John Bonney enters his second season at SMU in 2025 as the Assistant Safeties Coach.
In 2024 Bonney worked under Scott Symons with the safeties. The unit helped the Mustangs to reach historic heights, making the ACC Championship game and the College Football Playoff.
SMU became the first team to go 8-0 in conference play after moving to a Power 4/5 conference from a Group of Five conference. The 2024 season also marked the first time the Mustangs went undefeated and untied in conference play in conference play in back-to-back seasons.
The Mustangs were elite defensively in 2024, thanks in part to the safeties room. SMU ranked top 25 in the FBS in defensive touchdowns (5th, 4), passes intercepted (14th, 16), fourth down conversion pct. Defense (17th, .415), third down conversion pct. defense (19th, .332) and red zone defense (24th, .767), all of which the unit played a large part in.
Isaiah Nwokobia earned First Team All-ACC accolades, while Ahmaad Moses and Jonathan McGill earned Honorable Mention All-ACC.
Bonney joins the Mustangs after spending 2023 season as defensive quality control analyst at Coastal Carolina.
Bonney was named a defensive quality control analyst at USC in March of 2021. He spent 2019 and 2020 as a graduate assistant at Texas Southern.
Bonney played cornerback and nickelback for three seasons (2015-17) at Texas, seeing action in every game. As a 2017 junior (he started twice), he had 19 tackles (including four versus USC), an interception (off of Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield), 2 fumble recoveries and three deflections. He started seven games as a 2016 sophomore, getting 39 tackles, nine deflections and a forced fumble. He had 29 tackles (two for a loss, with a sack), a deflection and a forced fumble as a 2015 redshirt freshman backup. He was a four-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll and made the 2015 Academic All-Big 12 first team.
He spent 2018 as a graduate transfer at Texas Tech, appearing in all 12 games at safety and starting eight times. He had 32 tackles, a deflection and two forced fumbles.
He was a four-year starting safety at Lamar High in Houston (Tex.)
He earned his bachelor’s degree in corporate communications from Texas in 2018.
