USC Safeties Coach Craig Naivar Joins SMU

Craig Naivar is just another name affected by the wave of coaching turnovers caused by the University of Southern California’s hiring of Lincoln Riley. Naivar is set to join the Southern Methodist University Mustangs as their special teams coordinator and safeties coach, SMU announced.

Naivar has a long history in college football. He was most recently hired as the safeties coach at USC back in February 2020. While at USC, he coached safety Talanoa Hufanga who was a consensus All-American first-teamer, the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, and a fifth-round 2021 NFL draft pick. Before that, he coached the safeties at the University of Texas for three years. During two of his years in Austin, he served as the co-defensive coordinator and as the interim defensive coordinator during the Longhorns blowout victory over No. 12 Utah in the 2019 Alamo Bowl.

Safeties Caden Sterns and DeShon Elliot also found success under Naivar – Stems as the Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year and Elliot as an unanimous All-American and Thorpe Award Finalist. Both of them play in the NFL now.

The 2014-15 seasons were spent in Houston where Naivar also served as co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach. Under Naivar, the defense forced the most takeaways in the nation. They were also the nation’s No. 20 scoring defense. Previously, Naivar spent time coaching at Kentucky, Texas State and Rice.

Naivar brings a track record of success to the Mustangs’ locker room.