Ouachita Baptist University Men's Football

Knight is the longest standing college head football coach in Arkansas. He has proven to be a strong leader as he heads the Ouachita program with integrity and passion.   Knight has guided the Tiger program through the infant stages of NCAA Division II, from the Lone Star Conference, the Gulf South Conference and now the Great American Conference. Steady improvement began in 2002 and 2003 which marked solid squads that would help build the future of Ouachita football. In the inaugural 2011 campaign, Knight led the Tigers to their first ever Great American Conference championship, the first conference championship for the Tigers in over 20 years. The longest tenured coach in the GAC and the Tigers claimed the conference championship once again in 2014, and Knight was named GAC Coach of the Year in both championship seasons. Knight was also named 2014 AFCA Region Three Coach of the Year. Knight has established Ouachita as an elite program among all Division II institutions. He boasts Great American Conference Championships in 2011 and 2014 and 70 All-Great American Conference players in just five years. The team is the only program in the state of Arkansas to boast eight consecutive winning seasons, cracking the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Top 25 in seven of eight of those seasons. The team has been ranked as high as seventh in the AFCA poll, and Ouachita finished the 2014 season ranked 10th in all of Division II.   Knight leads both on and off the field, and his players have been recognized for being outstanding achievers on the field, in the classroom and in the community. He has recruited and coached six professional football players, 145 All-Conference players, 20 All-Americans, three Honorable Mention All-Americans, 30 Academic All-Conference players and many GSC honor roll athletes. During the 2014 season, the Tigers finished the regular season 10-0 for the first time in program history. After winning the its second GAC championship, Ouachita earned the top seed in the region for the Tigers' first ever appearance in the NCAA Division II National Championship Tournament. The Tigers finished the year with one Academic All-American, two All-Americans, six All-Region selections, 18 All-Conference selections and the Division II Special Teams Player of the Year. Ouachita also had a player named to the 2014 AFCA Allstate Good Works Team.  Knights seniors have had a 90% graduation rate and the team has been involved in service to the community for many years.  He has been quoted in saying that one of the most gratifying things in coaching is watching his players grow into the total man during their time at Ouachita, graduate and go on to be successful in all aspects of life.   Knights development at head coach has come under solid leadership, playing under coach Buddy Benson at Ouachita, and later coaching under Red Parker and Don Skelton at Delta State from 1986-1989 and David Lee at the University of Texas at El Paso from 1990-1992. When he returned to Delta State as head coach from 1993-1998, he led the team to its first ever GSC Championship in 1998, also earning GSC Coach of the Year honors that year. Knight was named to the AFCA Board of Trustees following the conclusion of the 2012 football season, adding to his list of accolades. He also served on the NCAA Rules Committee, helping to make changes and restructure the rules for the game of college football along with coaches from around the country.   Knight and his wife Julie have three Children, Casey a 2013 graduate of Ouachita, Spencer and his wife Megan, both 2015 graduates of Ouachita, and Jake a junior on the Ouachita Tigers baseball team . Coaching Experience: 17 years at Ouachita                   1999-present: Head Coach, Ouachita                                         2011 GAC Champions (first in school history)                                         2011 GAC Coach of the Year                                         2014 Undefeated GAC Champions                                         2014 GAC Coach of the Year                                         2014 AFCA Region Three Coach of the Year                                         2014 NCAA Division II Playoffs (first in school history)                   1993-1998: Head Coach, Delta State                                         1998 GSC Champions (first in school history)                                         1998 GSC Coach of the Year                   1990-1992: Assistant Coach, University of Texas at El Paso                   1986-1989: Assistant Coach, Delta State

Bryen is entering his second season with the Tigers, continuing to coach the OBU running backs as a graduate assistant. The running backs helped contribute to Ouachitas 10-0 conference record, and their second Great American Conference Championship. The running backs played a large role in the Tigers season total of 2852 yards rushing, with an average of 237 rushing yards per game. Senior running back, Steven Kehner, attained the highest number of single season touchdowns in the GAC Conference with a total of 21 touchdowns.   Bryen is a graduate of Southwestern Oklahoma State University, as of May 2013, where he earned a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies. At SWOSU, Bryen was a four-year starter on the Bulldogs offensive line.   Before coming to Ouachita, Bryen worked as the offensive line coach at Cisco Junior College in Cisco, TX from 2013-2014. Bryen is a native of Thomas, OK, where he attended and graduated from Thomas High school. Deitra Bryen, Kanes wife of four years, is also a Thomas native. Kane Bryen Running Backs Coach Kane Bryen is entering his second season with the Tigers, continuing to coach the OBU running backs as a graduate assistant. The running backs helped contribute to Ouachitas 10-0 conference record, and their second Great American Conference Championship. The running backs played a large role in the Tigers season total of 2852 yards rushing, with an average of 237 rushing yards per game. Senior running back, Steven Kehner, attained the highest number of single season touchdowns in the GAC Conference with a total of 21 touchdowns.   Bryen is a graduate of Southwestern Oklahoma State University, as of May 2013, where he earned a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies. At SWOSU, Bryen was a four-year starter on the Bulldogs offensive line.   Before coming to Ouachita, Bryen worked as the offensive line coach at Cisco Junior College in Cisco, TX from 2013-2014. Bryen is a native of Thomas, OK, where he attended and graduated from Thomas High school. Deitra Bryen, Kanes wife of four years, is also a Thomas native.

