Long-time Eagles head coach to become College's Associate Athletic Director and Coordinator for Student-Athlete Success
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - Carson-Newman's Dale Clayton has moved from his role as head basketball coach to be the College's Associate Athletic Director and Coordinator for Student-Athlete Success, as announced this afternoon by Clayton and C-N President Randall O'Brien. Clayton will continue as head coach until his successor is named.
The change is something that Clayton said he has been praying and thinking about for some time.
“I've actually been thinking about this for probably three years,” he said. “It's all spiritual in its nature and it will give me the opportunity, as Dr. O'Brien says, to broaden my ministry from 15 about 450.”
He said he saw firsthand as a student-athlete the impact that a coach could have on a young person's life when his coach at Milligan, Phil Worrell, was instrumental in leading Clayton to commit his life to Christ. While Clayton says he believes he has made a difference for many of his basketball players primarily, he is excited and charged by the prospect of having a broader outreach.
As student success coordinator, Clayton will oversee academics for the institution's more than 425 student-athletes and will also serve as chaplain and shepherd for them. While he will remain a fixture in C-N athletics, he will work closely with the College's Life Directions Center to ensure that athletes not only know about programs to help them, but also “that they take every advantage of them. We are going to pay particular attention to retention and to graduation rates among our athletes.”
Carson-Newman President Randall O'Brien expects Clayton's move will have a meaningful impact on many C-N students and not just athletes.
“In our society today, from all socio-economic groups and from all backgrounds, students are coming from broken homes and they sometimes don't have a father's influence or a great role model,” said Dr. O'Brien. “Dale really feels a call to mentor, to shepherd, to encourage young people, and I can see that Dale will be a father figure with a pastoral heart and an encouraging word—a mentor; someone to care about young people. We feel like if we are going to call ourselves a caring community, a Christian college, and say that we place a premium on academics and Christian commitment; Well, this is a good way to say that we not only have a dream, but we have a plan.”
In the course of his transition, Clayton noted a particular gratitude for two people who brought him to C-N. “One, I want to thank Coach (Ken) Sparks because he was the athletic director when I was hired here, and I want to thank Dr. (Cordell) Maddox because he was the president who gave me a chance to be a head coach. I have a huge debt of gratitude to those two men.”
Clayton has served as Eagles head coach for 22 seasons. He has compiled 314 career wins, which is the most in Carson-Newman history and the third most in South Atlantic Conference history. His 147 SAC wins are the third most in league history.
The Mt. Dora, Fla. native took over the Eagle program in 1988-'89, turning in a 12-19 record that year.
In just his third season as C-N head coach, Clayton led the Eagles to the SAC regular season title behind an 18-9 record. He was also named SAC Coach of the Year after his team finished 10-4 in league play.
The 1990-'91 SAC title was the first of five South Atlantic Conference regular season and tournament titles Clayton's Eagles would claim.
Clayton's best season at Mossy Creek came in 2001-'02, when the Eagles reeled off a 26-5 campaign, including a 13-1 record in league play, to claim the Eagles second SAC title under Clayton. The Eagles cruised through the SAC Tournament, winning their three tournament games by an average of 27.3 points per game.
C-N would go on to host the NCAA Division II South Atlantic Regional in Holt Fieldhouse, eventually falling in the Sweet 16 to Shaw University, 69-68, to end their 17-game winning streak, the longest of the Dale Clayton era.
Clayton would again earn SAC Coach of the Year honors in 2001-'02, while standout forward Kyle Gribble was named South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year and All-American. The Eagles would go on to repeat as SAC Regular Season Champions in 2002-'03 with a 10-4 mark in league play.
Clayton is the immediate past president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, leading the organization's festivities at the recent Final Four in Detroit. He just concluded his eighth season on the NABC's Board of Directors and in his 32nd year as a member of the group. He has been a guest on ABC's Nightline and in national publications.
As an administrator, Clayton has been active in the NCAA governance structure, serving on its Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee, the Division II Amateurism Project Team, as well as the Men's Basketball Rules Committee Division II Men's Basketball Selection Committee.
A dedicated churchman, Clayton is a trustee of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. He is an active member of Manley Baptist Church in Morristown, where he lives with his wife Pamela. They have a married daughter and a grandchild.
