Davidson College Football

Recruiting Areas: California, Arizona Saj Thakkar (pronounced thuh-CAR) was named the 29th head football coach at Davidson College on December 17, 2024. "I am absolutely thrilled to be the head football coach at Davidson College," commented Thakkar. "My family and I are truly honored to be a part of this exceptional community. It became clear through the search process that Davidson is committed to excellence on and off the football field. I would especially like to thank my wife, Bobbi-Jo, for her constant encouragement throughout this journey and to Director of Athletics Chris Clunie and President Hicks for this tremendous opportunity." "We are extremely excited to have Saj on board as the next leader of Davidson Football," said Clunie. "He understands the high academic and athletic balance and is committed to building an innovative, dynamic, and sustainable championship competitive program. We are thrilled to welcome he and his family to the Davidson community."

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Beth Hayford, started her career at Davidson College in the fall of 1994. As Associate AD for Sports Performance, Hayford oversees the Sports Medicine Department, Strength and Conditioning Department, and the equipment room. Under her direction, she has increased the access and quality of care for Davidson scholar-athletes across the sports performance department. Beth was part of the team that expanded and updated the Davidson Athletic Training Room. In regards to staffing, her efforts led to the establishment of an in-house team physician located athletic training room, an in-house sports psychologist and increased numbers of full-time athletic trainers and strength coaches to better support to Davidson scholar-athletes. Additionally, Beth has been instrumental in the development and expansion of the Athletic Training facilities located inside of Davidson's Game Changers Field House. She initially came to Davidson as an athletic training intern and was promoted to assistant athletic trainer in 1996 and was assigned to women’s soccer, women’s basketball, volleyball and lacrosse. In 2002, Hayford was named Head Athletic Trainer working specifically with football, women’s basketball, and women’s tennis. Her responsibilities extended to supervise strength and conditioning and the equipment room in 2005. As Head Athletic Trainer, she administers all areas of the sports medicine department and oversees eight full-time, licensed certified athletic trainers. She also serves as a pr

Recruiting Areas: New England, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri Brent Kasabian is in his first season on the Davidson football staff. For both the 2023 and 2024 seasons, Kasabian served as a Defensive Analyst at Charlotte. With the 49ers, Kasabian worked primarily with the Outside Linebackers, where he assisted in the development of Julius Welschof, who signed as an undrafted free agent with the Pittsburgh Steelers. In addition, Outside Linebackers Eyabi Okie (2nd Team - 2023) and Demon Clowney (3rd Team 2024) both garnered All-AAC Defensive Honors. Prior to his time the 49ers, he spent four years (2019-2022) at Colby College (Maine) where he served as Defensive Line Coach and Special Teams Coordinator. In 2022, Colby led the NESCAC in Net Punting and finished #22 nationally, while the Kickoff Coverage and Return units finished both in the top three in the conference.

Recruiting Areas: North Carolina Bryce Perry-Martin is in his fourth season on the Davidson football staff. Perry-Martin returned to his alma-mater in the summer of 2022 after serving as an assistant coach (defensive line) at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Va. During his time on the Wildcats' staff, eight defensive linemen have earn Pioneer Football League all-conference recognition. In his second season at Washington & Lee, three defensive linemen earned all-conference honors while winning the ODAC Championship and earning a ticket to the NCAA Division III Playoffs. A 2020 graduate of Davidson College and two-year team captain, Perry-Martin was a three-time all-conference honoree (1st Team - 2019, 2nd Team - 2018, HM - 2017) in addition to being named the program's Defensive MVP three consecutive seasons. A native of Spring Lake, N.C., Perry-Martin played a major role in Davidson's jump to one of the more formidable defenses in the nation. The former standout amassed

Cam Gibson is in his first season as Davidson's defensive backs coach. Previously, Gibson served as a defensive assistant at the University of Albany in 2024. Prior to his brief stint at UAlbany, Gibson spent seven seasons on staff at his alma mater, Marist, where he served as the special teams coordinator / safeties coach from 2018-23. He also assisted with the Red Foxes' secondary from 2017-18. Gibson also served on Marist's IDEA Committee. He is a two-time Marist graduate who earned his Bachelor's degree in 2017 and Master's degree in 2019. Gibson was a four-year letterwinner at cornerback for the Red Foxes. He was a team captain as a senior, a two-year starter, and a member of Marist's 2013 Pioneer Football League co-championship team. He was named All-PFL Honorable Mention as a junior and senior. Gibson is a native of Waycross, Georgia.

