Burke were both selected in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft.

In 2025, Hunter was part of a unit that led the nation in scoring defense (9.3), total defense (219.1) and pass defense (129.7). The elite pass defense was nearly 25 yards better than the next closest Power Four program as the Buckeyes posted an undefeated regular season and another College Football Playoff berth.

In 2021, he helped coach a secondary that ranked second in the Big 12 in pass defense, allowing 210.2 yards per game. The Cowboys earned a berth to the 2022 Fiesta Bowl and defeated Notre Dame. Cornerback Christian Holmes was named second-team All-Big 12 and selected in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft.

Hunter played cornerback at Indiana from 2011-14 and finished at Oklahoma State in 2015 before a four-year stint in the NFL. He was first signed by the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent in 2016.