Football
Friend, Will
Will Friend
- Title:
- Offensive Line Coach
- Phone:
- 919-966-2575
Will Friend enters his first season as Carolina’s Offensive Line Coach during the 2025 campaign.
Friend arrives in Chapel Hill after serving in the same role at Western Kentucky in 2024. Prior to WKU, Friend served as the Offensive Line Coach at Mississippi State in 2023, and he's also worked in the same role at Auburn from 2021-22 and at Tennessee from 2018-20. He was the Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach at Colorado State from 2015-17 and the Offensive Line Coach at Georgia from 2011-14.
While at Tennessee, Friend developed two-time All-SEC first team lineman and eventual NFL draft pick Trey Smith. In 2019, Friend's unit featured an All-SEC First Team award winner in Smith and two SEC All-Freshman honorees in Wanya Morris and Darnell Wright. Additionally, Morris was named to the 247Sports True Freshman All-America team, and Smith – who didn't allow a sack all year – garnered a pair of SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week honors.
In 2017 at Colorado State, Friend led a unit that ranked 11th in the nation in total offense at 492.5 yards per game. Colorado State's 33.4 points per game in 2017 led the conference and ranked 31st in the nation.
During his final season in Athens in 2014, Friend helped guide a Bulldogs' offense that averaged 41.3 points per game, which ranked eighth nationally, and racked up 457.8 yards of total offense per game.
Overall, Friend has coached nine offensive linemen who have been selected in the NFL Draft.
Friend is a 1998 graduate of the University of Alabama who earned his bachelor's degree in human performance. He started at guard for the Crimson Tide in all four seasons and was a two-time All-SEC selection. He is a member of Alabama's Team of the Decade for the 1990s. He was a Parade Magazine All-America selection as a senior at Neshoba Central High in Philadelphia, Mississippi.
Friend and his wife, Carrie, have three children – Katie, Brooks and Charlie.
Friend’s Year-by-Year Coaching History
2001: West Alabama (Offensive Line Coach)
2002: Tuscaloosa Central HS (Offensive Assistant)
2003-04: Georgia (Graduate Assistant)
2005-2006: Gardner-Webb (Offensive Line Coach)
2007-2010: UAB (Offensive Line Coach)
2011-2014: Georgia (Offensive Line Coach)
2014-2017: Colorado State (Offensive Coordinator)
2017-2020: Tennessee (Offensive Line Coach)
2021-2022: Auburn (Offensive Line Coach)
2023: Mississippi State (Offensive Line Coach)
2024: Western Kentucky (Offensive Coordinator)
2025-Present: North Carolina (Offensive Line Coach)
Friend arrives in Chapel Hill after serving in the same role at Western Kentucky in 2024. Prior to WKU, Friend served as the Offensive Line Coach at Mississippi State in 2023, and he's also worked in the same role at Auburn from 2021-22 and at Tennessee from 2018-20. He was the Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach at Colorado State from 2015-17 and the Offensive Line Coach at Georgia from 2011-14.
While at Tennessee, Friend developed two-time All-SEC first team lineman and eventual NFL draft pick Trey Smith. In 2019, Friend's unit featured an All-SEC First Team award winner in Smith and two SEC All-Freshman honorees in Wanya Morris and Darnell Wright. Additionally, Morris was named to the 247Sports True Freshman All-America team, and Smith – who didn't allow a sack all year – garnered a pair of SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week honors.
In 2017 at Colorado State, Friend led a unit that ranked 11th in the nation in total offense at 492.5 yards per game. Colorado State's 33.4 points per game in 2017 led the conference and ranked 31st in the nation.
During his final season in Athens in 2014, Friend helped guide a Bulldogs' offense that averaged 41.3 points per game, which ranked eighth nationally, and racked up 457.8 yards of total offense per game.
Overall, Friend has coached nine offensive linemen who have been selected in the NFL Draft.
Friend is a 1998 graduate of the University of Alabama who earned his bachelor's degree in human performance. He started at guard for the Crimson Tide in all four seasons and was a two-time All-SEC selection. He is a member of Alabama's Team of the Decade for the 1990s. He was a Parade Magazine All-America selection as a senior at Neshoba Central High in Philadelphia, Mississippi.
Friend and his wife, Carrie, have three children – Katie, Brooks and Charlie.
Friend’s Year-by-Year Coaching History
2001: West Alabama (Offensive Line Coach)
2002: Tuscaloosa Central HS (Offensive Assistant)
2003-04: Georgia (Graduate Assistant)
2005-2006: Gardner-Webb (Offensive Line Coach)
2007-2010: UAB (Offensive Line Coach)
2011-2014: Georgia (Offensive Line Coach)
2014-2017: Colorado State (Offensive Coordinator)
2017-2020: Tennessee (Offensive Line Coach)
2021-2022: Auburn (Offensive Line Coach)
2023: Mississippi State (Offensive Line Coach)
2024: Western Kentucky (Offensive Coordinator)
2025-Present: North Carolina (Offensive Line Coach)
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