Cullen McCarty was named the defensive tackles coach in March 2026. "Cullen is a great addition to our staff and Davidson College as a whole," commented Thakkar. "His experience as a player and coach on the defensive side of the ball and as a coach on the offensive side gives him a unique perspective to add to our defensive staff. He comes from a football family and understands what it takes to win at a high level." McCarty joins the Wildcats after serving as a graduate assistant at Old Dominion University where he worked with the offensive line the past two season. Prior to his time in Norfolk, Va., he spent the 2022 campaign as a defensive quality control coach at Fordham. A 2020 graduate of Assumption, McCarty was a four-year letter winner with the Greyhounds football team. Following graduation, he served as an intern with the Assumption program in the spring of 2021 A three-sport athlete at York High School in York, Maine (football, basketball, and track), McCarty was a two-time al

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Evan Simon is in his second stint as Davidson's Head Strength and Conditioning Coach. Simon was previously the head strength and conditioning coach with the Wildcats from 2004-2006. Simon was most recently the head football strength and conditioning coach at Oregon State, where he served with the Beavers since January 2015. Prior to OSU, Simon spent two years as the head strength and conditioning coach at Wisconsin, helping the Badgers to New Year's Day appearances in both the Capital One and the Outback Bowl. Before Madison, Simon was the director of strength and conditioning at Utah State from August 2009-January 2013, and before that, served as an associate director for the strength and conditioning program at Utah, where he was part of a staff that went 13-0, defeated Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, and finished the season with a No. 2 national ranking, all following the 2008 season. A native of Lexington Park, Md., Simon is a 2002 graduate of Frostburg State (Md.) with a bachelor's deg

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Keegan Kennedy joined the Davidson football staff on January 9, 2025. In addition to roles as associate head coach, Kennedy will also serve as the program's offensive coordinator and offensive line coach. Kennedy spent the 2024 season at Richmond, where helped the Spiders finish second among CAA leaders in rushing yards with 2,527, while the offensive line allowed running back Zach Palmer-Smith to become the first UR player since 2015 rush for over 1,000 yards in a season. With Kennedy leading the offensive line and run game, the Spiders finished fourth in the CAA with 4,945 yards of total offense, while the team averaged 27.15 points per game as well as 380.4 yards per game. Kennedy led center Tom Elia (First Team) and right guard Cade Salyers (Third Team) to All-CAA honors in 2024, while Elia was also named an AP All-American. Kennedy came to Richmond from Harvard where he served in the same role since January of 2019.

Louis Colosimo, the starting quarterback and team captain of Davidson's 2021 Pioneer Football League Championship team, returned to his alma mater in March of 2025 to serve as the Director of Operations. Prior to returning to Davidson, Colosimo served as a financial analyst for Ally Financial in Charlotte for almost two years. Following graduation, the former honorable-mention all-conference signal caller played two seasons of professional football in Europe for the Søllerød Gold Diggers American Football Club (2022) and Verona Mastini American Football Club (2023). In 2021, Colosimo received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with a minor in Communication Studies.

