Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboy Football
- Title:
- Defensive Line
First Year at OSU | 27th Year Overall
UT Martin, 1990
• Paul Randolph arrived in Stillwater in January of 2024 after most recently serving as the defensive line coach at Indiana for the 2022 and 2023 seasons. He has 26 years of collegiate coaching experience, with 23 years spent coaching the defensive line. He’s spent 14 seasons at the Power Five level.
• Randolph has coached in 17 bowl games during his career.
• During Randolph’s two seasons at Indiana, he coached Andre Carter to honorable mention All-Big Ten honors in 2023 and helped the Hoosiers improve their tackles for loss numbers in both seasons.
• Four of Randolph’s pupils garnered All-Big 12 honors in his stint with the Red Raiders. Eli Howard and Broderick Washington Jr. moved on to the NFL in 2021. Washington was a fifth-round selection by Baltimore, while Howard signed with Atlanta.
• Washington collected all-conference accolades in 2019 and was invited to the NFLPA and Reese’s Senior Bowls. Howard, who finished his career in the program’s top 10 in sacks, posted five in conference play en route to second-team all-conference recognition. He became the first Red Raider defensive lineman to earn first or second team honors since 2013.
• Texas Tech finished 31st in the country in tackles for loss in Randolph’s first campaign.
• Served as defensive line coach at the University of Memphis from 2016-18. The Tigers played in three bowl games and won 26 games along with two American West Division titles.
• Memphis created 81 takeaways in his three years, which ranked fourth nationally. The Tigers tied for fifth in the country with 29 takeaways in 2016 and tied for third in 2017 with 31. Of the 60 takeaways, 28 were fumble recoveries, which ranked in the Top 5 among FBS programs.
• Worked at Arizona State University from 2012-15, three as the associate head coach, co-defensive coordinator, and defensive line coach, and the final year as the associate athletics director for championship life.
• ASU posted a 28-12 overall record and 19-8 Pac-12 mark over his first three campaigns, each of which resulted in bowl trips. The Sun Devils recorded back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2013 and 2014, including a 14-4 conference mark.
• Five of Randolph’s defensive linemen earned All-Pac-12 recognition, headlined by Will Sutton, a 2012 consensus All-America selection and two-time Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year. Sutton was the Sun Devils first consensus All-American since 2007, and he became only the third defensive lineman in Pac-12 history to be named the Defensive Player of the Year in consecutive years. Four of the five all-league selections were either drafted or signed NFL free agent contracts.
• Arizona State led the nation in TFLs per game (9.0) and ranked second in sacks per game (4.0) in 2012. ASU ranked in the top 20 in both categories in 2013 and 2014 as well.
• Helped rebuild programs at Rice University (2006), the University of Tulsa (2007-10), and the University Pittsburgh (2011). He oversaw linebackers at Rice before moving back to the defensive line at Tulsa and Pitt.
• As executive associate head coach and co-defensive coordinator, the Panthers sat third nationally with 3.31 sacks per game. Pittsburgh closed out the season with a BBVA Compass Bowl berth.
• Tulsa won 36 games and went to three bowls over his time there. The executive senior associate head coach and co-defensive coordinator oversaw a defense that led the country in interceptions and finished third in takeaways in 2010.
• Randolph was part of a Rice staff that helped produce one of the top turnarounds in recent college football history. The Owls closed 2006 with victories in six of their final seven games to earn their first bowl berth in 45 years.
• Coached defensive ends at the University of Alabama from 2003-05, where the Crimson Tide boasted one of the nation’s top defenses. Alabama topped the country in scoring defense (10.7) during his final season, and finished second in total defense (255.1), fifth in passing defense (160.8), and ninth in rushing defense (94.3). Randolph was also named one of the nation’s top 25 recruiters by Rivals.
• Started his career as the linebackers coach at his alma mater, the University of Tennessee-Martin, in 1998. Randolph moved on to Valdosta State University (1999), Illinois State University (2000), the University of Toledo (2001), and West Virginia University (2002), the final three of which he oversaw special teams in addition to the defensive line.
Personal
• An all-conference linebacker, Randolph earned his degree in electrical engineering technology from UT Martin in 1990. He played 10 seasons in the Canadian Football League with stops at Winnipeg (1988-95) and Montreal (1996-97).
• In Montreal, Randolph served two years as a team captain and player-coach. Winnipeg won Grey Cup championships in 1988 and 1990, and he was inducted into the Blue Bombers Hall of Fame in 2002.
Year By Year
Year School Position
1998 UT Martin Linebackers
1999 Valdosta State Defensive Line
2000 Illinois State Defensive Line/Sp. Teams
2001 Toledo Defensive Line/Sp. Teams
2002 West Virginia Defensive Line/Sp. Teams
2003-05 Alabama Defensive Ends
2006 Rice Assistant Head Coach/
Def. Coord./Linebackers
2007-10 Tulsa Executive Sr. Assoc. HC/
Co-Def. Coord./Def. Line
2011 Pittsburgh Executive Assoc. HC/
Co-Def. Coord./Def. Line
2012-14 Arizona State Associate Head Coach/
Co-Def. Coord./Def. Line
2015 Arizona State Assoc. AD for
Championship Life
2016-18 Memphis Defensive Line
2019-21 Texas Tech Defensive Line
2022-23 Indiana Defensive Line
2024-pres. Oklahoma State Defensive Line
Bowl Games
2001 Motor City Bowl
2002 Continental Tire Bowl
2004 Music City Bowl
2005 Cotton Bowl
2006 New Orleans Bowl
2007 GMAC Bowl
2008 GMAC Bowl
2010 Hawaii Bowl
2011 BBVA Compass Bowl
2012 Fight Hunger Bowl
2013 Holiday Bowl
2014 Sun Bowl
2015 Cactus Bowl
2016 Boca Raton Bowl
2017 Liberty Bowl
2018 Birmingham Bowl
2021 Liberty Bowl
Prominent Pupils
Mark Anderson, Chicago Bears
Aaron Donald, Los Angeles Rams
Marcus Hardison, Cincinnati Bengals
Eli Howard, Atlanta Falcons
Antwan Odom, Tennessee Titans
Will Sutton, Chicago Bears
Broderick Washington Jr., Baltimore Ravens
Tyree Wilson, Las Vegas Raiders
Renell Wren, Pittsburgh Steelers
