Turner West enters his second season as the special teams coordinator and recruiting coordinator at The Citadel.
In his first year with the Bulldogs, West mentored one of the most experienced and consistent special teams units in the country. The Bulldogs returned all key components of their unit, including All-American long snapper Patrick Keefe and Freshman All-American Matt Campbell.
The group proved to be one of the best in the FCS as they ranked sixth in net punting at 40.41 yards per punt. They also ranked 13th in punt return average at 4.0 yards per return.
Individually, Campbell ranked eighth in punting at 44.1 yards per punt. He now owns two of the top three single-season punt averages in school history.
Kicker Jacob Godek converted all 43 of his extra points in 2019, while also hitting on eight field goals. He ended his career as the school’s all-time leader with 113 extra points, including ending his career by making 105 straight.
The Bulldog punt block unit blocked a pair of punts on the season, both coming against Elon. Sean-Thomas Faulkner blocked both punts in the game to earn Southern Conference Special Teams Player of the Week honors.
His most important kick came in overtime when he hit from 37-yards out to give the Bulldogs a 27-24 overtime victory over Georgia Tech. Â
West joined the Bulldogs after spending the previous season as the linebackers coach at Austin Peay.
Prior to his time with the Governors, West spent four seasons as a defensive assistant with the Dallas Cowboys.
While with the Cowboys, West worked with passing game coordinator/linebackers coach Matt Eberflus, where he assisted with the development of the linebackers. His star pupil during his time in Dallas was Sean Lee, one of the top linebackers in the NFL. In 2016, Lee recorded career highs with 174 tackles and 12 tackles for loss. He was named All-Pro and earned his second consecutive Pro Bowl nod.
West went to the NFL after spending two years as a graduate assistant working with the quarterbacks and wide receivers at Middle Tennessee.
He began his coaching career as an intern at UAB in 2010 before going on to spend one season as a volunteer assistant at Samford.
West played wide receiver at Memphis for his father, head coach Tommy West. He received his degree in interdisciplinary studies in 2010.
