Tim McConnell enters his first season with the Las Vegas Raiders as the assistant special teams coach, bringing with him nine years of coaching experience in the collegiate ranks. Prior to joining the Silver and Black, McConnell served as the assistant special teams coach for the South Carolina Gamecocks for two seasons (2024-25) under current Raiders special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis.
In 2025, P Mason Love earned Freshman All-SEC honors after averaging 45.1 yards per punt, the league's third-best mark. In 2024, he helped mentor P Kai Kroeger, who earned second team All-America honors and was the coaches' selection as the All-SEC punter. A Ray Guy semifinalist, Kroeger led the SEC and ranked third in the country averaging 47.8 yards per punt. The Gamecocks finished sixth in the nation in net punting, 13th in punt return defense and 14th in kickoff return defense.
McConnell joined South Carolina after serving as a special teams analyst for North Texas for the 2023 season. That season, K Noah Rauschenberg was the best kickoff man in the country with 71 of his 78 total kickoffs going for touchbacks. The unit also finished first in the NCAA allowing just 11.4 yards per return. Rauschenberg did not miss a PAT during the season, going 46-for-46 along with 16-for-19 on field goals.
Prior to his time at North Texas, McConnell spent two seasons at Memphis (2021-22) as special teams quality control. In 2022, he helped K Chris Howard earn first team All-AAC honors after leading the league with 20 made field goals. Memphis capped their season with a victory over Utah State in the First Responder Bowl.
McConell served as a special teams graduate assistant for Rice from 2019-20. In 2020, P Charlie Mendes earned Conference USA All-Freshman honors after averaging 42.8 yards on 21 punts and placing nine of them inside the 20 with only one touchback. In 2019, he mentored K Zach Hoban, who averaged 59.9 yards on 34 kickoffs with 14 touchbacks as the team's kickoff specialist.
In 2018, McConnell spent one season at FCS Villanova as an assistant coach, where he worked with the cornerbacks in addition to serving as special teams quality control coach. That season, true freshman P Nathan Fondacaro played in all 11 games and tallied 10 punts of 50+ yards, including a season-long punt of 63 yards.
PERSONAL: A native of Pennsauken, N.J., McConnell began his coaching career at Duquesne, assisting with the defensive backs during spring practice before graduating in 2018 with a degree in communications studies...McConnell was a member of the football team as a defensive back and long snapper...The Dukes won a pair of NEC championships during his career.
