Kennesaw State Names Brian Bohannon First Head Football Coach
KENNESAW, Ga. (March 24, 2013) – Brian Bohannon, who has spent the past five seasons as…
Georgia (Mar 26, 2013) —
KENNESAW, Ga. (March 24, 2013) – Brian Bohannon, who has spent the past five seasons as quarterbacks/B-backs coach at Georgia Tech and engineered one of the country's most prolific spread option offenses, has been named the first-ever head football coach at Kennesaw State University, Director of Athletics Vaughn Williams announced on Sunday.
"This is an extremely exciting moment in Kennesaw State University history," Williams said. "Coach Bohannon embodies every value, characteristic and skill set that we look for when choosing head coaches to lead our student-athletes. Brian has distinguished himself as a servant leader who will build a program the right way. I can't wait to kick off that football in 2015."
Bohannon will be introduced at a press conference inside the Owls' locker room at Fifth Third Bank Stadium on Tuesday (March 26) beginning at 11 a.m. (ET). The event will be streamed live at www.ksuowls.com.
"Let me start by saying how excited I am to be the first-ever Kennesaw State head football coach," Bohannon said. "Kennesaw State is a special place with a great student body, administration and faculty, and I am just excited about the opportunity.
"I also want to give special thanks to University President Dr. Dan Papp, Vaughn Williams, the search committee and the people I met with during my interview," Bohannon added. "I thoroughly enjoyed the process, everything was run in a first-class manner, and I can't wait to get started. My goal is to work toward developing the total student-athlete in the classroom, on the field of play and in the campus and local communities."
A native of Griffin, Ga., Bohannon has 17 years of coaching experience at the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) levels, all of which have come while working with Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson.
"I am excited for Brian and Melanie," Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson said. "He has been a big part of our success the past 17 years. I'm glad he has an opportunity to run his own program."
Since Bohannon's arrival at Georgia Tech in 2008, the Yellow Jackets have finished in the top four nationally in rushing offense every season, including in 2010 when they led the nation in rushing for the first time in school history.
During the last five years, no team in college football has rushed for more yards than Georgia Tech as the Yellow Jackets have accumulated more than 20,000 yards on the ground.
Last season, Georgia Tech broke school records for total offense and rushing yards. The Yellow Jackets also averaged a school-record 40.0 points per game in conference play.
Two B-backs – David Sims and Zach Laskey – combined to rush for more than 1,300 yards. Two quarterbacks – Tevin Washington and Vad Lee – combined to run for more than 1,200 yards. Washington broke the school record for rushing touchdowns in a season (20).
Under Bohannon's direction, former Georgia Tech quarterbacks Washington and Joshua Nesbitt emerged as two of the most prolific signal callers in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) history. Nesbitt and Washington combined to rush for more than 5,000 yards and rank first and third, respectively, in ACC history for career rushing yards by a quarterback.
Under Bohannon, four players have rushed for more than 1,000 yards in a season -- B-back Jonathan Dwyer in 2008, Dwyer and Nesbitt in 2009, and B-back Anthony Allen in 2010.
Dwyer was a first-team All-ACC selection in 2008 and 2009. Nesbitt was the first team All-ACC quarterback in 2009, and Allen was first-team all-conference in 2010. Dwyer and Allen are both enjoying successful NFL careers.
Bohannon helped Washington emerge from a back-up quarterback in 2010 to one of the ACC's most productive signal-callers in 2011 and 2012. Washington's 986 rushing yards in 2011 were the second-most ever by a Georgia Tech quarterback and his passing efficiency (155.4) was the third-highest in Yellow Jacket history.
Bohannon helped Nesbitt develop from a running specialist out of the shotgun into one of the nation's premier dual threat quarterbacks. Nesbitt completed his career as the most prolific rushing quarterback in ACC history. He likely would have become just the eighth player in NCAA history to rush and pass for 3,000 career yards if not for an injury that cost him the final four games of the 2010 season.
Before arriving at Georgia Tech, Bohannon spent six years as wide receivers coach at Navy. He was part of a staff that returned the Midshipmen to the national spotlight. Navy won 35 games over four years, earning a school-record four consecutive bowl berths and a school-best four straight Commander-In-Chief's Trophies.
Under Bohannon, Navy's receiving corps emerged as outstanding receivers as well as skilled blockers.
Navy's offense put up remarkable numbers in 2007. The Midshipmen ranked first nationally in rushing (348.8 ypg), 10th in scoring (39.3 ppg.), and 22nd in total offense (444.1 ypg.) and ninth in sacks allowed (1.08 pg). Navy's rushing attack averaged a nation's best 318.7 yards per contest in 2005 as the Midshipmen went to a bowl game for a third straight year, won a second consecutive bowl game and captured the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy for a third-straight year.
