Auburn, Hugh Freeze Add Pair of Defensive Coaches, Including Former Super Bowl Champ

Hugh Freeze and the Auburn Tigers have promoted from within as well as hired a former FAU linebackers coach.

New Auburn Tigers safety coach T.J. Rushing was a Super Bowl Champ with the Indianapolis Colts. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

via Auburn University Athletics

AUBURN, Ala.—Coaching veterans T.J. Rushing and Roc Bellantoni have been named defensive assistant coaches at Auburn, head coach Hugh Freeze announced Wednesday. Rushing, who joined Auburn’s staff in June 2024 as a special assistant to the head coach, will coach Auburn’s safeties, while Bellantoni, who was most recently at Florida Atlantic and coached at Auburn from 2021-22, will coach the Tigers’ outside linebackers.

“We’re excited to move T.J. back into an on-field role as well as welcome Roc back to the Plains,” Freeze said. “T.J. has a Super Bowl champion pedigree and is an outstanding coach who relates very well with our players. Roc has a wealth of knowledge and experienced a lot of success in three decades of coaching at various levels during his career.”

A Super Bowl champion as a player, Rushing has over 12 years of coaching experience at the collegiate level including stops at Memphis, Stanford, Arizona State, Northern Arizona and Texas A&M.

“I’m very appreciative to Coach Freeze and Coach Durkin for this opportunity,” Rushing said. “I witnessed firsthand this past season how special Auburn is and what we are building here. I’m very familiar with Coach Durkin’s defense, previously working with him at another school, and know our defensive personnel here very well. I look forward to helping us build a championship-level defense and team.”

Bellantoni has 30 years of coaching experience, including 17 years as a defensive coordinator and another four years as a special teams coordinator. 

“I am so thankful to Coach Freeze for allowing me the opportunity to return to the Plains,” Bellantoni said. “I thoroughly enjoyed my previous time at Auburn. I am excited and can’t wait to get back to work. Auburn is a special place with special people. I look forward to doing my part to help Coach Freeze succeed. I believe in Auburn and love it!”

T.J. RUSHING BIOGRAPHY

A member of the Super Bowl XLI champion Indianapolis Colts, Rushing spent four seasons as defensive backs coach at Texas A&M before his arrival at Auburn. Rushing worked alongside current Auburn defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin for two seasons while at A&M.

During his last season with A&M, he helped the program finish in the top 20 nationally in total defense (19th, 316.2), rushing defense (13th, 108.8), first down defense (13th, 214) and third down defense (18th, .322). On seven occasions the Aggie defense held opponents to less than 150 yards passing.

In 2022 the Aggies led the nation with the fewest passing yards allowed (156.2) per game, while holding opponents to less than 150 yards through the air in six games and limited the opposition to less than 100 yards on three occasions. Texas A&M ranked No. 17 in the nation and No. 4 in the SEC in passing defense efficiency (117.10), while allowing only 20.7 points per game which ranked No. 22 in the country and No. 4 in the SEC.

His first season in College Station, he helped the Aggies lead the SEC and rank among the top 10 in the nation in total defense. His guidance helped A&M post a program-best 8-1 regular season record against all SEC opponents. The team boasted a top five ranking through the end of the season, which concluded with A&M's big win over North Carolina in the Orange Bowl, the program's first appearance in a New Year's 6 Bowl.

Rushing came to Texas A&M after spending the 2018 and 2019 seasons as Memphis' defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator. He helped lead the Tigers to a program-record 12 wins, including the school's first outright conference championship since 1969, and a berth in the New Year's 6 Cotton Bowl in 2019. Over his two seasons on staff, the Tigers grabbed 18 interceptions and forced 37 total turnovers, returning four for touchdowns.

The Tigers' 2019 defense ranked 18th among FBS teams with a passing efficiency defense rating of 115.36 and ranked 25th in the nation with an average of 7.0 tackles for loss per game.

At Arizona State, Rushing tutored Freshman All-American Chase Lucas, who led the Sun Devils with two interceptions and seven pass breakups and also made 53 tackles from his cornerback position in 2017.

Before returning to Arizona State, Rushing was a defensive assistant at Stanford in 2015 working primarily with the cornerbacks. That year, behind All-Pac-12 selection Ronnie Harris, the Cardinal posted a 12-2 record, won the conference championship and defeated No. 5 Iowa in the Rose Bowl.

Rushing spent the 2014 season coaching cornerbacks at Northern Arizona. The Lumberjacks had the conference's best pass defense, allowing an average of 176.8 yards per game through the air, and ranked second with a team pass efficiency defense rating of 122.03.

Rushing began his coaching career at Arizona State, serving as a graduate assistant in 2012 and defensive quality control coach in 2013. In 2012, the Sun Devils led the Pac-12 in passing defense (167.9 ypg), which was the third lowest in the country, and led the conference in pass efficiency defense (105.45), ranking 10th in the country. Arizona State also nabbed 21 interceptions, the fourth-highest total in the nation, and all four starting defensive backs earned all-conference honors.

Rushing played five seasons in the NFL, the first four with the Indianapolis Colts after being selected in the seventh round of the 2006 NFL Draft. He helped the Colts win the Super Bowl his rookie year and returned to the Super Bowl three years later.

