Football
- Title:
- Associate Head Coach/Co-Defensive Coord./Safeties
 CRAIG NAIVAR |
|
| Hometown | Taylor, Texas |
| College | Hardin-Simmons, 1994 |
| Family | wife, Michelle daughter, Jordan; son, Gunner |
| PLAYING EXPERIENCE | |
| Level | School, Position |
| College | Hardin-Simmons (1990-93), Safety, Quarterback |
| COACHING EXPERIENCE | |
| Year | School, Position |
| 2015 - | Houston, Associate Head Coach/ |
| 2014 | Kentucky, Special Teams Coordinator/Safeties |
| 2011-13 | Texas State, Defensive Coordinator/Safeties |
| 2010 | Rice, Special Teams Coordinator/Defensive Line |
| 2007-09 | Rice, Co-Defensive Coordinator/Safeties |
| 2004-06 | Texas State, Defensive Coordinator/Safeties |
| 2002-03 | Sam Houston State, Defensive Coordinator/Safeties |
| 2000-01 | Sam Houston State, Special Teams Coordinator/Defensive Line |
| 1998-99 | Southern Illinois, Special Teams Coordinator/Defensive Line |
| 1998 (Spring) | TCU, Graduate Assistant |
| 1996-97 | New Mexico, Graduate Assistant |
| 1994-95 | Hardin-Simmons, Special Teams Coordinator |
| POSTSEASON EXPERIENCE | |
| Year | Bowl, School |
| 2015 | Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Houston |
| 2008 | Texas Bowl, Rice |
| 2005 | FCS Semifinals, Texas State |
| 2001 | FCS Quarterfinals, Sam Houston State |
| 1997 | Insight Bowl, New Mexico |
| 1995 | NAIA Playoffs, Hardin-Simmons |
| 1994 | NAIA Playoffs, Hardin-Simmons |
• Coach Craig Naivar on Twitter
Coaching Accomplishments
· Craig Naivar (pronounced "NI-ver") was named associated head coach, co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Houston on Jan. 5, 2015. Naivar has been a defensive coordinator or special teams coordinator for the last 17 seasons.
· Naivar's first season at Houston saw a defense that led the nation with 35 takeaways while ranking eighth nationally in rushing defense (108.9 yards per game) and 20th nationally in scoring defense (20.7 points per game).
· The middle of the Houston secondary was patrolled by turnover machines Adrian McDonald and Trevon Stewart. McDonald set the Houston career interceptions record with four picks in 2015, to give him 17 for his career, while Stewart set the program's career fumble recovery with 10 in his career after recovering four in 2015, the second-best total in the nation.
· In his lone season at Kentucky, Naivar tutored two Freshman All-Americans on special teams in kick returner Stanley Williams and kicker Austin MacGinnis.
· MacGinnis, also named First Team All-SEC, set five UK records in his collegiate debut season, totaling 21 field goals, the most in Kentucky history. He had the most field goals in the SEC, also leading all NCAA freshmen. MacGinnis finished with a school-record 104 points - equaling the SEC lead - and was one of only five kickers in the nation with three field goals of 50+ yards, including a school-record 54-yard kick. MacGinnis, who made a UK record 41 extra-point tries without a miss in 2014, also set a school record with 25 touchbacks on kickoffs in 2014. He was the first ever Kentucky kicker named to the All-SEC team, having been named to the team by both the SEC coaches and Associated Press.
· Williams led Kentucky in kickoff returns with 19 returns for 511 yards and a 26.9 average. Williams ranked second nationally among true freshmen in kickoff return average, checking in 13th overall.
· Kentucky punter Landon Foster also set a school record with 27 punts dropped inside the 20-yard line in 2014 while earning second team Academic All-America honors. Foster punted 66 times in 2014, for a 42.6 yard average, including 10 punts of 50 yards or longer with just four touchbacks.
· The Wildcats ranked 22nd nationally with 15 interceptions in 2014 after recording just eight picks in the two seasons prior to Naivar's arrival.
· Naivar arrived at Kentucky from Texas State, where he was the defensive coordinator and safeties coach for three seasons, helping the Bobcats transition from independent status (2011) to the Western Athletic Conference in 2012 to the Sun Belt Conference in 2013. He produced defensive lineman Michael Ebbitt, the 2011 Independent Defensive Player of the Year, along with two additional All-Independent Team selections in defensive end Jordan Norfleet and defensive back Xavier Daniels. He had two Second-Team All-WAC honorees in 2012 in linebacker Joplo Bartu and cornerback Darryl Morris before adding a Second-Team All-Sun Belt pick in 2013 in safety Justin Iwuji.
· Naivar spent four seasons at Rice as special teams coordinator and safeties coach in 2010 co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach from 2007-09. Their best season came in 2008 when Rice went
10-3, the Owls' best record since the 1950s, capped by a share of the Conference USA Western Division championship and a 38-14 rout of Western Michigan in the Texas Bowl. In the secondary, Naivar coached safety Andrew Sendejo, currently with the NFL's Minnesota Vikings, and safety Travis Bradshaw, who was named a Freshman All-American in 2008 and led the nation in solo tackles in 2009.
· Naivar moved to special teams coordinator and defensive line coach in 2010, helping guide Rice to some impressive accomplishments. Led by All-America punter Kyle Martens, the Owls were sixth in the nation in net punting. Rice ranked 26th in the nation in punt returns and had the nation's 10th-best kickoff returner, Charles Ross, who averaged 29 yards per return.
· Naivar also coached at Texas State from 2004-06, where he was defensive coordinator and safeties coach. That term was highlighted by the 2005 season, when the Bobcats posted an 11-3 record and advanced to the semifinals of the FCS playoffs. The Bobcats ranked in the nation's top 25 in scoring defense and total defense while generating 33 turnovers. His first season as Texas State saw defensive lineman Fred Evans named the Southland Conference Newcomer of the Year before being named an AFCA All-American, Southland Conference Player of the Year and Southland Defensive Player of the Year in 2005. Evans was one of two defensive players to be named Southland Conference Player of the Year under Naivar as defensive back Walter Musgrove earned the Southland Conference Student-Athlete of the Year honor in 2006. The two were part of a defensive group that earned seven First Team All-Southland Conference honors in Naivar's first three seasons with the Bobcats.
· Naivar was a graduate assistant at New Mexico and TCU before landing at Southern Illinois as special teams coordinator and defensive line coach, where punter John Armitrano earned Second Team Missouri Valley Conference honors in 1998 and kicker Scott Everhart was named to the league's All-Newcomer Team in 1999. Two of Naivar's defensive linemen, Andre Bailey and Bryan Archibald were named to the school's All-Century team in 2013.
· From there he coached at Sam Houston State, serving at various times as defensive coordinator, special teams coordinator, safeties coach and defensive line coach. The top campaign at SHSU was 2001, when the Bearkats went 10-3, were co-champions of the Southland Conference and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Division I-AA playoffs before losing to eventual national champion Montana. Naivar placed five players on All-Southland Conference teams while in Huntsville.
· Naivar was a four-year letterman, playing safety and quarterback, and was team captain at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees at Hardin-Simmons and began his coaching career there, helping lead the Cowboys to the NAIA Division II Playoffs in 1994 and `95.
