James Cregg, who spent last season on the Ole Miss coaching staff, returns to LSU and serves as the run game specialist for the offense. Cregg, with 10 years of NFL experience, originally coached the offensive line at LSU from 2018-20 under head coach Ed Orgeron, helping the Tigers claim the 2019 national title.
Between LSU stops, Cregg was the assistant offensive line coach for the San Francisco 49ers from 2022-23 followed by a season as offensive line coach with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2024. In 2023, Cregg helped the 49ers reach the Super Bowl after the franchise went 13-4 in his first year with the organization in 2022.
In 2025, Cregg was part of an Ole Miss staff that helped the Rebels lead the SEC and rank No. 2 in the nation with 489.7 total yards per game. The Rebels set the school-record for total offense in a season (7,345) and featured All-SEC running back Kewan Lacy, who tied the school mark for rushing yards in a season (1,567). It was the best single-season in Ole Miss history as the Rebels went 13-2 overall and reached the semifinals of the College Football Playoffs.
In his first stint at LSU (2018-20), Cregg molded the 2019 offensive line into a unit that claimed the Joe Moore Award, which is presented to the best offensive line in college football. It’s the first time in the history of the award that a unit from LSU won the honor.
LSU had eight players start at least one game on the offensive line and the Tigers didn’t use the same starting lineup on the offensive line in consecutive games until games 8 and 9 in wins over Auburn and Alabama. Center Lloyd Cushenberry and right guard Damien Lewis started every game for the Tigers and both earned All-America honors. Cushenberry and Lewis are both currently starters in the NFL.
LSU’s offensive line in 2019 helped pave the way for the first offense in NCAA history to feature a 5,000-yard passer, two 1,000-yard receivers and a 1,000-yard rusher. LSU’s offense led the country in both scoring and total offense and set numerous SEC and school records on its way to a 15-0 record and a national title.
In his first year with the Tigers in 2018, Cregg inherited an offensive line that returned only two starters (Garrett Brumfield and Saahdiq Charles) and he transformed that unit into a dominant group by the end of the season. Cregg’s unit helped pave the way for 1,000-yard rusher Nick Brossette.
LSU had eight different players start at least one game on the offensive line in 2018 and the Tigers used a total of seven combinations on the offensive line in 13 games. LSU opened the season starting a different combination on the offensive line for the first seven games of the year. Cushenberry and Lewis – both first-time starters – were the only Tigers to start every game up front for LSU in 2018.
Prior to joining LSU, Cregg spent four seasons as the assistant offensive line coach for the Los Angeles Chargers. He held the same position at previous NFL stops with the Denver Broncos (2014-16) and the Oakland Raiders (2007-08). He won a Super Bowl with the Broncos in 2015.
At San Diego, he assisted with a Chargers offensive line that allowed the fewest sacks in the NFL (18) and helped running back Melvin Gordon rush for a career-best 1,105 yards in 2017.
He coached a line that featured three players making their first NFL start, and tutored Russell Okung to an appearance in the 2018 Pro Bowl. The Chargers finished as the top passing offense in the NFL and they ranked fourth overall in total yards in 2017.
Cregg spent three seasons (2014-16) as the assistant offensive line coach for the Denver Broncos. He tutored Matt Paradis, who played every snap for the Broncos in both 2015 and 2016. Paradis was an alternate for the 2017 Pro Bowl.
The 2015 season saw Cregg coach seven different starters along the offensive line, including four players making their first career start. The season culminated in a 24-10 victory over the Panthers in Super Bowl 50, marking the franchise’s third World Championship.
In 2014, he assisted an offensive line that provided the foundation for a unit that finished fourth in total offense and second in scoring offense. Cregg tutored a line that allowed the fewest sacks in the NFL (17).
Cregg spent one season in Knoxville with the Vols (2009) before moving to California to become the offensive line coach at USC for the next four seasons (2010-13). Cregg coached first-team All-Pac-12 selections in each of his four years with the school, including offensive tackles and future NFL first-round picks Tyron Smith (No. 9, Dallas, 2011) and Matt Kalil (No. 4, Minnesota, 2012).
In 2011, USC finished second in the nation in sacks allowed (eight) despite not starting a senior along the offensive line. Kalil was named first-team All-America, while guard Marcus Martin was chosen as a first-team Freshman All-America.
Cregg spent two seasons (2007-08) as the assistant offensive line coach with the Oakland Raiders, marking his first NFL job. In 2007, he oversaw a line that blocked for the No. 6 rushing attack in the NFL, finishing with 130.4 yards-per-game, including 1,000-yard rusher Justin Fargas.
A native of Syracuse, N.Y., Cregg prepped at Norco (Calif.) High School before spending four years (1992-95) as an offensive lineman at Colorado State University. He was a first-team All-Western Athletic Conference selection as a senior in 1995.
In 1994, Cregg helped Colorado State to the first 10-win season in school history as the Rams posted a 10-2 mark and played in the Holiday Bowl. As a senior, Cregg and the Rams went 8-4 overall and advanced to the Holiday Bowl for a second straight year.
Cregg remained at Colorado State and landed his first coaching job as a defensive graduate assistant from 1997-99. After three seasons at his alma mater, Cregg moved on to Colgate (2000-03) and Idaho (2004-06), coaching the defensive line at both stops.
At Colgate, Cregg was part of a staff that led the Raiders to the 2003 NCAA Division I-AA championship game. Colgate won 21 straight games during his time on the coaching staff. In four years at Colgate, claimed two Patriot League titles and finished in the Top 10 in the nation in rushing defense twice.
In 2007, Cregg landed his first NFL job as an assistant offensive line coach with the Oakland Raiders (2007-08). In 2009, he was hired to coach the offensive line at the University of Tennessee. That season, the Volunteers allowed just 12 sacks, tied for fewest on the Southeastern Conference.
Cregg received his bachelor’s degree in social science from Colorado State in 1997. He was born Aug. 18, 1973, and he and his wife, Dayna, have a daughter, McKenzie.
James Cregg File
Year at LSU (in 2026-27): Fourth
Birthdate: August 28, 1973
Hometown: Syracuse, N.Y.
College: Colorado State (Social Science, 1997)
Wife: Dayna
Children: McKenzie
Coaching Experience
1997-99 Colorado State (Graduate Assistant)
2000-03 Colgate (Defensive Line)
2004-06 Idaho (Defensive Line)
2007-08 Oakland Raiders (Assistant Offensive Line)
2009 Tennessee (Offensive Line)
2010-13 Southern Cal (Offensive Line)
2014-16 Denver Broncos (Assistant Offensive Line)
2017 Los Angeles Chargers (Assistant Offensive Line)
2018-20 LSU (Offensive Line/Run Game Coordinator)
2022-23 San Francisco 49ers (Assistant Offensive Line)
2024 Las Vegas Raiders (Offensive Line)
2025 Ole Miss (Assistant Offensive Line)
2026 LSU (Assistant Offensive Line/Run Game Specialist)