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Kenny Ingram, UCF’s third-year defensive ends coach, in 2023 tutored two of the Big 12 Conference’s best in tackles for loss and sacks in first-team all-league pick Tre’mon Morris-Brash and honorable mention all-conference selection Malachi Lawrence—as well as one of the most consistent Knight ends in three-year starter and two-time captain Josh Celiscar.
Morris-Brash led the Big 12 and rated fifth nationally in tackles for loss (18.5, 1.5 per game) and added 8.5 sacks (.71 per outing) to stand second in the Big 12. Lawrence contributed 7.5 sacks—good for fourth in the Big 12. Celiscar contributed 44 tackles in 2023 and has started 38 games in his UCF career.
Meanwhile UCF won three of its last four Big 12 games to claim a postseason invitation for the eighth straight year.
Ingram helped the Knights win nine games and earn a bowl invitation in 2022, while producing dramatic improvement in UCF’s overall defensive profile.
That came after the Knights completed a late-season defensive push to close out the 2021 regular season with six wins in the last seven games, capped by a Gasparilla Bowl victory over Florida.
Integral to that 2022 improvement were the two UCF regulars at end—veteran Tre’mon Morris-Brash (fifth on team with 52 tackles, team-high 13 tackles for loss and team-leading six sacks, twice as many as any other player totaled) and junior Josh Celiscar (54 tackles, 8.5 TFL, 3 sacks, 5 quarterback hurries and 3 forced fumbles) as the lone junior among Knight captain selections.
Morris-Brash received first-team All-American Athletic Conference recognition from league coaches (second team from Pro Football Network and third team, by Pro Football Focus), while Celiscar was a PFN honorable mention pick.
Another of Ingram’s charges, veteran end and captain Big Kat Bryant, claimed first-team All-AAC honors by vote of league coaches for 2021. He also was a first-team selection by Phil Steele and PFN—and the PFN AAC Newcomer of the Year and AAC Defensive Lineman of the Year. Bryant ended up the Knights’ leader in sacks, tackles for losses and quarterback hurries. In addition in 2021, Morris-Brash claimed honorable mention All-AAC notice from PFF.
That group helped UCF average 8.1 tackles for loss and 5.0 sacks over its last six victories—and finish the regular season ranked seventh nationally in pass efficiency defense (110.73) and 26th in tackles for loss (6.8 per game). Ingram and his linemen helped the Knights improve 70 spots in NCAA total defense rankings while averaging 122.5 fewer yards allowed per game than in 2020.
Ingram, a veteran defensive coach and former member of Gus Malzahn’s Auburn football staff, joined Malzahn's UCF coaching staff on Feb. 24, 2021. He is in his third season with the Knights in 2023.
He previously coached at Arkansas State under Malzahn, helping the Red Wolves win the 2012 Sun Belt Conference title as the team's defensive line coach. Ingram assisted the Arkansas State defensive interior line during the 2020 campaign after coaching defensive tackles at Arkansas in 2019.
Ingram also served as director of player relations at Auburn under Malzahn in 2017-18 in his second stint with the Tigers. He held that same position in 2013-14 at Auburn.
Ingram's years at Auburn featured postseason bowl appearances every season—including the Bowl Championship Series national title game after the 2013 campaign. In between stops at Auburn, he coached the defensive tackles at Cincinnati in 2015 and 2016 under Tommy Tuberville—with the Bearcats advancing to the Hawai'i Bowl in 2015.
Ingram began his collegiate career at Tennessee State in 2005 as the Tigers' defensive line coach. He quickly moved back to his hometown of Memphis in 2006, taking over the linebackers for the University of Memphis before being named defensive coordinator in 2009. While at Memphis, he helped the Tigers to the 2007 New Orleans Bowl and 2008 St. Petersburg Bowl.
Prior to his collegiate coaching career, Ingram was the head coach at Melrose High School in Memphis from 2002-04. He led the Golden Wildcats to a 37-4 overall record after serving as assistant head coach and defensive coordinator. He was a three-time regional coach of the year and the Memphis Commercial Appeal's 2004 Coach of the Year for Metro Memphis. He led the school to one appearance in the state finals and a pair of appearances in the state semifinals.
He was selected to serve as the Liberty Bowl All-Star Game defensive coordinator in 2003 and was a member of the Tennessee East-West Shrine All-Star Game coaching staff that same season. He was an assistant coach for the Tennessee-Kentucky All-Star Game in 2004. Ingram taught and coached at Corry Middle School in Memphis and worked in the Youth Habilitation Center prior to moving to Melrose.
Ingram starred in football at Whitehaven High School in Memphis, then was a four-year letterman at Arkansas State, serving as team co-captain in 1992. At Arkansas State, Ingram played for head coach Steve Caldwell. He received his bachelor's degree in political science in 1999 from Arkansas State.
He and his wife, Carla, are parents of five children--Kendrien, Taylor, Kameron and twins Kennedy and Karleigh.
COACHING EXPERIENCE
| 2001 | Melrose (Tennessee) High School | Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator |
| 2002-04 | Melrose (Tennessee) High School | Head Coach |
| 2005 | Tennessee State | Defensive Line |
| 2006-09 | Memphis | Linebackers/Defensive Coordinator (2009) |
| 2011 | Arkansas State | Interim Defensive Assistant Coach |
| 2012 | Arkansas State | Defensive Line |
| 2013-14 | Auburn | Director of Player Development |
| 2015-16 | Cincinnati | Defensive Line |
| 2017-18 | Auburn | Director of Player Relations |
| 2019 | Arkansas | Defensive Tackles |
| 2020 | Arkansas State | Volunteer Assistant |
| 2021-pres. | UCF | Defensive Assistant Coach |