Kevin Whitley Named Cornerbacks Coach at Georgia Southern

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7-9-2019

Kevin Whitley Named Cornerbacks Coach at Georgia Southern Kevin Whitley Named Cornerbacks Coach at Georgia Southern

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Georgia Southern University Athletics

Kevin Whitley Named Cornerbacks Coach at Georgia Southern

Former GS All-American has spent the past decade as a highly successful high school coach in the Atlanta

Football

Posted: 7/9/2019 10:55:00 AM

STATESBORO - Former Georgia Southern All-American and professional player

Kevin Whitley has been announced as the cornerbacks coach for the Georgia

Southern football team by head coach Chad Lunsford. Whitley has spent the past decade as a highly successful high school coach in the Atlanta area and brings a

familiarity to the Georgia Southern program.

Whitley steps into a situation where he has two seasoned veterans at cornerback in All-American Kindle Vildor and All-Sun Belt player Monquavion Brinson. The

two seniors are the consensus preseason all-conference selections at cornerback by numerous publications and are ranked the Nos. 1 and 5 overall players in the

conference, respectively, by Southern Pigskin.

"I want to thank Coach Lunsford and the entire staff for giving me this opportunity," Whitley said. "It has been a dream of mine to get into college coaching and to be

able to do it at my alma mater is beyond comprehension. Statesboro is a place I love and I am going to hit the ground running to get ready for the season."

Most recently, Whitley compiled a 99-28 overall record with five region titles over 10 years at Stockbridge High School, four of which were in a row from 2014-

2017. Stockbridge had never won a playoff game prior to his arrival. In his final four seasons at SHS, he posted a combined 49-5 record (.907) with three regional

titles and 18 all-state players.

"Coach Whitley exemplifies what we are looking for when we hire coaches," Lunsford saud. "He is truly a Georgia Southern Man. Being a former player who's put

on the Eagle uniform, he knows what it takes to be successful here. What he's done as a collegiate player, a professional player and as a coach brings instant value to

our staff and program. We are excited about him and his family joining our team and helping to continue to build the identity of Georgia Southern Football."

Prior to his decade at Stockbridge, Whitley coached at Creekside High for six seasons and led the Seminoles to three 10-win seasons. He posted an overall record of

52-16 with 10 all-state players, most notably Eric Berry, who was a two-time unanimous All-American at the University of Tennessee and was named to the NFL's

Pro Bowl five times and first-team All-Pro three times.

Over 80 of his players continued on to play in college, including current GS safety Kenderick Duncan Jr. He also coached Ken Webster, a seventh round pick of the

New England Patriots in 2019, as well as future professional players Terrance Parks, Channing Crowder, Efrem Hill, Joshua Holsey, Travis Harris, Sean Dillard and

Rokevious Watkins.

He began his head coaching career at North Springs High, where he coached for two seasons. In 18 seasons as a high school head coach in Georgia, he compiled a

record of 160-55 (.744), winning seven region championships. He coached five players named to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Super 11, 39 players named all-

state and he himself was named a region coach of the year eight times.

A native of Decatur, Georgia, Whitley earned honorable mention All-America honors for the Eagles in 1991 from the Football Gazette after posting 48 tackles, to

interceptions and six pass break-ups. Whitley played at Georgia Southern from 1988-1991 as a four-year starter, helping lead the Eagles to two national

championships.

He went on to play professionally for four years, signing a free agent contract in the NFL with the New England Patriots and later in the CFL for the Toronto

Argonauts as a defensive back where he intercepted two passes in three seasons. He was named the Rookie of the Year for the Argonauts in 1993.

Whitley graduated from Georgia Southern in 1993 with a degree in business administration with an emphasis in marketing and his Master's in business education

from West Georgia in 2000. He earned an educational specialist certification in leadership from Nova Southeastern in 2009. He and his wife, Star, have a daughter,

Camryn, and a son, Avery.

Whitley replaces Cory Peoples, who resigned his position last week.

Georgia Southern begins its preseason camp on Aug. 2 to begin preparations for its season opener on Aug. 31 at nationally ranked LSU.