When Chidera Uzo-Diribe moved on to join the Dallas Cowboys, he left a void in Kirby Smart’s defensive staff. Now, Georgia is quietly circling a replacement. As per reports, they are zeroing in on pulling an assistant from Rich Rodriguez’s West Virginia staff who was just hired a month ago.

The Georgia Bulldogs are working to hire West Virginia’s pass rush specialist, Larry Knight, as their next outside linebackers coach, as per On3. Knight just joined Rodriguez’s staff at the Mountaineers in January 2026. Now, he could be SEC-bound before he’s even had time to fully unpack.

“Larry has done an outstanding job of building defensive lines and developing pass rushers who can bring pressure off the edge,” Rodriguez said at the time of his hiring. “His ability as a lead recruiter at several of his stops brings our program another experienced recruiter. I want to welcome him and his wife, Marquita, to the WVU Football Family.”

Before West Virginia, he spent last season at Arkansas State as the defensive ends coach and run game coordinator, helping lead the Red Wolves to a seven-win season and a second-place finish in the Sun Belt West. Arkansas State got after quarterbacks with an insane thirty-nine sacks.

The nine-sack explosion against Troy matched the best single-game total in the country. All four starting DL earned all-conference honors. And that’s exactly the kind of production Georgia is looking forward to.  Knight’s resume says he’s been grinding for this exact opportunity.

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He had stops at Temple Owls football, Georgia Tech, Georgia State Panthers football, and even a Bill Walsh Minority Internship with the Green Bay Packers. At Georgia Tech, he helped land a top-25 recruiting class and built the program’s highest-rated defensive line haul. And now? He’ll be stepping into one of the most pressure-packed development jobs. But first, let’s take a step back to see how this all unfolded.

Uzo-Diribe heads to Cowboys

Chidera Uzo-Diribe’s rise has been really quick. He started off as a four-year letterman at Colorado, leaving school tied for sixth in career sacks and second in forced fumbles.

After graduation, he bounced around here and there in the coaching world. He has stops as a graduate assistant at Colorado, at Kansas, SMU, and TCU where he learned all the  techniques and scheme knowledge wherever he could.

Then in 2022, Uzo‑Diribe took over outside linebackers at Georgia under Kirby Smart. That season, the Bulldogs went undefeated, capping it with a 65-7 win over TCU in the national championship game. He worked closely with edge rushers, mentoring future NFL players like Nolan Smith and Robert Beal.

“Yeah Chidera gives us great energy, enthusiasm,” Smart said. “Played the position. Easy to recruit outside backers, defensive ends at the University of Georgia… he’s got a really good track record. high character, very enthusiastic, and we’ve seen the impact on our players with what he’s done.”

But even in success, the NFL kept calling. The Dallas Cowboys, in the middle of overhauling their defensive staff under new coordinator Christian Parker, made their move.

“There is too much to be thankful and grateful for,” Uzo-Diribe said as a thank-you message to Dawg fans.“This place has done more for me and my family than we can ever imagine. We want to thank the Georgia community and the people of Athens! This place has taken my family in with open arms and allowed us to call it HOME. This place has changed my family’s life and career forever, and I can’t thank y’all enough. The University of Georgia is the premier institution in college athletics. We are forever thankful for this place, and it will always hold a special place in our hearts.cc

For Georgia, it was a painful loss. Uzo-Diribe recruited elite prospects like Damon Wilson and Isaiah Gibson. The timing couldn’t have been worse, coming just weeks after the Bulldogs had to rebuild parts of their coaching tree.

Now, Uzo-Diribe is stepping into the NFL spotlight for the first time. From Colorado to Kansas, to SMU, TCU, Georgia, and now Dallas, he’s carried the lessons of every stop and the pressure-cooker moments that have shaped him. With Chidera Uzo-Diribe off to Dallas can Georgia convince Larry Knight to step into the SEC’s spotlight?