Football
- Title:
- Special Teams Coordinator
- Email:
- gmcmahon@tulane.edu
- Phone:
- 314-2425
Greg McMahon – an NFL coaching veteran with unmatched expertise in special teams play – enters his second season as Tulane’s special teams coordinator in 2024 after arriving on campus during the spring of 2023.
In 2023, Tulane was the top kick returning unit in the AAC and ranked 10th nationally with their average of 24.81 a return. The team’s special teams units saw Valentino Ambrosio rank second in the conference in scoring with 105 points and Shedro Louis place eighth nationally in kick returns at 28.4. The team saw return specialist Jha’Quan Jackson (Third Team), punter Will Karoll (Honorable Mention) and Louis (Honorable Mention) recognized with spots on the AAC’s All-Conference lists.
He spent the 2022 season coordinating special teams for the USFL’s Houston Gamblers and XFL’s Houston Roughnecks.
Prior to 2022, McMahon, who has won both a Super Bowl and college football national championship, spent five seasons with LSU, where he joined the staff as an analyst in 2017 and later took over as special teams coordinator.
The play of LSU’s special teams since McMahon took over that unit has gone a long way in the Tigers posting a 33-8 overall mark and claiming both the SEC and CFP National titles during that three-year span. LSU led the SEC in points by kicking in both 2018 and 2019 and finished No. 3 in the league in 2020.
Under McMahon’s leadership, All-American placekicker Cade York set multiple LSU kicking records, including setting the record for most career 50-yard field goals, longest field goal in school history and tying for No. 2 in school history in career field goals. Additionally, kickoff specialist Avery Atkins finished his career at LSU as the record holder for every kickoff category.
In 2020, McMahon’s special teams roster featured All-SEC selection punter Zach Von Rosenberg, who capped his career as one of the best to ever play the position for the Tigers. Von Rosenberg, a four-year starter, ranks No. 2 in LSU history in punting yards and punts and is No. 3 in career average.
LSU also accounted for two special teams touchdowns – one punt return and one return of a blocked punt, in 2019.
McMahon’s impact on LSU’s special teams was nothing short of remarkable in 2018 as the Tigers rode the leg of record-setting kicker Cole Tracy, along with the punting of Von Rosenberg and kickoff ability of Atkins to a 10-3 record and a Fiesta Bowl victory.
In his first full season in charge of LSU special teams, McMahon’s unit set or tied seven school-records, including field goals in a game (5 vs. Georgia), field goals in a season (29), longest field goal (54 yards by Tracy vs. Miami) and points by kicking in a game (18 by Tracy vs. Georgia).
The Tigers led the SEC in points scored by kicking (129) and field goals made (29), finished second in the league in kickoff returns (24.7) and were third in net punting (41.0).
Individually, graduate transfer Tracy, who kicked a 42-yard walk-off field goal to beat Auburn, 22-21, in September, earned second team All-America honors and was a finalist for the Lou Groza Award in his only season with the Tigers. Tracy capped his collegiate career with more field goals (97) and points kicking (502) than any player in college football history, no matter the division.
Tracy led the SEC and ranked No. 2 in the nation in field goals (29) and field goals per game (2.23). He also paced the league in scoring (129), which ranked No. 7 nationally.
Von Rosenberg earned second team All-SEC honors after finishing No. 2 in the league in punting with a 45.7 average, which ranks as the third-best single-season total in school history.
Prior to his arrival as an analyst for the Tigers in the fall of 2017, McMahon spent 11 years with the New Orleans Saints, the first two as assistant special teams coordinator followed by nine seasons as special teams coordinator. During his 11 years with the Saints, special teams play under McMahon was defined by solid performances in the kicking game, coverage units and by the return specialists.
Under McMahon’s watch, the Saints recovered 15 fumbles on special teams, scored 12 touchdowns – including seven on punt returns – and blocked three punts, five field goals and three extra points. With McMahon on staff, the Saints made five playoff appearances, won the NFC South three times and claimed the franchise’s first Super Bowl championship with a 31-17 win over the Colts in Super Bowl XLIV.
