VIDEO: Jordan Shaw Interview

Shaw joins the staff as a graduate assistant and will assist with coaching quarterbacks, the position he played in high school.

"This is a great opportunity for me," Shaw said. "I'm grateful to get to be here and work under Coach Sparks for the next two years. This is exciting getting to go back to the quarterback position.  I'm excited to learn more about being a coach."

A decorated the defender, Shaw was the 2014 GSC Defensive Player of the Year, wound up earning recognition on six All-America teams, was a finalist for the 2014 Cliff Harris Award as the nation's best non-Division I defensive player, and was selected to five 2015 All-American lists.

"I think he's a tremendous addition," Sparks said. "He's young and enthusiastic and excited to be a coach.  His credentials as a player speak for themselves. The biggest thing that encouraged me was that he's so doggone honest with himself.  He will add another angle of experience to our staff and another opinion that we'll enjoy being around. Personally, I can't wait to see what the Lord's going to do with him."

Shaw ended his career as the program's third all-time leading tackler with 245 stops; is third in career interceptions (11); holds the record for most interceptions in a season (8 in 2014); and the record for the most interceptions in a in a game when he stepped in front of three passes against Mars Hill in 2014 with one returned for a record-tying 100-yard touchdown.

While he went 0-2 in his career against Carson-Newman, Shaw did tally 18 of his 245 career tackles against the Eagles.

"Being 0-2 definitely sticks out to me," Shaw said with a laugh. "I knew the tradition here was about winning and that's definitely part of the reason why I wanted to be here."