Kirk Garner is in his second season as Utah State’s running backs coach and has nine years of collegiate coaching experience. The 2026 season will be his sixth working for head coach Bronco Mendenhall.
In his first year at Utah State in 2025, Garner helped Utah State to a 6-7 record (4-4 Mountain West) and its 12th bowl game in the last 15 years. With Garner on staff, USU had four offensive players earn All-MW honors as wide receiver Braden Pegan was named to the first team, quarterback Bryson Barnes and running back Miles Davis were both named to the second team, and wide receiver Brady Body was named honorable mention.
Under Garner, Utah State's three running backs (Miles Davis, Javen Jacobs, Noah White) combined to catch 79 passes for 729 yards and six touchdowns and ranked second in the nation at the FBS level in receptions and receiving yards and tied for first in touchdowns.
Offensively, Utah State averaged 30.9 points per game in 2025 to rank second in the Mountain West and 36th nationally. USU also ranked third in the conference and 39th in the nation in total offense at 409.5 yards per game, fourth in the MW and 47th nationally in passing offense at 247.0 yards per game, and sixth in the MW and 62nd in the nation in rushing offense at 162.5 yards per game.
Utah State finished the season first in the Mountain West and fifth in the nation with five interceptions thrown, first in the MW and ninth in the nation in turnovers lost with 11, and second in the MW and 30th in the nation in turnover margin at plus 0.46.
In April 2024, Our Coaching Network named Garner a "G5 Coach on the Rise."
Garner came to Utah State after spending the 2024 season as the running backs coach at New Mexico. He helped the Lobos to a 5-7 record, marking the program’s most wins in eight years. Their season was highlighted by a 38-35 victory against No. 19 Washington State, snapping a 26-game losing streak against nationally ranked teams. The UNM victory was its first win over a top-20 team since 1994 and its first non-conference win against a top-20 opponent since 1940.
Garner’s unit helped New Mexico finish the 2024 season ranked first in the Mountain West in red zone offense and total offense, ranking fourth in the FBS with 484.3 yards per game. The Lobos also ranked second in the MW and fifth in the FBS in rushing offense (253.6), while leading the league and ranking fourth in the country in first down offense (298).
As the Lobos’ running backs coach, Garner mentored Eli Sanders to honorable mention All-MW honors. Sanders finished the season fifth in the MW in rushing with 1,065 yards and fifth in all-purpose yards at 99.5 per game, and he was ninth in the league in scoring. Sanders concluded the season with four straight 100-yard rushing games.
Before New Mexico, Garner coached running backs at East Tennessee State in 2023. That season, the Bucs rushed for 1,704 yards and 15 touchdowns in 11 games.
Garner spent two seasons with Vanderbilt (2021-22) in his first full-time coaching position, serving as the offensive quality control coach for the Commodores.
In 2022, Vanderbilt showcased an improved offense as the team just missed qualifying for a bowl game while it improved to 295 points scored, the second-highest total for the program in 10 years.
Garner started his coaching career with a three-year stint at Virginia (2018-20) under Mendenhall as a defensive graduate assistant, working under current USU defensive coordinator Nick Howell. At UVA, he worked with the defensive backs.
Garner played four seasons at Virginia (2014-17), the final two under Mendenhall. He was a four-year letterwinner, appearing in 32 games for the Cavaliers, missing the final 12 outings of the 2017 season. That year he moved into a student coach role.
Garner earned a pair of degrees from Virginia, graduating with his bachelor’s in anthropology in 2017, and then his master’s in higher education in 2018.
KIRK GARNER FILE
Coaching History
2025- Utah State – Running Backs
2024 New Mexico – Running Backs
2023 East Tennessee State – Running Backs
2021-22 Vanderbilt – Offensive Quality Control
2018-20 Virginia – Defensive Graduate Assistant
Bowl Games (3)
Utah State (1): 2025 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Virginia (2): 2019 Orange Bowl; 2018 Belk Bowl
Division Championships (1)
Virginia (1) – ACC Coastal: 2019
Playing Experience
2014-17 Virginia
Education
2017 Virginia – Higher Educations (Master’s)
2016 Virginia – Anthropology (Bachelor’s)