David Turner
	Position: Assistant Head Coach, Defensive Line

David Turner, whose 26 years of coaching experience features 12 seasons at four Southeastern Conference schools, is in his second stint at Kentucky, serving as assistant head coach and defensive line coach.

Turner has developed a veteran line for 2012, with senior ends Collins Ukwu and Taylor Wyndham, junior tackles Mister Cobble and Donte Rumph, along with several promising young players.

Turner returned to UK from Mississippi State, where he guided the defensive line from 2007-09. In his first season at MSU, he helped the Bulldogs to their first postseason appearance in seven years, a championship of the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. Three of his linemen, second-team All-SEC performer Titus Brown, Jesse Bowman and Cortez McCraney, went on to sign NFL contracts. Turner had another All-SEC honoree in 2009, Pernell McPhee, and a Freshman All-SEC player in Fletcher Cox, who was taken as a first-round pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.

Turner joined the MSU staff after one season at the University of Alabama. He coached the Crimson Tide defensive ends during his lone campaign in Tuscaloosa. UA finished 23rd nationally in total defense in 2006 and advanced to the Independence Bowl.

Prior to Alabama, Turner was the defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator at Vanderbilt from 2002-05. One of his linemen, tackle Jovan Haye, went on to the NFL and currently plays with the Tennessee Titans. Vanderbilt had a significant upgrade in talent level during Turner's term as recruiting coordinator as he helped bring in the players for the Commodores' eventual Music City Bowl championship in 2008.

A native of Goldston, N.C., Turner also has worked in the Big Ten Conference at Minnesota (2001), where he worked with the defensive ends, and in the Atlantic Coast Conference at Virginia (1997-2000), where he coached defensive tackles and linebackers. He also was co-special teams coordinator in his final season. The Cavaliers played in the Peach Bowl, Micronpc.com Bowl and the Oahu Classic during his term there.

Turner began his collegiate coaching career in 1986 as an assistant at his alma mater, Davidson College. He worked with the running backs and tight ends over a two-year stretch. In 1988, he moved to North Carolina State, serving two years as a defensive graduate assistant. He worked with a Wolfpack unit that ranked first in the ACC in total defense in 1988 while playing in the Peach Bowl and Copper Bowl.

He spent one year as the defensive line coach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, helping the team to a 12-2 overall record while reaching the Division II national championship game. He also worked two seasons at James Madison, helping the Dukes to a 9-4 record and a berth in the 1991 Division I-AA playoffs.

Turner returned to the Division I-A ranks in 1993. He spent two seasons as defensive ends coach at Kentucky, where he worked on the staff with Joker Phillips and helped the Wildcats advance to the `93 Peach Bowl. In 1995, he went back to N.C. State, coaching defensive ends and linebackers before going to Virginia in `97.

Turner is married to the former Yvette Modica and the couple has two daughters, Bianca and Alexyia.

Coaching Experience