Micah James is in his second season as Utah State’s offensive line coach. In his eight seasons as a collegiate coach, James has been a part of three conference championship teams and coached in four bowl games.
In 2021, Utah State had its best season in school history as it tied the school record with 11 wins (11-3), won its first-ever Mountain West Championship with a 46-13 road win at No. 19 San Diego State, posted a 24-13 win against Oregon State in the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl and finished the season ranked 24th in the nation in both polls.
Utah State’s offense set six school records during the 2021 campaign, including 41 touchdown passes, 4,248 passing yards and three receivers with 10-plus touchdown receptions. USU’s offense also tied a pair of school records with 13 100-yard receiving games and five passing touchdowns in a single game.
Additionally, Utah State’s offense produced over 600 yards of total offense twice, and over 400 passing yards three times, all of which rank among the top-16 performances in school history.
Utah State finished the 2021 season ranked 15th in the nation in passing offense (303.4 ypg), 23rd in total offense (445.6 ypg), and 33rd in scoring offense (32.6 ppg). USU was also the only team in the nation with at least 10 touchdown receptions by three players.
Under James, Utah State had two offensive linemen earn honorable mention all-MW honors in senior Alfred Edwards and junior Quazzel White.
James came to Utah State after spending two years (2019-20) as the co-offensive line coach at Massachusetts. He has also served as an offensive graduate assistant at UCF (2018) and Maryland (2017), was the run game coordinator and offensive line coach at Faulkner University (2016) and spent two seasons as a graduate assistant at Arkansas State (2014-15).
Under James in 2020, Massachusetts had two offensive linemen garner accolades in Larnel Colemen and Dalton Tomlison. Coleman earned a spot on the Outland Trophy Watch List, given annually to the top interior lineman in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), and garnered Phil Steele Magazine all-Independent honors, while Tomlison was selected to the Rimington Trophy Watch List, which annually honors the top center in FBS. Furthermore, Coleman was invited to participate in the 2021 College Gridiron Showcase.
During James’ first season at Massachusetts, the offensive line unit cut down on their sacks allowed by 69.2 percent, despite replacing four starters from the year prior and suffering numerous injuries that led to nine different players starting.
At UCF, James helped the Knights to a No. 11 national ranking and a 12-1 record as they swept their eight-game American Athletic Conference schedule, won the AAC Championship game and earned a spot in the Fiesta Bowl. At season’s end, four O-linemen for the Golden Knights earned all-AAC honors, including three landing on the first team.
During his one season with the Terrapins, James worked on the offensive side of the ball and assisted in the development of receiver D.J. Moore. With James’ help, Moore earned first-team all-Big Ten honors and ranked ninth in the country in receptions per game (6.7).
As the run game coordinator and offensive line coach at Faulkner, James helped the Eagles to a 6-4 record and coached B.J. Turner to all-Mid-South Conference West Division second-team honors.
James began his coaching career at Arkansas State under Blake Anderson and helped the Red Wolves to a 16-10 record during the 2014 and 2015 seasons, including a 13-3 conference mark, back-to-back bowl games and a 2015 Sun Belt Conference Championship.
James arrived at A-State after completing an all-Sun Belt Conference playing career at Middle Tennessee in 2012, which was followed by an invitation to participate in the Atlanta Falcons’ and Dallas Cowboys’ NFL rookie mini-camps in 2013.
During his senior season at Middle Tennessee, James was voted one of five permanent team captains and selected first-team all-Sun Belt after helping the Blue Raiders to an 8-4 regular season record.
The 2012 campaign saw James start all 12 games at center, and he was third among linemen with 844 total snaps. He was part of a line that ranked second nationally in fewest sacks allowed and paved the way for three different 100-yard rushers. He collected 78 knockdowns, including a season-high 10 against both Memphis and Western Kentucky.
James earned his bachelor’s degree in general studies with an emphasis in criminal justice and coaching from Middle Tennessee in 2012. He achieved his associate’s degree in 2010 from Georgia Military.
James transferred to Middle Tennessee in 2011 after playing at Georgia Military as a freshman and sophomore in 2009 and 2010. His sophomore season saw him start all nine games on a team that went 6-3.
A native ofHoschton, Georgia, James earned first-team all-region and all-county honors while playing at Mill Creek High School. He participated in the 2009 Gwinnett County All-Star Game and also lettered in track.
MICAH JAMES FILE
Coaching History
2021- Utah State – Offensive Line
2019-20 Massachusetts – Co-Offensive Line
2018 UCF – Offensive Graduate Assistant
2017 Maryland – Offensive Graduate Assistant
2016 Faulkner University – Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line
2014-15 Arkansas State – Offensive Graduate Assistant
Bowl Games (4)
Utah State (1): 2021 LA Bowl
UCF (1): 2018 Fiesta Bowl
Arkansas State (2): 2015 New Orleans Bowl; 2014 GoDaddy Bowl
Conference Championships (3)
Utah State (1) – Mountain West, 2021
UCF (1) – American Athletic Conference, 2018
Arkansas State (1) – Sun Belt Conference: 2015
Playing Experience
2011-12 Middle Tennessee – Offensive Line
2009-10 Georgia Military – Offensive Line
Education
2012 Middle Tennessee – Criminal Justice (B.S.)