Kirk Garner is in his first season as Utah State’s running backs coach. The 2025 season will be his fifth working for head coach Bronco Mendenhall. He brings eight years of collegiate coaching experience to USU.
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 (2)
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)
