By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – When Tennessee Tech head football coach Dewayne Alexander started to look for someone to spearhead his defense, he didn't have to look too far.
After all, he knew of one right down the road.
Alexander tapped Cumberland University head coach Donnie Suber, who took over for Alexander when he joined the Tech staff in 2013. The two have worked together for a long time, making the decision an easy one.
"Getting to work with Coach A again is just an amazing opportunity," Suber said. "He's been an awesome coach to work with. I've always wanted to coach on this level, and I'm glad to have gotten this chance. I'm a little older than I would have liked to be here, but I've got the opportunity, so I hope to make the best of it."
But the connection between the two through Cumberland was been a special one.
"He's been great to me. He hired me, then I hired him back, then he left and got the job here," Suber joked. "Now he's hired me again. I'm very loyal to Coach A. It's exciting to see him where he wants to be, because this is his dream job."
Alexander added, "Donnie is an excellent defensive backs coach. Coach Suber and I go way back. We worked together a long time at Cumberland – I actually hired him there back in 2008 as the defensive coordinator and we were part of a conference championship team there and really got the program turned around there.
"He's what I call a foxhole guy – he's been with me when we were with a program that was going through a transition and difficult times, similar to what we're going through here. It's good to have someone there that you can really rely on and trust and understands all the things we're going to try to instill into our team here. He knows how we operate and how we do things."
But one of the biggest plusses that Suber adds is to Tech's recruiting potential, which is already bolstered by the makeup of this staff.
Alexander said, "He's been the head coach at Cumberland, he's been the defensive coordinator there for the last 11 years right here in Middle Tennessee. He's familiar with this area, which is going to be an important part to our recruiting base. Tennessee and Georgia are going to be important states for us, and Donnie has ties to Georgia as well with the Georgia Southern connections.
"These are guys that are recognizable. Coaches know who they are and that already creates some positive relationships. I'm not only excited about what they're bringing to our players, but what they're bringing to us from a recruiting standpoint as well."
Suber just finished his fifth year as the head coach at Cumberland, and 14th overall as he also served as the defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach. Suber previously worked at the Lebanon school in 1995 and 1996 as an assistant coach and in 1992 and 1993 as a graduate assistant.
He is one of four coaches on this Golden Eagle staff with head coaching experience, which also includes Alexander, Doug Malone and linebackers coach Bruce Hatfield. Having that experience is also a huge plus.
"We understand that pressure of being a head coach, and what it takes to do the job," Suber said. "Having people on staff like that, it helps take some of that pressure off and keeps all of us more focused on just what we can do."
Alexander said, "That adds such tremendous value and there's a great mixture on this staff with experienced coaches with head coaching experience as well as some younger coaches. That's invaluable with the mentoring that can go on within our staff. I think they'll work well with some of the younger coaches that we have.
"It's excellent for me, because I can delegate some things. With a job at the magnitude like this, you have got to be able to delegate things – you can't do all of it yourself. That's why you have assistant coaches and hire a staff so you can handle all of those things outside of coaching on the field. These guys have certain expertise in all of these areas and that will serve our staff well."
Suber has 25 years of collegiate coaching experience, which also includes stops at his alma mater, Georgia Southern, as well as Newberry College, Benedict College and Presbyterian.
He earned his bachelor's degree from Georgia Southern in 1990 in recreation and hotel management, playing on the Eagles' Football Championship Subdivision title-winning teams in 1986, 1989 and 1990 as a defensive back.
Suber came to Lebanon the first time as a graduate assistant, working as the defensive backs coach and strength coach. While at Cumberland, he earned his master's degree in organizational behavior in 1993, and also helped lead the team to an appearance in the NAIA playoffs.
In 1994, Suber returned to Georgia Southern as the defensive backs coach for a season, then came back to Cumberland as the defensive backs coach and men's and women's golf coach between 1995 and 1996. Following that tenure, he spent four seasons as the defensive coordinator, defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator at Newberry College.
He held the same position for one year at Benedict College in 2001, then went to Presbyterian College in 2002 as the linebackers coach. He switched positions there and served as the receivers coach for the Blue Hose from 2003 and 2006. In 2005, Presbyterian compiled a 10-2 record as the school made a run in the NCAA Division II playoffs.
Cumberland's defense improved greatly under Suber's watch. In his first season as the defensive coordinator in 2008, the Phoenix were 47th or lower in every defensive statistical category. But the next season, the team improved to 16th in scoring defense, eighth in pass defense, 21st in opponent first downs and 28th in total defense.
By 2010, Cumberland led the Mid-South Conference in nearly every defensive category and ranked in the top 10 nationally in scoring defense, total defense, rush defense, pass defense, sacks, third down conversions and opponent first downs, while leading the nation in opponent third-down conversion rate at a scant .277.
The team forced 93 total turnovers from 2009 to 2011, including 52 interceptions. In 2011 alone, Cumberland scored 120 points – 17 touchdowns and one field goal – off of turnovers and scored off an opponent turnover for 16 straight games from October 23, 2010, to September 22, 2012. From 2008 to 2011, Cumberland had 95 sacks – a total that was bested in Suber's last four seasons as the head coach as the Phoenix had 106 sacks and at least 25 per season. During his tenure, Cumberland has scored 31 defensive touchdowns with six safeties and two blocked punts recovered for touchdowns.
As a head coach, Suber has compiled a 28-27 record through five seasons, including a 13-9 mark in his first two seasons and a 7-4 record in 2017. This season, the Phoenix lost in the final three minutes to Presbyterian – now in the Football Championship Subdivision – and three teams ranked in the NAIA Top 25, all on the road with two of the three reaching the quarterfinals of the NAIA playoffs.
During his tenure as head coach, Cumberland has earned 36 first- or second-team All-Mid-South Conference selections with two earning MSC Defensive Player of the Year honors. Ninety-three have been named to the conference's academic team and 42 have earned Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete honors.
With the mix of experienced coaches and young, rising stars, there's no question that this staff is building a sense of excitement about the program.
"A lot of these guys have worked with Coach A in the past, so, in a way, we all know each other," Suber said. "So far, we've all been getting along well, and hopefully we can be productive and win some ball games."
The philosophy on defense is simple.
"We're going to be fast and fly right to the ball," Suber said. "We want to keep it simple – I'm not very smart anyway, so I just want to keep it as simple as possible. The main thing is to fly around to the ball. We want to make it where we don't have to think, just react. That's kind of what I've always done as a defensive coordinator.
"This is a hard league because there are a lot of good offenses in this conference. We have some good players here, and I'm looking forward to meeting with them and see what they can do. The way football is now, it's all about offense, so if you can hold them to a certain amount, you're doing a good job. We were four-down before and we're going to be four-down again – shouldn't be too different from what we were running before."
Photo by Steve Wampler, The Wilson Post
