Drew Gaither enters his first season as the defensive quality control coach for the Raiders in 2026, bringing with him seven years of coaching experience at the college level. Prior to joining the Silver and Black, Gaither served as the assistant linebackers coach at Georgia Southern University for one season (2025).
In his lone season with the Eagles, Gaither helped mentor all-conference selection LB Brendan Harrington, who tallied 85 tackles, including 2.0 for loss, along with three pass breakups, an interception and a quarterback hurry. Gaither served as the linebackers coach for Georgia Southern's win over App State in the Birmingham Bowl, working with a defense that allowed just 10 points and forced four turnovers in the game.
Before his time with Georgia Southern, Gaither spent two seasons at Sewanee as the associate head coach and defensive coordinator. In his first season at the University of the South, the Tigers finished 14th nationally in sacks, blocked four kicks and scored a pair of defensive touchdowns. Sewanee racked up 63 tackles for loss and finished the year with 17 takeaways. The squad finished with three victories, the program's most since 2018, ended a 23-game conference losing streak and won a league road game for the first time in five seasons.
In Gaither's first stint with Georgia Southern, he served as an assistant coach from 2021-22 working with the outside and inside linebackers along with special teams and recruiting duties.
Before his time at Georgia Southern, Gaither was a student assistant at Western Carolina for two seasons (2018-19), assisting both the defensive and special teams coordinators as well as the tight ends coach.
PERSONAL: A native of Hampstead, N.C., Gaither earned a bachelor's in psychology with a sports management minor from Western Carolina and a master's of kinesiology: coaching education from Georgia Southern.
