By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – While there are some familiar faces leading the Tennessee Tech football team on the field this spring, Golden Eagle head coach Dewayne Alexander also filled out his coaching staff with some new faces as Wesley Satterfield, Devin Watson and Bryce Brown join the Tech staff.
It's a staff with a lot of diverse experience across the collegiate landscape and building up student-athletes to tremendous achievement.
Satterfield joins the staff as the Golden Eagles' offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, the same position he held previously at Austin Peay. Watson will oversee the cornerbacks and serve as the team's assistant recruiting coordinator. Brown will coach the running backs, while also working as Tech's transfer/junior college liaison.
In addition to the new hires, wide receivers coach Lamont Seward will take over as special teams coordinator, a role he held at West Alabama, while tight ends coach Bert Browne will add the director of recruiting/player personnel title.
Satterfield hails from the legendary Satterfield coaching family out of Trousdale County, but the younger Satterfield has made quite a name for himself in his career, spending time at North Carolina for three seasons, two years at Ohio State, two seasons at Chattanooga, two years at Southeastern Louisiana, three seasons at Austin Peay, then three more at Richmond.
His teams have gone to three bowl games and won two conference championships. Three of his players have gone on to successful NFL careers and two more into the Canadian Football League.
A quarterback, defensive back, punter and kicker for Clint Satterfield at Trousdale County High from 1999 to 2002, the younger Satterfield went on to a four-year playing career at Sewanee – the University of the South – from 2003 to 2006, earning Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year and first-team all-SCAC at quarterback.
After graduation, he joined Butch Davis' staff at North Carolina, assisting offensive coordinator John Shoop with the quarterbacks between 2007 and 2010. He continued his graduate assistant efforts, joining Jim Tressel and Luke Fickell's staffs at Ohio State from 2010 to 2012 as an offensive/special teams GA.
With the Buckeyes, Satterfield coached the kickers, punters and long snappers, guiding Devin Barclay to a second-team All-Big Ten honor and long snapper Jake McQuaide to getting signed by the St. Louis Rams, where he became a Pro Bowl long snapper.
In 2012, Satterfield joined Russ Huesman's staff at Chattanooga, coaching tight ends and H-backs. Under his watch, tight end Faysal Shafaat was a third-team All-American and second-team All-Southern Conference selection. The following season, Satterfield oversaw the running backs and H-backs, guiding freshman rusher Derrick Craine to a SoCon All-Freshman Team pick.
Satterfield joined Ron Roberts' staff at Southeastern Louisiana, coaching the quarterbacks and serving as the team's run game coordination. While there, quarterback Bryan Bennett was named the Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Year and Walter Payton Award finalist. The school led the Southland in points per game (47.3), touchdowns (50), average yards per play (7.1), pass efficiency (163.6), yards per pass (9.7), yards per completion (17.4), rushing touchdowns (32) and fewest sacks allowed (four). They also set single-game rushing yards (484), most points scored vs. a Southland opponent (76), yards in a single game (806) and most rushing touchdowns in a single game (seven, twice).
When Will Healy took over the reins at Austin Peay, Satterfield was his choice to lead the Governors' offensive efforts. In 2016, APSU put together the biggest offensive turnaround in Division I FCS, going from 12.3 points per game in 2015 to 24.4 in 2016.
It didn't stop there – in 2017, the Govs led the OVC in total offense and rushing yards (sixth in the FCS), while setting school records in total offense, points, yards per game, yards per play, touchdowns, rushing touchdowns, rushing yards and yards per rush as APSU went 8-4 and winning the most games in school history after going 1-47 in the seasons before. The Govs also claimed the Sergeant York Trophy that season.
Satterfield helped develop quarterback Jeremiah Oatsvall, who had a tremendous career in Clarksville before transferring to Memphis, then to Cookeville to play his graduate transfer season with the Golden Eagles this fall as the duo is reunited. Oatsvall was named a first-team FCS Freshman All-American by HERO Sports and was the OVC Freshman of the Year, a second-team All-OVC selection and on the All-Newcomer team in his first campaign.
In 2019, Satterfield had an opportunity to be reunited with Huesman, joining the staff at Richmond as the wide receivers coach. While there, he helped guide senior wideout Keyston Fuller to a third-team all-Colonial Athletic Association selection after he was sixth in the conference in yardage and fifth in touchdowns.
Devin Watson had a successful career at Wofford, changing from a quarterback in his prep days to a cornerback and earned four letters and was named an All-American by HERO Sports. He helped lead the Terriers to SoCon championships in 2017 and 2018 as well as three FCS Playoff quarterfinals.
Watson currently holds two program records at Wofford – FCS playoff interceptions and longest return for a touchdown.
Following his graduation in 2019 with a degree in economics, Watson took first a graduate position at Shorter University, then was promoted to the team's full-time defensive backs coach following the 2019 campaign. Under his guidance, Shorter's defensive backs intercepted seven passes and broke up 21 passes.
Watson then became the defensive backs coach and special teams coordinator at Limestone University. While there, their opponents' punt return average dropped by 10 yards, helped develop a former walk-on player to an all-conference selection and saw his defensive backs record 23 pass breakups and six interceptions while dropping the opposing passing average to 177 yards per game.
Bryce Brown rounds out the staff, added as the Golden Eagles' running back coach and transfer/junior college liaison.
A former prep standout from Wichita East in Kansas, Brown was a highly touted prospect entering college. He played a season for Lane Kiffin at Tennessee, rushing for 460 yards and three touchdowns. He later joined his brother, Arthur, at Kansas State.
He entered the 2012 NFL Draft where he was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles, then later played for the Buffalo Bills and the Seattle Seahawks. He ended his pro career with 1,076 rushing yards and seven touchdowns, while also catching 37 passes for 316 yards.
Brown returned home to Wichita East, becoming its offensive coordinator for two seasons. In his tenure, he guided the team to its highest single-season scoring effort in the 2020 campaign. He then spent two seasons as the wide receivers coach at Butler Community College in Kansas.
The Golden Eagles host its Purple and Gold Scrimmage tomorrow afternoon at Tucker Stadium, starting at 1:30. The event, part of Wings Up Weekend, is open to the public.
Tech opens its 2022 season on Friday, Sept. 2, at Kansas.
Photos | Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information