East Texas Baptist University Men's Football

POSITION: Head Coach  Calvin Ruzicka was named the seventh Head Coach for East Texas Baptist University on November 14, 2022, after Brian Mayper retired. Ruzicka has served as the Defensive Coordinator and Assistant Head Coach at ETBU since 2018. Prior to coming to University Hill, Ruzicka spent 17 years at Cedar Hill High School, where he won Texas state championships in 2006, 2013, and 2014 and was state runner-up in 2012.   ETBU President J. Blair Blackburn says, “Coach Ruzicka has been an asset to the program over the last five years. His commitment to excellence in all areas of the student-athlete experience and dedication to Christian leadership makes him a great fit as the Head Coach for Tiger Football.”   “We are excited to announce Calvin Ruzicka as the head coach of the ETBU Tiger Football program,” Vice President for Student Engagement and Athletics Ryan Erwin said. “Coach Ruzicka demands excellence, passion, and energy in everything he does and embraces the University’s mission and dedication to Christ-centered athletics and discipleship. His calling to mentor student-athletes and commitment to faith aligns with our vision of athletics as a leader of the ETBU Football program. His prior experience, tremendous reputation, and recruiting ties to Texas and Louisiana will guide Tiger Football to success for years to come.”    In his time at Cedar Hill, Ruzicka was the special teams coordinator, secondary coach, and freshman head coach. In 2013, he was awarded the National Football Foundation 6A Assistant Coach of the Year award. In addition, he has helped over 250 student-athletes gain college scholarships while serving as the campus academic coordinator and the community relations coordinator. As a track coach at Cedar Hill, he coached three regional team championships, the state runner-up in 2006, with a 4x100 relay team that finished second in the state.   In two seasons as Athletic Director and Head Football Coach at Texas Christian Academy in Arlington, Texas, Ruzicka led the Stars to a Texas Christian Athletic League (TCAL) Championship in 2000 and a 1999 TCAL Northwest District Championship while compiling an 18-4 overall record.    “I hope to build upon the foundation that Coach Mayper laid, and I appreciate him giving me the opportunity to serve as the defensive coordinator for the past five years. I am also thankful to Dr. Blair Blackburn and Mr. Ryan Erwin for their continued support and belief in Tiger Football and for offering me this opportunity to lead the program. I am very thankful for ETBU and all of our student-athletes and the blessing to be the next Head Coach of ETBU Tiger Football,” Ruzicka said.    During the 2022 season, the Ruzicka-led Tiger defense ranked third in the American Southwest Conference (ASC) in total defense and finished the regular season ranked first in the nation for team tackles for a loss with 9.2 per game and 13th in the country for sacks per game with 3.4. ETBU finished the season with 34 sacks and 10 interceptions, including single-game highs with nine sacks against McMurry and four interceptions against Sul Ross State, both one short of program records.    In Fall 2021, Ruzicka had six players earn All-ASC awards, and freshman Joey Johnson finished second in the ASC in tackling with 73 tackles, averaging 7.3 tackles per game. Justice Henson finished eighth in tackling at 6.4 tackles per game. In addition, Jahkamian Carr collected five sacks to tie for fourth in the ASC. Johnson then led the ASC in fumbles forced at 0.40 per game, and EJ Burgess was fifth in passes defended (0.80).   The 2021 spring season brought tremendous success for the ETBU defense as seven players earned All-ASC awards. KJ Kelley was an All-ASC first-team member and made the D3football.com All-American first-team, while Justice Henson was named to the D3football.com All-Region team. The defense finished third in the ASC, allowing just 21.2 points per game and led the conference with 10 interceptions for four touchdowns. Kelley tied an ASC record with two interceptions for touchdowns in one game.   Ruzicka’s defense finished fifth in the ASC and produced four All-ASC players in 2019. Anton Clark and Sirbatian Charles were first-team selections, while Clark was named an AP All-American first-team selection. The defense produced 27 sacks and 14 interceptions while forcing 12 fumbles and recovering 11.   The 2018 ETBU defense had six players earn All-ASC awards: Zack Biles (2nd team), Zack Walker (2nd team), Khilan Wright (2nd team), Quaylon Beckley (HM), Garret Gibson (HM), and Aaron Buckley (HM). The defense recorded 13 interceptions and 17 sacks forcing 15 fumbles and recovering 13.    A 1988 graduate of Texas State University, Calvin earned a Bachelor of Business Management. He and his wife Julie have two children, Darron and Mason, and three grandchildren, Caden, Brady, and Landon.   

