Glenn Spencer (born May 1, 1964) is an American college football coach. He is currently the linebackers coach at

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Reynolda Campus, the un ...

, a position he has held since 2022. Spencer previously served as the defensive coordinator and safeties coach at the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF i ...

. He played college football at

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

Early life and playing career

A native of Douglasville, Georgia, Spencer was a four-year letterman at

from 1982 to 1985, where he played defensive tackle. He earned a degree in management from Georgia Tech in 1987.

Coaching career

Early coaching career

Spencer began his coaching career at West Georgia, where he spent seven seasons as the linebackers coach, before being promoted to defensive coordinator in 1997. He was promoted to head coach in 1998, and spent 3 seasons as head coach of the Wolves, accumulating a 28–7 record, as well as two

Gulf South Conference The Gulf South Conference (GSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the Southeastern United States. History Originally known as the Mi ...

titles. Spencer was inducted into the West Georgia Hall of Fame in 2017. Spencer was hired as an assistant coach at his alma mater

, where he spent his first season as the running backs coach before being shifted to the defensive line coach for two seasons. He left Georgia Tech to accept a position on former college teammate

Ted Roof Terrence Edwin Roof Jr. (born December 11, 1963) is an American football coach and former player who is the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at the University of Oklahoma. He previously served as a defensive analyst at Clemson Universi ...

's inaugural staff at

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

Duke

Spencer was named the assistant head coach and defensive backs coach at Duke in 2004, where he also served as the team's recruiting coordinator. He spent the first three seasons as the defensive backs coach before being shifted to coach inside linebackers in 2007. Following the termination of Roof after the 2007 season, he was not retained by the next head coach

David Cutcliffe David Nelson Cutcliffe (born September 16, 1954) is the Special Assistant to the Commissioner for Football Relations at the Southeastern Conference and former college football coach, most recently head coach of the Duke University Blue Devils. ...

Oklahoma State

Spencer was hired on

Mike Gundy Michael Ray Gundy (born August 12, 1967) is an American football coach and former player. He is the head football coach at Oklahoma State University. Gundy played college football at Oklahoma State, where he played quarterback from 1986 to 1989. ...

's coaching staff in 2008 to serve as the team's defensive line coach. He was shifted to coach linebackers in 2009, where he remained the linebackers coach for the rest of his tenure in Stillwater. He added co-defensive coordinator duties in addition to his linebackers coaching duties in 2011 before being named the defensive coordinator in 2013. Spencer was not retained by Oklahoma State after the 2017 season.

Charlotte

Following his termination from Oklahoma State, Spencer was hired by

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for the 2018 season. During his lone season at Charlotte, the 49ers only had a 5–7 record despite Spencer's defense being in the top 25 in terms of yards allowed. He left Charlotte after head coach Brad Lambert was fired and

Will Healy William Livingston Healy (born January 16, 1985) is an American football coach. He was the head coach at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in Charlotte, North Carolina from 2019 to 2022. At the time of hire on December 4, 2018, he wa ...

was hired.

Florida Atlantic

Spencer was named to

Lane Kiffin Lane Monte Kiffin (born May 9, 1975) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels. Kiffin formerly was the offensive coordinator for the USC Trojans football team from 2005 to 2006, head coach of the Nati ...

's staff at Florida Atlantic to serve as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for the 2019 season. Hours after Florida Atlantic's victory in their conference championship game, Kiffin departed Florida Atlantic to take the head coaching job at Ole Miss. Spencer was named the interim head coach for their bowl game against SMU. Despite the Florida Atlantic players lobbying for Spencer to be named the permanent head coach, former

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

head coach

Willie Taggart Willie Author Taggart (born August 27, 1976) is an American football college coach. He has held the head coach position at five NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision programs: Western Kentucky (2009 to 2012 seasons); South Florida (2013 to ...

was named the team's new head coach.

South Florida

Spencer was named the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for the South Florida football team, joining his counterpart, former Florida Atlantic offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. on

Jeff Scott Jeffrey Bradford Scott (born December 28, 1980) is an American football coach. He was the head coach at the University of South Florida from 2020 to 2022. Playing career Born in Arcadia, Florida, Scott later lived in Seneca, South Carolina and ...

's inaugural staff. He and Weis were both signed to three year deals--Spencer's salary was $500,000. On November 21st, 2021, Spencer was fired by head coach Jeff Scott after posting a bottom 10 defense in all of FBS for the 2021 season.

Wake Forest

In February of 2022, Spencer was hired as the linebackers coach for the

Wake Forest Demon Deacons football The Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team represents Wake Forest University in the sport of American football. The Demon Deacons compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Atl ...

team by head coach

Dave Clawson David Paul Clawson (born August 16, 1967) is an American football coach and former player. He currently serves as the head football coach at Wake Forest University, where he was named the 2021 ACC Coach of the Year. Clawson previously served a ...

Personal life

Spencer's wife, Angela, died in 2011 from heart disease. The couple had two sons, Luke and Abraham. Spencer and former

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

reporter Jeannine Edwards were engaged on February 17, 2013, and were married on July 12, 2013.

Head coaching record

Notes

References

External links

*
Wake Forest profile

South Florida Bulls profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Glenn 1964 births Living people American football defensive tackles Charlotte 49ers football coaches Duke Blue Devils football coaches Florida Atlantic Owls football coaches Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football coaches Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football players Oklahoma State Cowboys football coaches South Florida Bulls football coaches Wake Forest Demon Deacons football coaches West Georgia Wolves football coaches People from Douglasville, Georgia Sportspeople from the Atlanta metropolitan area Coaches of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state)