Longtime NFL coach Robert Nunn was hired to head coach Shawn Clark's staff as the defensive line coach in February 2020.

During his first 31 years coaching football, Nunn spent 19 seasons in the NFL, winning a Super Bowl title in the process, and was a successful junior college head coach for nearly a decade before that.

In 2021, App State ranked No. 5 nationally with 112 tackles for loss and No. 21 by allowing a league-best 122.1 rushing yards per game. Demetrius Taylor was named a first-team All-Sun Belt defender for the third straight year thanks to a season with 7.0 sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss.
 
Taylor, defensive end Caleb Spurlin and Jordon Earle all received some All-Sun Belt recognition and freed up App State’s linebackers to the point that the four primary starters were the team’s four leading tacklers with a combined 332 stops.

In Nunn’s first season at App State, the Mountaineers ranked No. 16 nationally in scoring defense (20.0 points) and 17th in total defense (328.8 yards per game).
 
Taylor repeated as a first-team All-Sun Belt performer thanks to 6.0 sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss in App State's eight Sun Belt games, while former walk-ons Spurlin (end) and George Blackstock (tackle) performed well in starting roles.
 
Nunn’s connection to Boone involved Dale Jones, as Nunn was the head coach at Georgia Military College with Jones working as his defensive coordinator from 1992-95.

Before heading to App State, Nunn was the defensive line coach for the New York Jets from 2017-18. He was the defensive line coach for the New York Giants when they caught fire in the playoffs and beat the New England Patriots to win Super Bowl XLVI.
 
He also worked with the Cleveland Browns (2016), Giants (2010-15), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2009), Green Bay Packers (2005-08), Miami Dolphins (2001-02, 04) and Washington Redskins (2003). In addition to the Giants, he also helped the Dolphins to multiple playoff appearances and the Packers to a pair of playoff games.
   
During Nunn’s NFL coaching career, he was part of six top-10 defenses for three different teams, and 19 different players of his produced at least five sacks in a season. Of those 19 players, 11 matched or established their single-season career bests while coached by him. Among the players coached by Nunn in the NFL are Hall of Famers Bruce Smith, who broke the NFL career sacks record under him in 2003, and Jason Taylor, who established a single-season best 18.5 sacks in 2002, as well as Jason Pierre-Paul and Justin Tuck, both of whom registered multiple seasons of 10+ sacks with him, while Osi Umenyiora logged 11.5 in 2010.
 
Before entering the NFL coaching ranks, Nunn spent nine seasons at Georgia Military College in Milledgeville, Ga., including the last eight (1992-99) as head coach while compiling a 66-19 record at the helm. Jones was Nunn’s defensive coordinator for four seasons there. At GMC, Nunn mentored 13 NJCAA All-Americans and 15 players who went on to the NFL, including former App State standout Daniel Wilcox as well as Troy Albea, Robert Bean, Lorenzo Brommell, Terry Guess, Billy Gustin, Nic Clemons, Reggie Rhodes, Jimmy Robinson, Sulecio Sanford, Jermaine Smith, Keith Stokes, Allen Williams, Horace Willis and Peppi Zellner.
 
Nunn coached defensive ends under head coach Johnny Majors at Tennessee in 1989 and 1990, when he first worked on staff alongside Jones. The Vols went 20-3-2 with wins in the Cotton Bowl and Sugar Bowl during those two seasons. Nunn got his start in the coaching profession as defensive line coach at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College in 1988.
 
Originally from Apache, Okla., Nunn spent four years as a linebacker at Oklahoma State from 1984-87, helping the Cowboys make three bowl games and win two of them. Playing for head coach Jimmy Johnson, he served as team captain during his senior year. He graduated from the school in 1988 with a degree in secondary education.
 
He and his wife, Karen, have six children: a daughter, Josie, and five sons, Noah, Jacob, Nathan, Johnny and Jason.

NUNN AT A GLANCE
Coaching Experience
1988: Northeastern Oklahoma A&M (Defensive line)
1989-90: Tennessee (Graduate assistant - Defensive ends)
1991: Georgia Military College (Defensive coordinator)
1992-99: Georgia Military College (Head coach)
2000: Miami Dolphins (Defensive assistant)
2001-02: Miami Dolphins (Assistant defensive line/Quality control)
2003: Washington Redskins (Defensive line)
2004: Miami Dolphins (Special assistant coach)
2005-08: Green Bay Packers (Defensive tackles)
2009: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Defensive line)
2010-15: New York Giants (Defensive line)
2016: Cleveland Browns (Defensive line)
2017-18: New York Jets (Defensive line)
2020-present: App State (Defensive line)

Playing Experience
1984-87: Oklahoma State (Linebacker)

Alma Mater: Oklahoma State, 1988
Hometown: Apache, Okla.
Birthdate: June 10, 1965
Wife: Karen
Daughter: Josie
Sons: Noah, Jacob, Nathan, Johnny, Jason