POSITION: Tight Ends Jeb Spinney enters his fourth year at ETBU coaching offense and first on staff for head coach Calvin Ruzicka. He transitions to coaching tight ends in 2024 after three years as an offensive student assistant coach. Spinney has helped keep the ETBU offensive schemes together the past three years helping with all aspects. In 2023, freshman Trajen Llanas-Wilcox was named the ASC Freshman of the Year and four offensive players earned All-ASC awards. He will finish his Bachelors Degree at ETBU in December 2024 and recently married former ETBU softball player Allison Damiani in June. 

POSITION: Offensive Line Donald Kinchen is in his first season at ETBU as the offensive line coach for head coach Calvin Ruzicka. The former offensive lineman has coached at Nelson University (formerly Southwestern Assemblies of God) and St. Andrews University.  "We are fortunate to add Donald to our staff. He played in this system under our offensive coordinator, Ryan Smith, when he was at Nelson University, and that experience will help develop our offensive line. Even though he is young, he has a proven track record in developing the offensive line and getting the most out of his players. He takes great pride in growing his players in mind, body, and soul, and I can't wait to see him build those relationships with our players and their progress," says Ruzicka.   Coaching the offensive line for the past three years in the NAIA, Kinchen makes his way back to Texas after two years at St. Andrews University in North Carolina. He started his coaching career at Nelson University as a graduate assistant.   He recruited Georgia, Mississippi, Florida, and Alabama at St. Andrews and developed the offensive linemen. He was also in charge of the weight room programming. While a graduate assistant at Nelson, he helped with game planning for the run game and pass game protections.   Pearl River Community College is where his collegiate playing career started for two years (2017-18). Mississippi College was the next stop on the offensive line in 2019 and 2020. He helped the Choctaws to a 5-5 record at NCAA Division II as the offense averaged 27 points and almost 300 yards of offense per game. His 2020 season was cut short due to the pandemic as he finished his career at Nelson in 2021. Nelson went 9-3 that year, breaking 17 team offensive records, winning the NCCAA Victory Bowl, 31-14, over Sterling College. He earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Interdisciplinary Stuides from Nelson University in 2021.

POSITION: Defensive Line DeQuallon Jenkins enters his second year under head coach Calvin Ruzicka as the defensive line coach in 2024. He was a graduate assistant with the defense in 2021 and 2022 before moving up to full-time staff for the defense. The 2023 season was a strong one on the defensive line as Jenkins coachedJahkamian Carr, Christian Booker, and Dominick Williams to the All-ASC first team. Carr was the ASC Defensive Lineman of the Year, an All-ASC first team selection, made the Dave Campbell's All-Texas Non-FBS Defensive Team, and an All-Region first team selection. He led the ASC in sacks with seven and had 60 tackles on the year. Booker was voted onto D3football.com's All-Region second team and his second straight All-ASC first team award posting 5.5 sacks and 31 tackles. Williams finished with 6.5 sacks, 10.5 tackles for loss, and 40 tackles. Jenkins played four years at ETBU on the defensive line in 31 games amassing 63 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, three forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries. He played four of the five games in spring 2021 and was named All-ASC honorable mention with 20 tackles and 1.5 sacks posting a career-high eight tackles and a sack vs. Texas Lutheran on March 27, 2021. Coming from North Crowley High School, he was a linebacker gaining All-District honorable mention. He finished his career as 12th all-time on the tackle list for the program.  He graduated from ETBU with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Management in 2021 and received his Master's Degree in May 2023. In July 2024, he married his wife, Abbi. 

POSITION: Defensive Backs Wade Willis enters his first season as a position coach for head coach Calvin Ruzicka. Willis coached the past two years as a graduate assistant for ETBU on offense. He came to ETBU as a defensive end and transitioned to a student-coach by his senior year. The past two years, he has helped the offense as a graduate assistant as ETBU won 10 games.  He earned his Bachelor and Master Degrees from ETBU in 2020 and 2022 in History and Kinesiology. 

Jaylan Moss enters the 2024 season as the safeties coach for ETBU head coach Calvin Ruzicka. He will work under Defensive Coordinator Scott Brock and comes to ETBU from NCAA Division II Arkansas Tech. "Jaylan is a great addition to our defensive staff. He is originally from the Waco area and has good relations there, which helps with recruiting. His experience as a player at Nelson University (formerly Southwestern Assemblies of God) and as a coach at the NCAA Division II level will benefit our secondary. Jaylan has a strong faith and will be able to pour into our players. I'm excited to see him continue to grow as a coach on this staff and see how he continues to grow our players," Ruzicka said.    Moss is helping bolster the defensive staff. As a graduate assistant at NCAA Division II Arkansas Tech, he helped the program to five wins in 2023. He was involved in athlete skill development, monitoring academic progress, and practice and game plan preparations.   Moss played for four years for Nelson University (formerly Southwestern Assemblies of God) from 2019 to 2022. He helped Nelson to the 2021 NCCAA (National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association) Victory Bowl Championship and were runners-up in 2022. The NCCAA awarded him to the All-NCCAA Team as a returner and All-American second team in 2019.   He graduated from Nelson University in 2021 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Sports Management.