Rushing was drafted after a collegiate career that put him among the greatest returners in Stanford history. He twice earned All-Pac-10 honors, including a spot as a first team specialist in 2004. Rushing's three kickoff return touchdowns are tied for the program record, and he left school ranking second in program history with 1,409 career kickoff return yards and third with an average of 27.1 yards per kickoff return.

Rushing appeared in 43 career games and made 19 starts at cornerback for the Cardinal. He recorded 147 tackles, including 13.0 for loss with 4.0 sacks, four interceptions, 14 pass breakups, four forced fumbles, two blocked kicks and one fumble recovery.

Rushing was a sprinter for the Stanford track & field team his first two years on campus. He ran the leadoff leg on Stanford's 4×100-meter relay team that broke the school record with a time of 39.71 seconds in 2004.

Rushing earned his bachelor's degree in political science from Stanford in 2006. He and his wife, Taylor, have three children, Collin, Mora and Terrall III.

BELLANTONI BIOGRAPHY

A 30-year coaching veteran, Bellantoni has coached at every level, been a part of seven conference championships, seven FCS playoffs, and three bowl games. He has mentored 29 players who played professionally, including five NFL Draft picks.

Bellantoni spent the previous two seasons as defensive coordinator at Florida Atlantic, marking his second stint at the school, where from 2014-16 he was instrumental in recruiting many of the Owls that made the 2017 and 2018 Conference USA and Boca Raton Bowl Championships a reality.

Under Bellantoni's watch in 2024, true freshman safety CJ Heard had instant impact, leading the nation in freshman tackles for much of the season and finishing with a team-high 80 tackles, good enough to earn a spot on the All-American Athletic Conference third team.

In 2023, Bellantoni's defensive unit tied a team record for tackles for loss in a season with 88, ranking seventh nationally, and tied the single-game team record with 15 against East Carolina. Following the season, senior DL Evan Anderson earned an NFL opportunity, becoming a rotational piece on the San Francisco 49ers defensive line. Anderson received All-AAC third team honors along with graduate safety Jarron Morris.

His 2023 Owl defense shifted from a spring concern to a season strength. FAU defense held opponents to 25.5 points per game a three-year low despite playing five teams that played for a 2022 conference title game. Florida Atlantic's defense ended the year ranked No. 29 nationally in defensive TDs. The Owls defense was aggressive finishing 2023 ranked No. 12 in team tackles for a loss, bolstered by 13 tackles for a loss versus USF and ultimately ending the season 88 TFL, tying the program record set in 2019 a season that FAU play a total of 14 games compared to 12 in 2023.

Bellantoni was named Auburn's edge linebackers coach and special teams coordinator in February 2022 after serving the previous year as a defensive analyst for the Tigers. In 2022, the Tigers’ top three tackles leaders were linebackers, including edge Derick Hall, who tallied 60 tackles. Hall had a team-leading 12 tackles for a loss of which seven were sacks while adding an interception, seven quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles and one recovery.

Prior to coming to Auburn in 2021, Bellantoni was the special teams coordinator and defensive assistant at Utah State in 2020. During his tenure with the Aggies he served as interim defensive coordinator for two games.

He spent the 2019 season as the interim defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Washington State, where he helped the Cougars to an appearance in the Cheez-It Bowl. At WSU, two of his players earned all-Pac 12 honors in junior Jahad Woods and freshman Travion Brown. Woods finished the regular season ninth in the country and second in the Pac-12 with 121 tackles, most by a Cougar since 1996. 

Bellantoni spent two seasons at Buffalo, where he served as special teams coordinator and defensive ends coach in 2018 and director of player personnel in 2017. The Bulls’ defense ranked second in the MAC under his guidance and played in the 2018 Dollar General Bowl.

Bellantoni arrived at Buffalo from Florida Atlantic, where he spent three seasons as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach from 2014-16. At FAU, Bellantoni coached Trey Hendrickson, currently a defensive end for the New Orleans Saints. Hendrickson ended his storied career, three seasons of which came under Bellantoni, as the program’s all-time leader in sacks, tackles for loss, quarterback hurries and forced fumbles.

Prior to FAU, he coached the defensive line and special teams at Villanova. The 2013 Villanova team finished the season ranked No. 6 in the NCAA SRS rankings and the 2012 squad won the Colonial Athletic Association title and made an FCS playoffs appearance.

A graduate of Iona, Bellantoni gained his most coaching experience at Eastern Illinois. He was with the Panthers from 2001-11, serving as defensive line coach, defensive coordinator (2007-11), and finally, associate head coach (2007-11). Bellantoni helped Eastern Illinois win five Ohio Valley Conference Championships (2009, 2006, 2005, 2002, and 2001) and make six NCAA playoff appearances.

 Bellantoni also served as the acting head coach at Eastern Illinois for the final two games of the 2007 season, which included its FCS playoff appearance. Bellantoni also had coaching stints at Drake and Buena Vista University. He started his coaching career at Mamaroneck High School.

He and his wife, Jenny, have four sons, Gino, Marco, Ricky and Nico.