Derby is entering his 18th season on the Ouachita staff after coming to OBU from Delta State with head coach Todd Knight. Derby will be in his 12th season as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He served as the recruiting coordinator for Ouachita from 1999-2004, coached the defensive line from 1999-2001 and coached the wide receivers from 2002-2003. In 2015, the Tiger offense averaged more than 30 points per game for its seventh year in a row, setting team records in non-consecutive seasons. The offense has now joined the 300/4,000 club the last five seasons with more than 4,000 yards of total offense and 300 plus points per season. In 2014, the OBU offense broke the school record in scoring set in 2013, averaging 37.7 points per game, leading the team to its seventh consecutive winning season. In 2012, the American Football Coaches Association named three finalists for the NCAA Division II Assistant Coach of the Year. Derby was one of those finalists, recognizing him for his community involvement and the productivity of Ouachita's offense.   In Derby's second season as offensive coordinator for the Tigers, the offense set numerous school records. In the homecoming game against Arkansas Tech, the offense set the school record for most yards in a game (573), as well as the record for most passing yards in a single game (478). Also during the 2011 GAC Championship campaign the offense ranked first in points per game and total offense. In his 13 years as a quarterback coach, Derby has coached four different Ouachita record-holders in all statistical categories, along with three different quarterbacks earning All-Conference honors, including the 2011 GAC Offensive Player of the Year Casey Cooper. In 2010, Eli Cranor set the Ouachita record for passing yards, total offense in a single season and the Gulf South Conference/Ouachita record for completion percentage in a single game at 93.8% against Southern Arkansas. In 2008, Lance Parker set the school record for most passing yards in a single game at 478 against Arkansas Tech. In 2011, Casey Cooper set the rushing record for QBs with just under 1,000 yards rushing. In 2014, Kiehl Frazier led the offense to a school record of points per game and a regular-season record of 10-0, the first undefeated/untied regular season in school history. The top 3 passers in Ouachita history have all been coached by Derby. Derby has coached and recruited over 70 All-Conference and NFL athletes in his career, including 2 different offensive players of the year, 3 freshmen of the year, 6 professional athletes, and the only 2 active roster NFL products from Ouachita, Julius Pruitt (WR) of the Miami Dolphins and Phillip Supernaw (TE) of the Tennessee Titans. Derby, a native of Goldsboro, N.C., played football at Guilford College in North Carolina where he won the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Championship as a senior. He began his coaching career at his alma mater in 1992, coaching wide receivers and tight ends. Derby went on to Methodist College for a year coaching running backs, and then to Delta State, where they won DSUs first ever Gulf South Conference Championship and a birth in the NCAA Division II Playoffs, where his responsibilities included tight ends, receivers and special teams over a five year span. Derby and his wife, Susan, have two daughters, Caroline, 15  and Anna, 11. Jay Derby is entering his 18th season on the Ouachita staff after coming to OBU from Delta State with head coach Todd Knight.

After graduating from Ouachita with his bachelors degree in speech communications in 2011, Espy stayed in Arkadelphia as a graduate assistant, helping coach defensive line at Ouachita while getting his masters degree in sports administration from Henderson State University. Espy went back to Mendocino in 2014 to coach defensive backs under his former d-line coach. He was promoted to defensive coordinator the next season. In 2016, Espy became one of the youngest head coaches in the nation when he took the helm for his alma mater. The 2017 MCC Eagles led the nation with 51 takeaways under Espys leadership. Espys next stop was as the offensive coordinator for Cabrillo Community College in Aptos, California in 2018. In Espys first season with at CCC, he helped lead the Seahawks to a 7-3 record with an offense that put out 419 yards and 35 points per game. The 2019 Seahawks team posted an 8-3 record and made a bowl game appearance while averaging 435 yards per game and scored almost 33 points per game.   Espy then made his way to the Motor City in 2022 as the defensive line coach at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. In his one season with the WSU Warriors, Espy coached two honorable mention All-GLIAC recipients, as well as the teams leader in sacks and tackles for loss. WSUs defense was tied for first in conference and sixth nationally with 13 fumble recoveries. 11 of Espys student-athletes earned Academic All-GLIAC honors, including four players earning spots on the excellence team for GPAs at or above a 3.5.

Shockley is entering his 11th season as Offensive Line / Tight Ends Coach & his ninth as Recruiting Coordinator.  During the 2015 season, OBUs offense kept up its record setting ways.  The OL/TEs helped lead the way for an offense that set a school record in points per game with 37.7 and also helped the offense reach 4,000 total yards or more and 300 total points or more for the fifth consecutive season. His units have also helped the Tigers average more than 30 points per game for the seventh consecutive season. Shockleys units are known for giving Ouachitas record setting quarterbacks time and the 2009 unit was the best in all NCAA divisions by only allowing four sacks on the season.  In ten seasons, the Tigers front five are averaging 9.1 sacks allowed per season. The groups have been equally impressive in opening running lanes, paving the way for seven 1,000 yard rushers and have averaged 2,382 rushing yards per season in his tenure.  Shockley has been privileged to coach 3 pro players (P. Supernaw, NFL (Tennessee Titans); R. Richard, Arena League; B. Ruffing European League), 7 All-Americans (P. Supernaw 11; A. Sprinkle 13, 14; Calhoun 14; M. Russell 14, 15; R. Richard 10, 11; K. Smith 10, 11; C. Godbolt 11),  and 21 All-GSC or GAC players during his tenure with Ouachita.  Shockley is a 2001 graduate of the University of Arkansas where he earned his Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and Agricultural Marketing. While there, he was a three year letterman playing Tackle and Guard for the Razorbacks.  He participated in the 1999 Citrus, 2000 Cotton, & 2000 Vegas Bowl Games.  He and his wife Leigh Anne have one daughter Madison Anne, 3. Twitter: @CoachShock_OBU 10th Year at Ouachita 2006-Present: Offensive Line / Tight Ends / Recruiting Coordinator 2005: Offensive Line / Tight Ends / Strength & Conditioning Coordinator, Hutchinson C.C. (KS) 2002-2004: Offensive Line / Tight Ends, Arkansas Tech University