COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – A former player and coach at Tennessee
Tech, and the head football coach at Cumberland University for
seven seasons, Dewayne Alexander is returning to his alma mater as
an assistant coach under Watson Brown.
Alexander will coach the offensive linemen, replacing departing
six-year assistant Thomas Cox.
“We’re excited about getting Dewayne on our
staff,” said Watson Brown. “He brings a lot of
experience, he’s well-known in the state of Tennessee and as
a Tennessee Tech graduate. I think he’s going to be a really
outstanding addition to the Golden Eagle program.”
Alexander earned two degrees from Tech and was a four-year member
of the football team and a three-year letterwinner. He has also
been back at Tech twice as an assistant coach.
“I’m excited to be coming back to Tennessee Tech.
It’s my alma mater. I played there, I’ve coached there
two different times. This just seems to be the right time for me
and my family,” Alexander said. “I’m excited
about what’s going on at Tennessee Tech. Coach Brown has
generated excitement around the program, with the team and with
improvements to the facilities.”
His move to Tech comes after seven successful seasons at
Cumberland.
“Any time you’ve been somewhere seven years, it’s
tough to leave,” he said. “ You’ve invested time
with your players and your coaching staff. The program was in tough
times when I got here, and we worked hard to build the program, the
facilities, the morale. The university and the people here have
been fantastic to me. I’m grateful for the opportunity to
serve as head coach here.
“Looking at the big picture, I’m going to a place that
I care a lot about,” he added. “When I reflect back to
the time I spent at TTU, both as a player and a coach, I’m
grateful to all the other coaches and professors who invested in
me. It’s a very special place. My mixed emotions about
leaving are offset by the fact that I’m going back to a place
that I care very much about.”
During his time at Cumberland, his teams had 44 all-conference
honorees and 101 conference Scholar-Athletes. Cumberland tied
for the Mid-South Conference West Division championship in 2008 and
played for the conference title in 2010, 2011 and
2012. Thirty-nine players have been named NAIA National
Scholar-Athletes, while 20 have garnered conference Player of
the Week accolades and five NAIA National Players of the Week. The
club led the nation with 16 NAIA Scholar-Athletes in 2012.
A 1988 graduate of TTU with a degree in political science and a
minor in English, Alexander played four seasons on the defensive
line for the Golden Eagles, one year under coach Gary Darnell and
three for coach Jim Ragland.
Following graduation, he spent eight seasons at Hendersonville
High School, his prep alma mater, as football, wrestling and
softball coach, before returning to the Upper Cumberland region in
1996 to serve as assistant principal and head football coach at
Jackson County High School.
His collegiate coaching career began in 1997 when he took a
position at Tech as an assistant on coach Mike Hennigan’s
staff, working with running backs for two seasons before being
named head football coach at Upperman High School in Baxter. While
at Tech, he earned a master’s in Instructional
Leadership.
In 2001, he was offensive coordinator at Gallatin High School and
in 2002 he came back to Tech as defensive line coach for one more
year, working with Buck Buchanan Award finalist D.J. Bleisath. In
2003, he was offered the head coaching position at Wilson Central
High School in Lebanon and in 2006, he was named head coach at
Cumberland University. In seven seasons, his Bulldog teams posted a
41-33 overall record and in the past three years, Alexander led
Cumberland to a combined 23-9 overall record.
Cumberland posted an 8-3 record in 2010, just the third eight-win
campaign in school history since the program was revived in 1990.
The Bulldogs were ranked in the NAIA Top 25 in eight of the 10
regular season polls, reaching as high as 16th in the nation. CU
won eight of nine games with only an overtime loss before falling
in the season finale and just missing the NAIA playoffs. Alexander
was named the NAIA Region I Coach of the Year and also the
Tennessee Sportswriters Association Coach of the Year.
In 2011 CU won six straight and was ranked as high as 14th
nationally before dropping the last two games of the year and just
missing the NAIA playoffs for the second straight season. The team
finished with seven victories, setting the mark for the most
victories in a two-year span (15) and tying the record for
wins during a four-year period (26) in program history.
The Bulldogs again registered an 8-3 mark last fall, ranking as
high as No. 16 in the nation. The squad tied for the second most
wins in a season and set records for most victories in a three-year
(23) and four-year span (28). His squad ranked fourth nationally in
rushing offense per game (269.7).
Dewayne and his wife Angela, have four children -- son Hayden (18), daughter Kate (12) and twin sons Ross and John (10).