FLORENCE, Ala. -- An Alabama native who has been a collegiate head coach and served as offensive coordinator at Arkansas Tech, Kansas, Middle Tennessee State and Florida Atlantic, Brent Dearmon has been named as the 12th head football coach at the University of North Alabama.
North Alabama Director of Athletics Dr. Josh Looney made the announcement Saturday, concluding a month-long national search.
UNA will officially introduce its new head football coach at a 2 p.m. press conference on Monday (December 5) in the Pierce Hospitality Suite in Flowers Hall on the UNA campus.
The public is invited.
Dearmon, a 37-year-old Saraland, Ala., native, comes to UNA after serving as offensive coordinator at Florida Atlantic during the 2022 season. He was offensive coordinator at Middle Tennessee State in 2021 and was offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and senior offensive consultant at the University of Kansas in 2019 and 2020.
“From the start to the end of our search process we never wavered in our expectations to hire someone who has demonstrated success as a head coach, possessed a high level of play-calling experience at the Division I level, and has displayed the ability to communicate effectively with student-athletes, the university, and the community,” said UNA Director Athletics Dr. Josh Looney. “Brent Dearmon comes from a championship football family in the state of Alabama, brings proven results in recruiting, and is regarded as an innovative offensive mind amongst his peers.
“Brent was not only on the top of our list when this search began, but he exceeds all the expectations we were seeking in the next leader of UNA Football. We are very excited to welcome Brent, Amanda (wife), Carter (11), Isabella (9), and Madden (3) to The Shoals. It’s a great day to Raise The Roar!”
"This is an exciting time for the University of North Alabama, with record enrollment, expanding academic programs and on-going facility projects," said UNA President Dr. Ken Kitts. "The success of our Division I athletic program is a key element of our strategic plan, and this hire is a big step in that direction. It says a lot about the success and stability of our program that Brent Dearmon will become just the 11th person to lead the Lion football program as head coach in its 74-year history.
"I want to thank Athletic Director Dr. Josh Looney, our search committee and search firm for their diligent work to bring Brent to our campus and we look forward to a bright future for Lion football."
Dearmon, who authored one of the leading books in RPO offensive strategy entitled "The Evolution of the RPO," said he is excited about the opportunity.
"My family and I are thrilled to lead such a decorated program and university into a new era," said Dearmon. "We are going to build men of toughness, with high character and give the Shoals community a product to be proud of, on and off the field. I'm excited about the vision that Dr. Kitts and Dr. Looney have for the UNA football program. It's time to Raise The Roar."
A graduate of Vigor High School, Dearmon was a four-year starting quarterback at Bethel University in McKenzie, Tenn. He then began his coaching career as a student coach at Bethel in 2007, before serving as the offensive coordinator at Vigor from 2008-10. The Wolves won the 2008 Alabama Class 5A State Championship. It was the fourth state title for the Dearmon family of coaches. His father Roger won two state titles at Vigor in 1987 and 1988 and his brother Matt helped Saraland claim a state title on Friday.
His first head coaching experience came at B.C. Rain High School for two seasons, 2011-12, before being hired as an analyst at Auburn University for the 2013-14 seasons. He served as a running backs analyst in 2013 and a wide receivers analyst in 2014 under Gus Malzahn. While he was at Auburn, the Tigers posted a combined 20-7 record, including an 11-5 mark in SEC play. The 2013 Tigers captured the SEC title en route to an appearance in the BCS National Championship Game.
He joined the staff at Arkansas Tech in 2015 as offensive coordinator under former UNA assistant coach Raymond Monica. After averaging 36.5 points in 2015 and 31.5 in 2016, Dearmon’s offense racked up 40 points per game to lead the Great American Conference. He also had a quarterback earn all-conference honors in each of his three seasons at Arkansas Tech.
In his one season as head coach at Bethel in 2018, Dearmon guided the team to the best season in school history. BU posted a 10-0 regular season mark and a No. 3 ranking, while averaging 540.3 yards and the second-highest scoring average in the country at 55.0 points per game. He was named Mid-South Conference Coach of the Year.
Dearmon then made the rare jump from the NAIA to the FBS when he joined Les Miles staff at Kansas in 2019 as a senior offensive consultant. Mid-way through the 2019 season, Dearmon took over as the program's offensive coordinator and led the team to a 24.1 scoring average and more than 400 yards of total offense per game. His Jayhawk offense churned out 569 yards of offense at Texas, then followed up with 527 yards of offense in a win over Texas Tech.
Dearmon is a 2008 Bethel graduate with a B.S. in Mathematics.
DEARMON COACHING EXPERIENCE
• 2007: Bethel College (student assistant)
• 2008-10: Vigor HS (AL) (offensive coordinator)
• 2011-12: B.C. Rain HS (AL) (head coach)
• 2013-14: Auburn (analyst)
• 2015-17: Arkansas Tech (offensive coordinator)
• 2018: Bethel College (head coach)
• 2019: Kansas (senior offensive consultant)
• 2020: Kansas (offensive coordinator)
• 2021: Middle Tennessee (offensive coordinator)
• 2022: Florida Atlantic (offensive coordinator)
All-time North Alabama Head Football Coaches
Hal Self
Durell Mock 1970-72
Mickey Andrews 1973-76
Wayne Grubb 1977-87
Bobby Wallace 1988-97
Bill Hyde
Mark Hudspeth 2002-08
Terry Bowden 2009-11
Bobby Wallace 2012-16
Chris Willis 2017-22
Ryan Held (interim) 2022
Brent Dearmon 2023-