Luke Jenkins was named Davidson's running backs coach on January 16, 2025. He joins the Wildcats' staff after serving in the same role at Rhode Island in 2024. Jenkins made the move to Kingston following a pair of Ivy League stints with Cornell (2023-24) and Harvard (2022). During his time in Ithaca, he served as an Offensive Analyst/Assistant Quarterbacks Coach and played a big role in the team's film breakdown analysis. Jenkins assisted with leading quarterback positional meetings and facilitated on-field drills. He also helped to manage the day-to-day operations of the offensive unit and presented weekly scouting reports. Jenkins joined the Big Red in July of 2023 following a season with Harvard, serving three different roles as the team's Offensive Quality Control Coordinator, Assistant Quarterbacks Coach, and Assistant Run Game Coordinator.

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Recruiting Areas: New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania. After serving as the offensive line coach on Thakkar's staff at Bentley, Pat McGowan is in his first season overseeing the tight end room at Davidson. In 2024, Bentley's offensive line helped the Falcons rank among NE10 Conference leaders in total offense, scoring offense, touchdowns scored, passing yards, first downs and sacks allowed. During McGowan's first year with the Falcons, offensive lineman Joe LoChiatto was named to the All-NE10 First Team. Prior to his two seasons at Bentley, McGowan was also the offensive line coach for both Curry College (2022) and Salve Regina University (2021). McGowan attended Rowan University, where he played in 30 games, making 28 starts and earning All-NJAC first-team all-conference honors as an offensive lineman. A four-time scholar-athlete honoree, McGowan was also named to the 2021 NFF Hampshire National Honor Society.

Recruiting Areas: Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee Quinn Suber is in his second season on the Davidson football staff. After serving as a defensive assistant his first year, he transitioned to outside linebackers coach prior to the 2025 season. Prior to coming to Davidson, Suber spent 2023 in the capacity of quality control for defense and special teams and played a role in the Paladins' successful 10-3 season that included a SoCon championship, FCS quarterfinal playoff appearance, and No. 6 ranking in the AFCA final poll. Suber came to Furman following a year at Tennessee Tech, where he served as a graduate assistant coach, working with the linebackers and special teams. He served as safeties coach and assisted with special teams at Mississippi College for the 2021 season. Suber earned his undergraduate degree in media communications from East Tennessee State in 2021 before moving on to Mississippi College. He added a master's degree in athletic administration from Tennessee

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Zook entered his first year on the Davidson College Sports Medicine staff in 2018-19. Prior to his start at Davidson, Zook spent 12 years at Methodist Sports...

Tom Wright is in his first season as Davidson's wide receivers coach. Wright joins Thakkar's staff after spending the last four years at Maritime College, where he most recently served as the Passing Game Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach. In 2024, Wright led the top passing offense in the NEWMAC, coaching senior Quarterback Steven Stassi and a trio of wide receivers to a historic season and multiple All-Region and All-Conference honors. Stassi led the NEWMAC in all major Passing Categories, finishing the season with 30 Passing Touchdowns and only 5 INTs, receiving 1st Team All-Conference / 2nd Team All Region awards. Wright also coached Stassi to surpass his own program records, finishing his career as Maritime's all-time leader in passing touchdowns (53) and passing yards (5,732). Wide receiver Luke Caliendo earned First Team All-Conference honors for the second straight year with nine touchdowns, while Ian Derda (10 Touchdowns) and Nate Casaburi (8 Touchdowns) also garnered All-Confere

After leading one of the top units at the FCS level in 2025, Woody Blevins was named the new defensive coordinator at Davidson College in January 2026. This past season, Blevins served as the Defensive Coordinator at the University of West Georgia. In addition to helping the Wolves to an 8-3 overall record, his units finished among the nation's best in total and scoring defense. Blevins comes to Carrollton following a five-year stint as Associate Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator at Assumption University where he helped the Greyhounds most recently to a 6-4 record. In four seasons (2021-24) at the helm of Assumption's defense, Blevins and the Greyhounds won 24 games. The defensive unit ranked in the top-10 in the country in Division II in red zone attempts allowed (2nd), pass efficiency defense (3rd), yards per play (3rd), yards per pass attempt (4th), total defense (5th), third down efficiency defense (5th), first down defense (6th), yards per rush (7th), and rushing defense (8th).

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