Weston Named Head Football Coach at Clark Atlanta University

ATLANTA, Georgia  —  Clark Atlanta University (CAU) today announced the appointment of Tusculum College Defensive Line Coach Kevin Weston as its new Head Football Coach. Weston officially joins the CAU organization Tuesday, Jan. 15.
 
“In Weston,” CAU President Carlton E. Brown said, “we have identified an individual who knows the game inside and out, has proven his ability to build and grow successful teams, promote values education and insist upon personal and character development in his players. All of these qualities align not only with the mission of Clark Atlanta, but create the kind of foundation necessary to ensure a focused, aggressive turn-around in our football program.”
 
CAU Athletics Director Tamica Smith Jones, Ph.D., says “we are thrilled to have secured a rising star like Kevin Weston from a diverse national pool of very talented applicants. We feel confident that he will be a good fit to infuse momentum into our football program, which has lacked stability amidst several coaching changes. I believe, in particular, that he will be an ambassador for the program, accelerating its success by winning, local recruiting and reengaging the CAU fan base in new and exciting ways.” 

Weston served eight years on the Tusculum coaching staff and mentored the Tusculum defensive line in 2012.   During the 2010 and 2011 seasons, he was the program’s defensive coordinator and mentored the team’s linebackers.  His 2011 defensive unit finished second in the country in pass defense, allowing teams to average just 140.6 passing yards per contest.   
                         

(CENTER) - COACH KEVIN WESTON
PHOTO COURTESY CAU ATHLETICS

In March 2008, he was promoted to the position of assistant head coach while serving as the team’s strength and conditioning coordinator. The 2008 squad posted a 9-4 record while claiming the South Atlantic Conference championship and a berth to the NCAA Division II Playoffs for the first time in the school’s history. 

While coaching the defensive line, he mentored two All-South Atlantic Conference selections in Adrian Samples and Rynel Butler. Samples was an All-SAC First Team choice in 2006, and earned All-SAC First Team recognition for a third consecutive year, while also being named to the All-Region Squad, in 2007. Butler was an All-SAC Second Team pick and was a force on a defense that established school single-season records for fumbles forced and recovered in 2008.     
               
“Of course, I’m excited about joining the Clark Atlanta University athletics organization,” Weston said, “but I am even more excited about building what can become one of the nation’s finest football programs from the ground up. There are clearly challenges that must be addressed, but in doing so, we have the rare opportunity to carve out what can become one of the most focused, unique and forceful squads in this Division and beyond. This is about legacy building,” he added. “Our charge is to ensure that legacy-building, academics and character-building remain strong pillars in this process.”            
               
CAU Booster President Lowell Dickerson agrees. “We must continue to move forward. I think that's what our football student-athletes have continued to do in the classroom and in the community. What we have to do now as a University, alumni, and as a supportive community fan base, is reunite as one Panther Nation and support Coach Weston and our team. If we commit to reconnect, we will secure a bright future and get Clark Atlanta football back to where we all want it.”
               
Weston’s experience on the gridiron and in the classroom has prepared him for the job. He played on the Tusculum squad from 1999-2002, and graduated in 2002 with the bachelor’s degree in physical education. While originally playing in tight end position, he moved to the offensive guard position and started in the trenches for the next three seasons. Following graduation, he was signed as a free agent as a running back for the Greensboro Prowlers of the Arena2 Football League. He subsequently completed the master’s degree from Troy University in 2005.
               
He returned to the college in 2005 after serving two seasons as an assistant coach at Morgan County High School in Madison, Ga. During his two seasons at Morgan County, the Bulldogs advanced to the state playoffs twice while posting a combined 19-5 record, with three of his players garnering All-Region recognition.
               
A native of Queens, N.Y., Weston is married to the former Bonnie Taylor of Akron, Ohio.

COURTESY CLARK ATLANTA UNIVERITY SPORTS INFORMATION

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