COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – For any offense to work, the guys up front on the offensive line have to be at the top of their game. So when the offensive line coach position opened up, Tennessee Tech head football coach Marcus Satterfield wasted no time bringing in someone he could trust.

 

Lonnie Teasley was added to the staff, bringing in some valuable experience. Teasley takes over for Cam Wentz, who departed earlier this month.

 

"I'm excited to join this staff," he said. "It's a great group of coaches and with what Coach Satt has going here with the players we've got, it's an amazing opportunity."

 

Having coached with Satterfield and offensive coordinator Tyree Foreman before, Teasley brings in a familiarity to his system, his expectations and his goals.

 

"I know exactly what he's trying to do here with the culture and everything from schematics to details," Teasley said.

 

His goals for his offensive line players are simple: "To run the football and protect the quarterback," he said.

 

Tech's offensive line grew through the course of the 2016 season under the direction of David Napert and Wentz, now Teasley's looking forward to the opportunity to continue the momentum building with some experienced returnees and some talented newcomers.

 

"There's no secret to improving," Teasley said. "You get better at your craft, so we have to get better at the fundamentals, take them from where they're at and get them to another level. It's through fundamentals and how they attack them. They have to be disciplined, they have to be relentless and be ready to get better every day through fundamentals."

 

Teasley was most recently the run game coordinator and offensive line coach for University of New Haven, a Division II program in the Northeast 10 Conference.

 

But before that stop, he spent two seasons with the National Football League's Baltimore Ravens, assisting the team's offensive line coach as he helped with weekly game planning, drawings, scouting reports and breakdowns.

 

"That experience taught me even more that everything is important," Teasley said. "It's something we talked about a lot at Temple, but it was more evident there. The details are extremely important, and it also taught me that football is football, no matter what the level is. You've still got to be good at the blocking, the execution and all that simple stuff."

 

Teasley also had a quick stop at ASA College in Manhattan as the run game coordinator and offensive line coach for the Avengers.

 

However, he also had a stop in Philadelphia for the 2014 season as he coached with Satterfield and Foreman at Temple as the Owls' assistant offensive line coach.

 

Prior to Temple, Teasley got his collegiate coaching start at Delaware State, serving as an assistant coach and graduate assistant, overseeing the linebackers and tight ends for 2011 through 2013 seasons.

 

Teasley was also a teacher and football coach at Georgia's Brunswick High School.

 

He received his bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies from Winston-Salem State University in 2008 and was on the Rams' squad for five seasons after transferring in from Hofstra. In 2003 and 2004, he started every game and helped provide blocks for two running backs that surpassed 1,000 yards each in 2003 and 900 yards each in 2004.