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Shorter University a proven training ground for young coaches
By Matt Green
ROME – Over the past several years, Shorter University has established itself as the place to be for student-athletes striving to excel both on and off the playing fields.
A closer look reveals that Shorter is a great place for young coaches, too.
As the Athletic Department continues to churn through the process of transitioning from the NAIA to NCAA Division II, Shorter remains a top-notch platform for coaches to hone their skills.
Oftentimes, the number of coaches that graduate from a program and go on to successful careers elsewhere can validate the longevity of a traditional power in collegiate athletics. Shorter is no different.
Over the past two months alone, Shorter has seen two of its graduate assistant coaches make some impressive moves within the world of college athletics.
In December, J.T. Clendenin, a graduate assistant with Shorter’s men and women’s golf programs, was named the top assistant at NCAA Division I Coastal Carolina.
Just several weeks ago, Shorter lost another promising graduate assistant in Kirk Rogers, who was tapped as the first-ever head lacrosse coach at NCAA Division II Young Harris.
“When you have great head coaches with outstanding programs, you can expect these kind of opportunities for your younger coaches,” Shorter Director of Athletics Bill Peterson said with a shrug. “Obviously, we have seen our graduate assistants move on to some good jobs throughout the country.
“We have also seen some of our full time assistants make the move to NCAA Division I programs and to head jobs at several big time high schools.”
In addition to seeing many of its graduate assistants move on, Shorter has become one of Georgia’s top producers of high school football coaches.
Shorter has over 35 of its former football student-athletes teaching and coaching in Georgia high schools – quite a remarkable number for a university that will play only its eighth season of intercollegiate football in the Fall of 2012.
“[Head football coach] Phil Jones has learned from some of the best and he himself is a great teacher,” said Peterson. “The same thing can be said of our basketball coaches, Chad Warner and Vic Mitchell. They all come from a Division I environment, they worked for some of the top coaches in the country and they know how to build programs and develop players.”
Shorter’s coaching tree resembles that of a century old oak. Although a good number of Shorter’s 21 intercollegiate athletic programs are in their relative infancy – just 10 years ago Shorter had seven intercollegiate athletic programs and under 100 student-athletes – there has been no shortage of successful coaches groomed under the tutelage of experienced mentors.
“In many ways, what is happening [at Shorter] reminds me of Florida State in the 1960s,” Peterson said. “Here you had a small, independent athletic program that few had even heard of and then, before you know it, they have coaches popping up all over the country. Guys like Joe Gibbs, Bobby Bowden, Bill Parcells, Don James and so many more came out of a program that no one had heard of at the time.
“Sometimes when you are smaller, you have to work harder and be more innovative,” Peterson added. “That’s what I see happening with our coaches here at Shorter.”
From the outside, Shorter’s already attractive qualities will certainly enjoy a boost as the transition to NCAA Division II kicks into high gear over the next two years. The truth is, however, that Shorter had already established itself as a national power within the talent-rich NAIA, an organization in which Shorter proudly competed for over 60 years.
Since the 2007-08 academic year, Shorter has captured a total of 22 conference championships, 14 individual national championships and five total team national championships that include a pair of NAIA national titles.
Shorter continues to attract the best student-athletes that excel on the field and in the classroom – the only number that rivals Shorter’s several hundred NAIA All-Americans over the last five years is its number of NAIA Scholar-Athletes.
All that being said, where else would a young coach want to be?
Said Peterson: “If I were a high school student looking to go into coaching or a young coach looking to move up in the world of college athletics, I think I would be sending my resume to Shorter.”
