BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – First-year head football coach Tyson Helton has added an
experienced presence to the running backs room as 27-year coaching veteran Garret
Chachere was named the program’s new running backs coach on Thursday.
Chachere (pronounced ‘SASH-uh-RAY’) comes to The Hill following a one-year stint at
Southeastern Louisiana where he served as passing game coordinator and running backs
coach.
A former offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator, he has coached every
position except offensive line during his career and coached on both sides of the
ball in bowl games. He has both running backs and linebackers that he coached
currently in the NFL and the CFL. The versatile coach has coached all-conference
performers on offense, defense and special teams.
Chachere has also coached on staffs with eight future NFL quarterbacks, including
Super Bowl LII MVP Nick Foles and first overall pick Jared Goff. He also coached
former Arizona running back Ka’deem Carey, a two-time Pac-12 Offensive Player of the
Year and Chicago Bears draft pick.
In his lone season at Southeastern Louisiana, Chachere’s top two running backs each
earned All-Southland Conference honors with junior Devonte Williams earning
first-team honors as a punt returner and junior back Darren Johnson picking up
honorable mention honors at his position.
Prior to SLU, Chachere was the offensive coordinator at New Mexico Highlands for the
2017 season. NMHU was one of 10 Division II teams to average over 5.0 yards a carry,
and the Cowboys improved over 80 spots in the national rankings in total offense,
passing offense and rushing offense from the previous season. Under his guidance,
NMHU set a new single-game record with 727 total yards versus Adams State.
Prior to his time at New Mexico Highlands, Chachere spent four seasons on the
coaching staff at the University of California, including the final two as associate
head coach. He was the Golden Bears’ running back coach in 2016. He coached the
linebackers in 2014 and 2015 at Cal, after opening his tenure in Berkeley as the
defensive ends coach in 2013.
The 2015 defense helped the Bears to their first eight-win season since 2009 and a
win in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl. The defense improved in every category
from the previous season, including allowing 9.1 less points per game than the
previous season.
Chachere spend the 2012 campaign at Southern Miss as the Golden Eagles’ special
teams coordinator and tight ends coach, after spending three seasons on the
offensive staff at Arizona. He was the running backs coach for the Wildcats in 2011,
after spending the 2009 and 2010 seasons as the wide receivers coach.
His first two seasons in Arizona saw the Wildcats compete in the Holiday and Alamo
Bowls. The 2010 Wildcats featured the nation’s ninth-ranked passing offense, as
Chachere’s charges, David Douglas (52 passes, 515 cards, five touchdowns) and David
Roberts (44-487), were standouts for Arizona.
Chachere oversaw one of the nation’s top special team units during the 2007 and 2008
seasons at Memphis. Both of his campaigns with the Tigers ended with Memphis
competing in bowl games – the 2007 New Orleans Bowl and 2008 St. Petersburg Bowl.
From 1999-2006, Chachere was the linebackers coach at Tulane and the punt return
coordinator for his first five seasons with the Green Wave. He mentored Anthony
Cannon, a 2006 NFL Draft selection by the Detroit Lions. A first team All-Conference
USA performer as a senior, Cannon posted four straight 100-tackle seasons under
Chachere’s tutelage and ranked third all-time on the league’s career tackles list at
the end of his Green Wave career. Prior to departing Tulane for Memphis, Chachere
recruited running back Matt Forte to the school.
Chachere played for the Green Wave in 1987 and 1988 and was a member of the 1987
Independence Bowl team under then-head coach Mack Brown. A 1992 graduate of Tulane,
the New Orleans native and Brother Martin High School alum earned his bachelor’s
degree in communication.
THE GARRET CHACHERE FILE
PERSONAL
Hometown: New Orleans, La.
College: Tulane, ’92
PLAYING CAREER
College: Tulane (1987-88)
COACHING CAREER
1992: Cheyney (Defensive Backs/Running Backs)
1993: Bloomsburg (Defensive Backs)
1994: Bucknell (Defensive Backs/Special Teams Coordinator)
1995: Nicholls (Linebackers)
1998: ULM (Tight Ends/Wide Receivers)
1999-03: Tulane (Linebackers/Punt Return Coordinator)
2004-06: Tulane (Linebackers)
2007-08: Memphis (Special Teams Coordinator)
2009-11: Arizona (Wide Receivers)
2011: Arizona (Running Backs)
2012: Southern Miss (Tight Ends/Special Teams Coordinator)
2013: California (Defensive Line)
2014-15: California (Linebackers)
2016: California (Running Backs)
2017: New Mexico Highlands (Offensive Coordinator)
2018: Southeastern Louisiana (Running Backs/Passing Game Coordinator)
2019: WKU (Running Backs)