POSITION: Wide Receivers Starting his first season as the Wide Receivers Coach for ETBU, head coach Calvin Ruzicka has added Jeremy Batten to his staff. Batten has coached and played at the NCAA Division III level and been a professional athlete. "I'm excited about adding Coach Batten to our staff. There's some divine intervention in bringing Jeremy back to East Texas, where he grew up. He had the opportunity to play four games in Ornelas Stadium during his collegiate career at Howard Payne and Belhaven, so it will be great to have him on our sideline finally. He has experience in the ASC as a player, and his previous coaching experience will benefit our players. I can't wait to see how he takes our wide receiver room to a new level," says Ruzicka.   Batten comes to ETBU from LaGrange College (Ala.) where he was the wide receiver's coach for one season. Prior to LaGrange, he was at Anderson Broaddus University, coaching wide receivers on the sprint football team. He started his coaching career at North Carolina Wesleyan as the tight ends coach and helped with special teams.   His playing career started at Howard Payne University for two seasons in 2018 and 2019, before finishing at Belhaven University as a two-year starter in 2020-21. He played in the COVID-19 spring 2021 season (5 games) along with fall 2021 for his final two years of eligibility, compiling 254 yards receiving on 25 receptions in 15 games. Belhaven went 10-5 in those two years, with a 7-3 season in fall 2021. He earned four Academic All-Conference awards in that time.   Headed to the next level, professionally, he played for the West Texas Warbirds and the Albany Empire in the National Arena League. He also had a stint with the Salina Liberty in the Arena Football League.   He earned a Bachelor's Degree in Kinesiology from Howard Payne University in 2019 and a Master's in Sports Management from Belhaven University in 2021.

