David Needs begins his 25th season as head coach at Carson-Newman which included spending 16 years as an assistant coach with the Carson-Newman football team while running the track program in the offseason. The longtime Eagle has been the leader of the track and field program since the 1998 season before moving to full time.  

The 2019 Southeast Region USTFCCCA Coach of the Year has led a massive surge in the program in recent years. Since 2014, the track and field program can tout a National Champion, a National Runner-Up, 27 All-Americans, 34 National Qualifiers, 150 all-region selections, 39 South Atlantic Conference Champions and 119 SAC medalists. There have been two SAC Athletes of the Year, four Southeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year plaudits, five SAC Championships Field MVPs and two SAC Championships Freshman MVPs

In 2019, he led four different athletes in six events to nationals led by sprinter Devon Moore where finished third in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. The Eagles brought home six All-American plaques to Mossy Creek.

Needs sent Tanner Stepp to the NCAA championships in the high jump during both indoor and outdoor season in 2015. Stepp became the first athlete to earn USTFCCCA region athlete of the year honors for indoor since 1990 for Carson-Newman. Tiana Mills and Randall Freeman each earned Field Athlete of the Year honors from the SAC at the conference championship meet.  

In his first year as full-time head track and field coach, Needs had nine outdoor athletes earn all-region honors in 11 events and eight indoor athletes earn all-region accolades in 13 events.

2016 saw Needs guide the Carson-Newman track and field program to its most successful year in the longevity of the program. Stepp again reached both the indoor and outdoor NCAA Championships and took home a pair of All-American honors after finishing sixth and fourth-place, respectively. The sophomore was also named the 2016 Southeast Region Indoor Field Athlete of the Year.

Needs also oversaw two women who made treks to the NCAA Championships by season’s end. Tori Gaul competed in both the 2016 Indoor and Outdoor Championships in the pole vault while Tiana Mills took part in the triple jump. Both Gaul and Mills were named to both the indoor and outdoor Southeast Regional teams.

After bringing Kevin Snead in prior to the 2016 season as a junior college transfer, Needs oversaw the most successful sprinter in Carson-Newman history. Snead tallied three All-American honors by the UTSFCCCA in the 60, 100 and 200 meter dash. The speedster tallied a 10^th-place finish in the 60 meter dash at the 2016 Indoor Championships and brought home fifth and third-place medals in the Outdoor Championships in the 100 and 200 meter runs.

Under Needs, Snead was the first automatic qualifier in program history in the 100 meter run. The junior broke three school records during his first season in Mossy Creek.

All in all for 2016, Needs orchestrated 15 All-Southeast Regional selections with a pair of Athletes of the Year. Needs took three athletes to the Indoor Championships and four to the Outdoor Championships—both a program-best.    

Prior to the recent success, the 2004-05 season under Needs saw Amy Cate participate in the Outdoor Championships in the high jump for the second-consecutive year. He is the coordinator of the speed program at C-N where he works on improving the players running speed and form for the upcoming seasons.

As a football coach, Needs has recently had articles published in national football magazines including; "Using The Passing Game To Make Your Option Offense Explosive" published in Gridiron Strategy and "Teaching Wide Receivers the Critical Skills" published in American Football Monthly.

The Wilmington, Del., native was also published in the AFCA Summer manual in `07. His article "Increasing Your Options" broached the subject of incorporating the pass into an option offense, which turned out to be fitting, as the Eagles led the nation in pass efficiency in the season that followed.

After assisting with the quarterbacks in his first year, he assumed the role of receiver's coach in 1997. Since then, Needs has coached a number of All-Conference players including All-American Ques Rumph in 1999 as an offensive assistant.'

In 2009, he claimed AFCA National Assistamt Coach of the Year. 

Another notable included being the position coach for Brandon Haywood, a 2012 South Atlantic Conference Offensive Player of the Year. 

In recent memory, Needs was the position coach for quarterback Alex Good, who garnered first team All-SAC honors after leading the Eagles to 49 points per game in 2007 and second team All-SAC honors last season. The offensive mind also coached quarterback De’Andre Thomas who shared SAC Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2013 and who also broke over half of the program’s offensive records.

Needs is a 1992 graduate of C-N with a degree in Political Science. The former quarterback was a member of Eagle national championship teams in 1988 and 1989. Before coming to C-N, he was the offensive coordinator at Mount Pleasant High School in Wilmington, Del.

Needs earned a Master's degree in Education at Carson-Newman in 1998. He also is an instructor at C-N, teaching in several departments and has been a leading researcher of the historic Mossy Creek area.

Needs and his wife, Melissa, who works in financial aid at C-N, reside in Morristown. The couple has three children - D.J., Tyler and Keely.