Football Names Jeff Faris Tight Ends Coach
January 19, 2022 | Football
LOS ANGELES -- UCLA head football coach Chip Kelly announced Wednesday the hiring of Jeff Faris as tight ends coach. Faris served in the positions of co-offensive coordinator and play caller, as well as quarterbacks coach this past season at Duke.
Faris joined the Duke staff in 2012 as a graduate assistant coach, a role he held for two seasons. He was promoted to assistant coach in March 2014, guiding the wide receivers from 2014-17 and the tight ends from 2018-2020 before being elevated again to co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in January 2021. Faris also served as the offensive recruiting coordinator from 2017-2020.
In the 2021 season, Mataeo Durant of the Blue Devils ranked second in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and 18th nationally in rushing (103.4 yards per game), while breaking Duke's single-season rushing record (1,241 yards). In addition, Durant rated fourth in the ACC and 24th in the nation in all-purpose yardage (124.8). Quarterback Gunnar Holmberg was listed second in the ACC and 19th in the country in completion percentage (67%). Receiver Jake Bobo earned All-ACC third-team recognition after a 74-catch season. His 6.2 receptions per game ranked 28th in the NCAA and his 66.2 yards-per-game mark was ninth best in the ACC. Duke ranked in the top half of the 14-team conference in rushing (fifth), passing (seventh) and total offense (seventh).
Tight end Noah Gray was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2021 NFL Draft after catching 29 balls for 285 yards and a pair of touchdowns in 2020. He ranked second in the ACC for a tight end in receptions and receiving yards. Gray became Duke's career receptions leader for a tight end after finishing with 105. In 2019, Gray earned Second-Team All-America honors from the Walter Camp Foundation. Among tight ends, he led the ACC and rated second across Power Five conferences with 51 catches that season.
The 2018 season was Faris' first with the tight ends and he helped Daniel Helm and Davis Koppenhaver finish their Duke careers on high notes. Helm earned All-ACC third-team and Google Cloud Academic All-District III first-team honors and Koppenhaver set the Duke record for career touchdown receptions by a tight end. Helm went on to represent the Blue Devils at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis and signed a free agent contract with the Los Angeles Chargers. Koppenhaver also inked a free agent deal, signing with the Green Bay Packers.
Koppenhaver caught seven touchdown passes in 2018, tying the Duke single-season record for receiving scores by a tight end. He also joined wide receiver T.J. Rahming (eight) and wide receiver Johnathan Lloyd (five) in forming the first trio in program history to have five or more receiving scores each in a season. Koppenhaver caught his 11th career touchdown pass versus North Carolina to establish a school record for most in a career by a Duke tight end.
At the conclusion of the 2018 season, Faris was named the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) FBS Assistant Coach of the Year. The AFCA selected one assistant coach from each of the five divisions of college football for his dedication to his team and community. The honorees annually are assistant coaches who excel in community service, commitment to the student-athlete, on-field coaching success and AFCA professional organization involvement.
In 2017, as wide receivers coach, Faris mentored Rahming to All-ACC honorable mention acclaim after he led the Blue Devils in both pass receptions (65) and receiving yards (795). Rahming topped the 40-catch and 500-yard plateaus for the third consecutive season and became just the 10th player in Duke history to reach 2,000 receiving yards in a career. Duke's two other starting wideouts โLloyd and Chris Taylor โ contributed 39 and 25 receptions, respectively.
The emergence of Rahming and Lloyd highlighted the 2016 season for Faris' unit, as Rahming topped the team in receptions (70) and receiving yards (742), while Lloyd was second in catches (34) and fourth in receiving yards (301). Lloyd also tied for the squad lead in touchdown receptions with three. Redshirt senior Anthony Nash was a key contributor for the Blue Devils during the first seven games of the year before suffering an injury. Nash, who signed an NFL free agent contract with the Denver Broncos, finished with 29 catches for 398 yards and two touchdowns, both at Notre Dame, helping Duke to a 38-35 victory over the Fighting Irish.
The 2015 season featured Max McCaffrey as Duke's top receiving target, as the senior wideout caught 52 passes for 643 yards and five touchdowns โ all team highs for the season. McCaffrey, who signed an NFL free agent contract with the Green Bay Packers, finished his career with 117 receptions for 1,341 yards and 12 touchdowns. Freshman Rahming and redshirt junior Nash complemented McCaffrey by catching 43 and 32 passes, respectively. Rahming set school freshman single-game records for pass receptions (12) and receiving yardage (190) against Virginia. Nash enjoyed his best season by averaging a team-high 14.8 yards per reception and posting 100-yard games against Pittsburgh (101) and Virginia (104) in consecutive weeks.
In 2014, Faris guided senior Jamison Crowder to a record-breaking finishing season. Selected by Washington in the 2015 NFL Draft, Crowder ended his career with 283 receptions to match the Duke and ACC career records previously set by former teammate Conner Vernon. Crowder's 3,641 receiving yards marked the second most by a Blue Devil and ranked third in ACC history, behind only Vernon (3,749) and Florida State's Rashad Greene (3,830). In addition, Crowder joined Duke's Clarkston Hines (1987-89) as the only ACC players with three 1,000-yard seasons and finished as the only player in ACC history to catch 100 or more passes in a season (108 in 2013).
Also in 2014, wideout Issac Blakeney turned in his best year as a Blue Devil, catching 47 passes for 559 yards and a team-high seven touchdowns. Blakeney agreed to terms with the NFL's San Francisco 49ers following the season.
In 2013, Faris worked alongside coach Scottie Montgomery with Duke's wide receivers as the Blue Devil offense ranked among ACC leaders in scoring (32.8 points per game, fifth), total offense (426.1 yards per game, fourth), rushing offense (178.0 yards per game, fifth) and passing offense (248.1 yards per game, sixth). On its way to the ACC Coastal Division championship, the 2013 Duke squad set a school record for total points (459) while becoming the first team in school history to post 25-plus rushing touchdowns and 25-plus passing touchdowns in the same season.
Faris, who played safety for the Blue Devils, graduated magna cum laude from Duke in 2011 with a degree in economics โ an accomplishment achieved in just three years. In 2009, he earned the Mike Suglia Award, an honor presented annually to the sophomore member of the Duke football program who best exemplifies the academic and athletic qualities of the late Mike Suglia.
In 2011, Faris received the Micah Harris Trinity Teammate Award, which is presented each season to a Duke player who displays the traits of a true teammate โ character, unselfishness, compassion and pride. In the spring of 2011, Faris was honored by the ACC with a Top 6 for Service award.
A native of Knoxville, Tenn., Faris earned a master's degree in economics from Duke in 2012 and a master's degree in Christian studies in 2013. He is married to the former Natalie Scarbrough of Clinton, Tenn.