Sparks to announce Slade as new defensive coordinator with press conference Monday
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman head football coach Ken Sparks has announced the hiring of former University of Tennessee assistant Larry Slade as the program’s new defensive coordinator.
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman head football coach Ken Sparks has announced the hiring of former University of Tennessee assistant Larry Slade as the program's new defensive coordinator.
Slade will be introduced Monday morning at 11 in a press conference in the Eagle Club Room at Burke-Tarr Stadium.
Slade takes over for Mike Clowney who was promoted to associate head coach in December.
Slade has more than 25 years of Division I experience under his belt as a defensive coach. He spent a decade on Phillip Fulmer's staff as a secondary coach from 1999-2008 before heading to Louisville where he coached corners in 2009 and the secondary until 2012.
Other stops for Slade include Texas A&M (1994-98), Maryland (1992-93) and Washington (1986-91). He spent this past year as an assistant at Central High School.
Slade, is a native of Pelham, N.C., who twice was named All-WVIAC while playing guard at Shepherd in the early 1970s. He was named Little All-America honorable mention in 1971 and later inducted into the Shepherd College Hall of Fame.
Slade's coaching career began at his alma mater with a nine-year stay before subsequent stops at Richmond, Howard, Southern Illinois, Washington and Maryland.
His six-year tenure as secondary coach at Washington was highlighted by a national championship season in 1991, during which the Huskies ranked first in NCAA statistics for pass efficiency defense.
His 1997 Aggies secondary allowed only three passing touchdowns, fewest in the nation. Slade's first unit at Tennessee also sparkled by allowing 214.9 yards per game through the air and making 21 interceptions against only 15 touchdown passes.
Over the course of his final five seasons at Tennessee, Tennessee's defensive backfield produced such NFL signees as Super Bowl champion Gibril Wilson, Super Bowl participant Deon Grant, Rashad Baker, Jabari Greer, Jonathan Wade and Jason Allen, who was selected in the 2006 first round by the Miami Dolphins.
Slade's 2000 and 2001 secondary units, aided and abetted by the rest of the defense, established school season records with 64 and 72 passes broken up, respectively.
Eagle fans can follow Slade on Twitter @coachlarryslade.
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