Ben Black - Football Coach - University of North Texas Athletics

Ben Black

Title:
Assistant Coach, Defensive LIne
Email:
UNTFootball@unt.edu
Alma Mater:
Robert Morris, 2016

Ben Black was hired as defensive line coach for UNT football in January of 2025.

Black joined the North Texas staff after spending the last three seasons as the defensive line coach at Illinois State.

In three years at Illinois State, the Redbirds were one of the top teams in FCS, winning a total of 28 games and advancing to the Division I FCS playoffs in both 2024 and 2025.

In 2025, the Redbirds posted a 12-4 overall record and made a run to the 2025 FCS National Championship game that included postseason wins over the No. 1, No. 8, No. 12 and No. 16 teams in the FCS rankings.

Illinois State was stout along the defensive line with the No. 28 rushing defense in FBS allowing just 132.5 yards per game on the ground on the year.

Prior to the 2025 season, Black was selected to participate in the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship with the New England Patriots in the summer of 2025.

In 2024, the Redbird defense was particularly stout against the run, ranking fourth in the conference in rushing yards given up per game at 157.1. The group also finished year fifth in the league in defensive efficiency at 135.7 and ranked No. 29 in the country with 2.43 sacks per game. Defensive tackle Jake Anderson was a MVFC Second Team selection, after he ranked sixth on the team in tackles with 59 (21 solo) and was credited with 3.0 sacks, 6.5 tackles for loss, one pass breakup and one forced fumble in addition to a 55-yard interception for a touchdown in the FCS playoff win at Southeast Missouri State.

The 2023 season saw the Redbirds have nine new starters on defense, but that group came together quickly to become one of the best in the MVFC. The Redbird defense ranked No. 3 in the country in sacks per game and ranked No. 16 in tackles-for-loss per contest. Senior defensive end Josh Dinga capped off his six-year career at ISU with All-MVFC Second-Team plaudits, as he ranked second on the team with a career-best 7.0 sacks and 11.0 tackles for loss to go along with 34 total tackles.

Prior to his time at ISU, Black worked as a defensive analyst at Auburn in 2022 and was a defensive graduate assistant at Indiana in 2020 and 2021. The Hoosiers earned a bid to the Outback Bowl and went 6-2 in the Covid-shortened 2020 season.

Black was a graduate assistant at Illinois State in 2019, helping the Redbirds reach the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs as they led the FCS in sacks and red zone defense.

A four-year starter at Robert Morris, Black tallied 43 consecutive starts along the defensive line, and was named an all-conference player in 2014 and 2015. After graduation, RMU immediately hired Black as its defensive coach and his work helped Robert Morris lead the conference in total defense, rushing defense and scoring defense in his first season as an assistant in 2016.

Black achieved his Master of Business Administration from Robert Morris in 2018 and his bachelor’s degree from RMU in 2016.

COACHING HISTORY
2016-19: Robert Morris, Defensive Graduate Assistant
2020-21: Indiana, Defensive Graduate Assistant
2022: Auburn, Defensive Analyst
2023-25: Illinois State, Assistant Coach, Defensive Line
2026-: UNT, Defensive Line