Scott Brock / University of Tennessee Scott Brock will begin his 40th year in coaching and has coached on three national championship teams, seven state championship teams, and one state co-championship team.  Brock begins his third year and serves as the defensive coordinator/safeties coach for East Texas Baptist University. The Tigers finished the 2025 regular season ranked 24th in the nation in fumbles recovered and 24th in the country in sacks (out of 241 teams in DIII). He coordinated the fourth shutout in school history (Oklahoma Panhandle State University) and the first home shutout in 23 years. Brock Coordinated All-America DE Dominic Williams, the DIII NCAA Region 3 Defensive Player of the Year (2025). Dom competed against 35 schools across the southeast region in DIII for the award and was up for the national defensive player of the year. Brock served as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in 2024, helping the Tigers to their first winning season since 2019. ETBU posted a 5-1 start, which was only the third time in the school’s history (1924). The defense finished 38th in the nation in defensive turnovers gained (out of 239 DIII schools)   Before coming to ETBU, Brock served as the linebackers coach at Carson Newman University. Sophomore linebacker Jake Cottle was named the Tennessee Defensive Player of the Week by the Tennessee Sportswriters' Association (9-5-23). In 2022, Alonzo Houston was named to the South Atlantic Conference First Team Defense and honored to be the South Atlantic Conference Defensive Player of the Week in our win over nationally ranked # 7 Newberry College. In 2021, Brock’s inside linebackers Alonzo Houston (20thin the nation in total tackles) and Rondrow Peebles (77th in the nation in total tackles) led the CNU defense in tackles.  Both linebackers finished first and third, respectively, in total tackles in the South Atlantic Conference on a team that unfortunately went 1-9.  Peebles led the Eagle defense in sacks as well. In 2019, Brock coached converted high school safety Peebles in his first collegiate start at inside linebacker in a win against the University of West Florida (the 2019 NCAA DII National Champions). Peebles was honored that week as the Tennessee Sportswriters Association State Defensive Player of the Week (he was also named to the same award in week 10).  Peebles was also named the South Atlantic Player of the Week the first week of play (9-9-13) and in week five (10-14-19). Peebles ended his junior season as an Associated Press All-America and was nominated for the Cliff Harris Award as the top small college defensive player in the country. Peebles nine sacks are the most by a Carson-Newman linebacker in a single season.  Before coming to Carson Newman, Brock served as the special team’s coordinator and defensive coordinator at East Central Community College in Mississippi. He also coached cornerbacks and linebackers.  In 2018, the Warriors special teams finished third in the nation in returns and ninth in the nation in kickoff coverage. The Warriors claimed the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges South Division Championship in 2016.  It was the first time the Warriors won the south championship and its first division championship in 46 years since East Central played in the North Division (1970). The Warriors hosted a state home playoff game for the first time in the history of East Central (1928).  It also marked the first back-to-back (2015 & 2016) state playoff appearances in 40 years (1976). In 2016, the Warrior defense finished 3rd in the nation in defensive touchdowns while finishing 7th in the nation in defensive touchdowns in 2015. As defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in 2015, the Warriors finished with its first winning season in 14 years.  They were the C.H.A.M.P.S. Heart of Texas Bowl Champions. It was the fourth bowl appearance for East Central since 1928. East Central finished 10th in the nation in the final NJCAA final football poll. In 2013, the NJCAA statistically ranked the Warrior defense 60th out of 65 teams in scoring defense (40.7 points per game). In 2014, the defense improved to 20th in the nation in scoring defense (22.0 points per game) and in 2015 the Warriors surrendered 16.5 points per game finishing 5th in the nation in scoring defense (out of 67 teams). In March 2014, Brock was published in the American Football Monthly magazine.  The article was titled “Developing a Defensive Foundation.” Brock also served as a football blogger for the publication. During his time at East Central, Brock also served as the defensive consultant to The Lamar School in Meridian- where he helped their program win back-to-back-to-back MAIS Class AAAA Division II Championships in 2016, 2017 & 2018. Brock came to East Central from Florida, where he served as Hilliard Middle-Senior High’s athletic director, head track coach, assistant head football coach, defensive coordinator, special team’s coordinator, linebackers coach and offensive line coach. The Class A Flashes recorded back-to-back winning seasons in 2008 and 2009 and made it to the state playoffs for the first time in six years. Before coming to the Flashes, Brock served as the head track coach, defensive coordinator, special team’s coordinator, linebackers coach, secondary coach and head middle school coach for Charlton County High in Georgia.  He helped coach the Indians to four Georgia state championships in two years (back-to-back state championships in track 2005 & 2006 and back-to-back state championships in football 2004 & 2005).  As the Indian track coach, Brock led the Indians to its first AA State Track Championship in 2005, going undefeated (48-0) without having a track for practice. In 2004, Brock served as the defensive coordinator and helped lead the Indians to its first AA State Football Championship against powerhouse Buford High. At that time, Buford had won three consecutive state championships (2000-2003) and held the state record for consecutive wins in all classifications in Georgia (47). The football team finished as state co-champions in 2006, tying Dublin 13-13 in the state championship game.  Before that, Brock served as a defensive and special teams assistant at Appalachian State University. He coached the secondary in 2002 and the linebackers in 2001. Before joining the Mountaineers, Brock served as the defensive coordinator and assistant head coach at Middle Georgia College from 1998 to 2001.  In 2000, Brock started seven freshmen and finished fifth in the nation in Total Team Defense (out of 71 teams).  In 1998, Middle Georgia would become the best defense in the history of junior college (the NJCAA). Brock’s defense broke the all-time Total Team Defense of 72.8 yards per game and it still holds the NJCAA Rushing Defense record of 5.1 yards per game. The defense gave up only 5.0 points per game and included the 2001 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, linebacker Kendrell Bell of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Before that position, Brock served as the first head football and head track coach at Centennial High in Franklin, Tennessee. In the school’s first two football seasons, his teams recorded an 18-16 record. Brock spent the 1995 season as the head track coach, defensive coordinator and special team’s coordinator at Berrien County in Nashville, Georgia. Before that, he served as the defensive coordinator and special team’s coordinator at Brentwood High, Tennessee from 1993 to 1994.  Brock helped Brentwood to their first playoff appearances in the school’s history.  The defense in 1994, shutout their opponents a school-record 17 straight quarters (five shutout games). In 1990, Brock served as the special team’s coordinator and secondary coach for the Charlotte Barons (a minor league team that turned into NFL Europe).  The Barons went on to win the 1990 Minor League Football System (MLFS) National Championship.  In 1989, Brock served as the receivers and tight ends coach for Carson-Newman College. In 1988, he worked as the secondary coach. During his two years, Carson-Newman won back-to-back NAIA National Championships in 1988 and 1989.     In 1987, Brock majored in Athletic Administration and earned a Master of Education from the University of Memphis. In 1985, Brock earned a Bachelor of Science in Communications, majoring in Journalism from the University of Tennessee. In his first coaching position, Brock served under his coaching mentor, Coach Ken Donahue (Bear Bryant’s defensive coordinator for 21 years), as a defensive student assistant. That year, Tennessee captured its first SEC Championship since 1969 and went on to win the 1986 Sugar Bowl, defeating the University of Miami 35-7.  It was a great year to begin a coaching career.