As the special teams coordinator for the Saints, McMahon was responsible for some of the best special teams play in franchise history. In the biggest win in Saints history – the Super Bowl victory over the Colts – New Orleans became the first team to successfully execute an onside kick prior to the fourth quarter of a Super Bowl. Called “Ambush”, the Saints shifted the momentum of the game in their favor with the onside kick to open the second half, going from down 10-6 at halftime to taking a 13-10 advantage following the onside kick.
Saints kicker Garrett Hartley also became the first player in Super Bowl history to kick three field goals of 40-yards or more in the same game.
In 2014, New Orleans’ punt coverage units ranked first in the NFL in opponent punt return average (4.1), setting a club record. Punter Thomas Morstead, who evolved into one of the best in the league at his position, ranked No. 2 in the NFL in net punting in 2014 with a 42.9 average.
In 2013, Morstead finished third in the league in net punting (42.3) and the Saints won three games, including one in the postseason, on field goals at the end of regulation. Morstead earned a spot in the Pro Bowl and was named second team All-Pro by the Associated Press in 2012 after he set club records for both gross (50.1) punting average and net (43.2) punting average. His 42.3 ranked second in NFL history at the time.
McMahon had perhaps his best year with the Saints in 2011 as the club finished eighth in the Dallas Morning News special teams rankings. Morstead finished second in the NFC and fourth in the NFL with a 48.3 gross punting average and second in the league with a 43.1 net average. Morstead also ranked first in the league with an NFL-record 68 touchbacks. Kicker John Kasay ranked second in the NFL in scoring among kickers and set a team record with 147 points.
Darren Sproles made an immediate impact on the return units, handling both punt and kickoff return duties as part of a season where he set an NFL record with 2,696 all-purpose yards. He averaged 10.2 yards on punt returns with one touchdown and ranked third in the NFC and sixth in the league on kickoff returns. McMahon’s coverage units ranked fifth in the NFL in opponent punt return average, allowing only 6.2 yards per return.
In McMahon’s first season as coordinator in 2008, New Orleans finished as one of only four teams to rank in the top 10 in both punt return average (fourth) and kickoff return average (eighth). Reggie Bush scored on two punt returns against Minnesota to tie an NFL record.
McMahon served as assistant special teams coach for his first two years in New Orleans, following a one-year stint as tight ends/special teams coach at East Carolina. In 2005, the Pirates finished in the top 20 in the nation in field goal accuracy. McMahon also coached tight ends as part of a staff that directed ECU to the fourth-highest passing total in school history.
McMahon, a graduate of Eastern Illinois, served on the coaching staff at Illinois for 13 years before transitioning to the NFL. At Illinois, McMahon coached wide receivers for five years and then spent eight years coaching special teams and the tight ends. McMahon was part of the 2001 Illinois staff that won the Big 10 and faced LSU in the Sugar Bowl.
In his 13 years with the Illini (1992-2004), McMahon coached wide receivers from 1992-96 and then spent the rest of his time from 1997-2004 as special teams coordinator and tight ends coach.
Based on the records his units established, the play of the special teams during McMahon’s years at Illinois are unmatched in school history. Illinois blocked 16 kicks from 2001-04 and accounted for nine touchdowns. Players under his direction included the school leaders in career punting average, single-season scoring and all-time punt return yardage.
McMahon joined Illinois in 1992 from Nevada-Las Vegas where he spent two years as special teams coordinator as well as coaching offensive tackles and tight ends. He has also had stints with Valdosta (Ga.) State, Southern Illinois, North Alabama, Minnesota and his alma mater Eastern Illinois.
As a defensive back at Eastern Illinois, he was a member of two teams that played for the NCAA Division II National Championship. The Panthers won the title in 1978 and again went to the championship game two years later. McMahon earned a degree in psychology from EIU in 1982.
McMahon and his wife Linda have three children and two grandchildren.