Bohannon's mentoring helped the wide receiver corps perform well enough for the Midshipmen to finish 45th in the country in total offense (388.8 ypg.), third in rushing offense (289.5 ypg.), and win a school-record-tying 10 games (the most wins since 1905) in 2004. Navy won the Emerald Bowl and claimed the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy.
The Midshipmen led the nation in rushing (323.2 yards per contest) and set school records for rushing yards per game, total rushing yards (4,202), rushing yards per attempt (5.5), rushing touchdowns (44), total offense (5,506), total offense per game (423.5) and yards per play (6.0) in 2003.
Navy had the third-best rushing average in the country (270.5 ypg.) and scored 30 or more points on four occasions during the 2002 season.
Bohannon coached the wide receivers for three seasons (1997-99) at Georgia Southern before taking over the defensive backs his last two years (2000-01).
During his initial season as defensive backs coach, the secondary played a key role in Georgia Southern's efforts, ranking 18th nationally in pass defense (156.1 yards per game) and 28th in interceptions (16). The Eagles' secondary took another leap forward in 2001, finishing second nationally in pass defense (125.6 yards per game), fourth in scoring defense (12.0 points per game) and sixth in total defense (261.4 yards per game).
During Bohannon's five seasons in Statesboro, Georgia Southern advanced to the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs, finishing as national runner-up in 1998 and claiming back-to-back national championships in 1999 and 2000.
A four-year letter winner and standout as a wide receiver at Georgia, Bohannon started his coaching career at West Georgia before earning his first full-time position at Gardner-Webb (N.C.) as wide receivers coach in 1996.
Bohannon earned his bachelor's degree in general business from Georgia in 1993 and a master's in business education from West Georgia in 1996. He is married to the former Melanie Cobb and they have three children, sons Blake Patrick and Braden Thomas, and daughter Brooke Anna.
What They're Saying About Brian Bohannon
"I am happy for Brian that he has an opportunity to be a head coach and to start up a new program. He will be a great representative of Kennesaw State, he will work extremely hard and he will be successful."
– Georgia Tech Head Coach Paul Johnson
"I commend Athletic Director Vaughn Williams for a superb choice among some top candidates for the Head Football Coach at Kennesaw State University. Brian Bohannon has an excellent background in the state of Georgia both as a player and coach at the University of Georgia, Georgia Southern and Georgia Tech. I know President Dan Papp highly approves of an individual with such a strong character background who will be a great ambassador for Kennesaw State University. I look forward to him leading this new and exciting program."
– Legendary Head Football Coach Vince Dooley
"Kennesaw State and Mr. Vaughn Williams hired the right man to lead and to build their football program. Brian Bohannon is as good of a football coach as there is in the country. He is a masterful teacher, a relentless recruiter and is a person of unquestionable character and integrity. Having played football at the University of Georgia and coaching at Georgia Southern, and Georgia Tech he obviously has deep roots in the state of Georgia. There is no doubt in my mind that Brian will be a very successful head coach."
– Navy Head Coach Ken Niumatalolo
"Brian Bohannon will be an outstanding head coach at Kennesaw State. He will lead with integrity, humility, and class, putting the mission of the institution and the development of student-athletes first. This is a great hire for KSU, one that I know will be a source of pride for the entire University. I am thrilled for Brian and his family. Great things are ahead for Kennesaw State under his leadership."
– Georgia Southern Head Coach Jeff Monken
Brian Bohannon's Coaching Career
1996 Gardner-Webb Wide Receivers
1997 Georgia Southern Wide Receivers
2000 Georgia Southern Defensive Backs
2002 Navy Wide Receivers
2008 Georgia Tech Quarterbacks/B-Backs
Brian Bohannon's Postseason History
1997 Georgia Southern Division I-AA Playoffs
1998 Georgia Southern Division I-AA Playoffs (National Runner-Up)
1999 Georgia Southern Division I-AA Playoffs (National Champion)
2003 Navy EV1.net Houston Bowl
2004 Navy Emerald Bowl
2005 Navy Poinsettia Bowl
2006 Navy Meineke Car Care Bowl
2008 Georgia Tech Chick-fil-A Bowl
2009 Georgia Tech FedEx Orange Bowl
2010 Georgia Tech Independence Bowl
2011 Georgia Tech Hyundai Sun Bowl
Contact: Al Barba
Director of Athletics Communications
Email: abarba@kennesaw.edu