By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – In recent history, Tennessee Tech has had a run of great receivers. Now the Golden Eagles have a new guy in charge of the wideouts as Kelsey Pope joined the Tech football staff on Wednesday, aiming to forge the next generation of Golden Eagle receivers.
"He's a great addition to our staff," said Tech head coach Dewayne Alexander. "We're very fortunate to have Kelsey join our staff. When Coach (Adam) Mims left to join the staff at Chattanooga, we were looking for someone who was a great Xs and Os coach and could really relate to our players. We wanted someone who could fit in with our staff and understands (Football Championship Subdivision) football. We wanted someone who understood our R-250 blueprint. It's all very important."
Alexander continued, "Kelsey brings us great knowledge of the Birmingham area and Atlanta area, and those are two huge areas for us. Coach Mims recruited those areas, so there were just a lot of things that made Kelsey a great fit here. Just about every box that you looked to check, he had every one. He came highly recommended by people I know and trust in this profession. I really like his character. I like him as a person. I like his enthusiasm, and that's a position where we really need someone who's going to connect to these guys and bring energy to practice every day."
Considering who Tech has coming in at wide receiver, he's got plenty of talent to work with.
"We have a good mix of young and veteran receivers," Alexander said. "We do have a lot of youth at that position. Kelsey's going to be able to come in with three guys we added in this recruiting class, plus we had some freshmen in last year's class – Brad Clark was redshirted, Cam Singletary will be returning. We also have some veteran guys – Seth Huner and Austin Hicks, who finished up the year he had to sit out for transfer.
"There's a good mix of both and the best part about getting him now is that we give him a couple of weeks for meetings and to see the players go through some morning agilities over the next two weeks, as well as some staff time to talk about spring practice. We really hired him at a good time."
Pope joins the staff after a season as the wide receivers coach and pass game coordinator at Shorter University in Rome, Ga. A Division II program in the Gulf South Conference, Shorter's receiver corps totaled more than 2,000 yards last season, averaging 184 yards per game, and had three receivers with more than 400 yards for the campaign.
Before the tenure at Shorter, Pope spent a season at Ohio Northern as the school's running backs coach in the 2017 campaign. The Polar Bears' rushing efforts improved to 195.5 yards per game and the total offense surged to 435.7 yards per game. Under Pope's direction, sophomore running back Christiaan Williams rushed for 1,623 yards and 11 touchdowns en route to a first-team all-Ohio Athletic Conference nod and a second-team American Football Coaches Association All-American selection.
Pope also worked as an event operations coordinator for Birmingham's Knight Eady Sports Group and coached as a quarterback/wide receivers specialist for the QB Country program. He also developed the Next Level Sports Camps in his hometown of Sylacauga, Ala.
He also spent some time with the National Football League's Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent, following a stellar career as a wide receiver at Samford.
While at the Birmingham college, Pope finished his tenure as the Bulldogs' all-time leader in receptions with 250 and still holds the Samford records for receptions with a 17-catch game against The Citadel in 2011
He was twice named to the All-Southern Conference coaches team as a first-teamer in 2013 and a second-teamer in 2011 and 2012, and earned the same spots on the All-SoCon media poll.
"He's one of the best receivers in their history and Samford's an outstanding school," Alexander said. "He has FCS experience, NFL experience. He's already been a full-time coach at two different schools, so I think all of those things just make him a great fit for us."
