Ferguson Promoted to Head Football Coach

ATHENS, W.Va. – Concord University Director of Athletics Kevin Garrett has announced the promotion of Brian Ferguson to the role of head football coach effective Monday afternoon.

Ferguson is named the 21^st head coach in program history as he follows Dave Walker's tenure (2020-22) after he announced his resignation last week. The longtime offensive assistant assumes his first head coaching job with Monday's announcement.

Ferguson just completed his third season as Concord's offensive coordinator where he directed one of Division II's top offenses in 2022. The Mountain Lions finished top 10 nationally in points per game (39.0), yards per game (487.7), passing yards per game (333.4), passing touchdowns (39) and total touchdown (60).

The high-octane offense in 2022 helped propel Concord to a 9-2 record as the Mountain Lions were in contention for a NCAA Division II Playoff spot until the very end of the season.

"I would like to thank our President Dr. Kendra Boggess and our Athletic Director Kevin Garrett for this opportunity to lead this program," Ferguson said. "I would like to extend an additional thank you to Dave Walker for allowing me to make the move to Concord three years ago. I plan on continuing the success that Coach Walker created here. I'm excited and can't wait to get started."

This past fall, Ferguson directed wide receiver Jarod Bowie to be a consensus First Team All-American while quarterback Jack Mangel and running back Thurlow Wilkins received all-region accolades. Bowie and Mangel also received a nod from D2Football.com as two of the top 100 players in Division II in 2022.

Wide receiver Tywan Pearce was also molded into one of the top 100 players and an All-American under Ferguson's guidance in 2021.

Although he has been at Concord just three seasons, Ferguson's offense has only had the chance to take the field for 22 games due to the pandemic that limited the spring 2021 season to one game. However, over that time Concord's offense has averaged 31.5 points per game.

"I'm looking forward to our players returning to field in the fall. We have a lot of great players coming back and looking to continue the success, not only on the offensive side of the ball, but as well as on the defensive side."

The Brian Ferguson-offensive era at CU opened up with a 52-point afternoon at West Virginia Wesleyan in March 2021.

"Coach Ferguson will continue to carry on the foundation that has already been built at Concord," Garrett said. "He has coached some of the best offenses that CU Football has ever seen. I have full confidence that we will continue to compete for championships under his guidance."

The native of Colorado Springs, Colorado has a broad range of coaching experience that spans nearly 25 years.

After playing at Division II Adams State as well as Northern Colorado, Ferguson jumped into the coaching ranks in 2000 as a strength coach under former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy.

After spending two seasons in central Florida, Ferguson moved on to NFL Europe and spent the next three years with the Rhein Fire in Germany. Ferguson had a couple more coaching stops, including a brief tenure with the Jacksonville Jaguars, before getting his first break as a position coach.

He was the running backs coach for Jacksonville University in 2006. Three years later, he made the move to Tiffin University to be the wide receivers coach, and in 2010 he became the offensive coordinator for the Dragons.

Ferguson returned to north Florida to serve as the Jacksonville Sharks', an Arena Football League team, assistant head coach from 2011-14. The 2011 Sharks won Arena Bowl XXIV as they sported a regular-season record of 14-4. He was the briefly the interim head coach for the Sharks in 2015 before landing his second offensive coordinator job at Tusculum in Greenville, Tennessee prior to the 2016 season.

Under his tutelage, the Pioneers' offense saw their best season in 2018 where they averaged nearly 26 points per game and totaled 365 yards per game.

Ferguson is a certified strength & conditioning specialist. He received his bachelor's degree from Northern Colorado in kinesiology. He later graduated with his master's from Adams State in human performance and physical education.

Off the football field, Ferguson founded, along with his wife Mary Beth, a nonprofit ministry called Building Powerful Athletes. The ministry was developed to serve communities through the context of sport while developing athletic talents and spreading the gospel.  

Brian and Mary Beth Ferguson, have five children: Blayne, a quarterback for Concord, Bryce, Brynn, Brock and Bristol.

Ferguson makes his head coaching debut at Concord September 2 versus Emory & Henry at Callaghan Stadium.

A press conference to officially introduce Coach Ferguson will be held in the press conference room of the Carter Center offices 11:00 a.m. Thursday. The press conference will be streamed at mountaineast.tv.