Andy Greening enters his third season as the Rangers’ defensive coordinator and linebackers coach after a successful debut season in 2010.
The Rangers played their best defensive football the final four games of the season (3-1), outscoring their opponents 162-76 down the stretch. Northwest held Mississippi Delta scoreless and Itawamba to just seven points in the regular season finale.
Northwest finished the 2010 regular season ranked first in the MACJC in rushing defense (99.6 ypg), second in turnover margin (+7) and third in the league in total defense (283.0 ypg) a year ago. The Rangers also held six teams to 14 points or less on the year, including a stretch of four consecutive games under seven points.
In his two seasons, seven members of the Ranger defense have earned MACJC All-State honors, including Jamontay Pilson, Brandon Lawrence, Michael McKinney and Sam Small in 2010 and David Conner, Jerome McClain and La’Darrick Anderson last season. Northwest also boasted a state-best three selections on the NJCAA All-Region XXIII Team in 2010, led by Pilson, Lawrence and Small.
Greening joined Northwest from The University of West Alabama where he was defensive coordinator for two seasons alongside head coach Bobby Wallace and helped lead the team to the playoffs for the first time since 1975. Both seasons with the Tigers, the defense ranked among the top in the Gulf South Conference, finishing third and fourth in total defense as well as third in scoring defense.
Prior to two seasons at UWA, Greening spent 10 years on the staff at fellow MACJC North Division rival Northeast Mississippi, where he was the defensive coordinator from 1998-2002 and head coach his final five seasons from 2003-07.
Two-time MACJC Coach of the Year, Greening led Northeast to a 22-24 record, three north division titles (2002, 2004, 2005) and the only undefeated regular season in school history (7-0) in 2005. That same season, the Tigers climbed as high as No. 2 in the polls, ranked in the Top 20 in the nation in offense and defense and made their first-ever bowl appearance in the Pilgrim Pride’s Bowl Classic.
Prior to the collegiate level, Greening was the head coach at Alcorn Central High School from 1993-97, also making stops prior at Amory (1990-92), Booneville (1983-89) and Biggersville High School. He also spent the 1982 season as a football graduate assistant on the Mississippi State staff while finishing up his master’s.
A two-year starter at Northeast Mississippi in 1975-76, Greening went on to receive his bachelor of science from Mississippi State in 1979 in health and physical education, later earning his master’s in education in 1984.
Greening is married to the former Rhonda McCreary, and the two have one daughter, Callie. Her and her husband, Alex Littlejohn, welcomed their first child in July of 2012, Hudson Alexander Littlejohn.
