Brian Bohannon has been named Kennesaw State’s first football coach.
Bohannon, who played at Georgia, has been an assistant coach in charge of quarterbacks and B-backs at Georgia Tech since 2008. Bohannon will be introduced at a press conference at 11 a.m. on Tuesday. The Owls are expected to play their first season of football in 2015.
“He’s the perfect fit,” athletic director Vaughn Williams said. “He’s an up-and-coming coach. He’s been around success in a lot of different ways all his life. I think you are a product of your environment.”
Bohannon brings 17 years of experience as an assistant on the FBS and FCS levels. Bohannon coached wide receivers at Gardner-Webb (1996), and then wide receivers followed by defensive backs at Georgia Southern (1997-2001) under Paul Johnson. Bohannon again coached wide receivers at Navy (2002-07) before moving with Johnson to Georgia Tech.
Bohannon, 42, was chosen ahead of Andy McCollum, another Georgia Tech assistant, and Murray State coach Chris Hatcher.
“I’m bouncing off the walls right now,” Bohannon said Sunday. He said he will work at Tech on Monday and expects to take over at Kennesaw on Tuesday.
Bohannon said he will bring some elements of the option offense that Johnson has preferred, but will also use some elements of the pistol and shotgun formations used by the Redskins and 49ers in the NFL. Bohannon said he will hire an offensive coordinator to call the plays.
On defense, Bohannon said he prefers a four-man front, but wants the scheme to be adaptable to the personnel. He stressed that he will have a hand in the entire program.
“We will try to put those kids in a good position to make plays,” he said. “We will kind of go from there based upon personnel. I want to be flexible and fluid.”
Bohannon said he has identified several assistant coaches who have experience on the college or high school level that he wants to hire. He declined to say who they are.
Bohannon’s salary wasn’t released. He had a base salary of $212,500 this past season at Tech.
“I am excited for Brian and Melanie,” Johnson said in a statement released to the media. “He has been a big part of our success the past 17 years. I’m glad he has an opportunity to run his own program.”
As a coach at Tech, four of Bohannon’s players have rushed more than 1,000 yards. Quarterbacks Joshua Nesbitt and Tevin Washington combined to rush for more than 5,000 yards in their careers.
Bohannon fulfilled several of the requirements Williams said he wanted when he began to search for a coach in February after the Board of Regents approved Kennesaw State’s financing plan, which allowed them to start a football program.
Bohannon has deep and long-standing ties to the state. He is a native of Griffin who graduated from Georgia in 1993.
He knows the high schools, having recruited the state since 1997. He has recruited Cobb County specifically for the Yellow Jackets.
“I’m familiar with high school coaches, the football,” he said. “It’s obviously some of the best high school football in the country.”
Bohannon doesn’t bring experience as a head coach, something Williams said he preferred. Bohannon said he learned a lot from Johnson about the importance of self-belief, and was also going to reach out to several coaches who have started programs at Mercer, North Carolina-Charlotte and Old Dominion for advice.
“They’ve gone through it,” he said. You can’t quit learning on any of this. I’m definitely going to use all of the resources I can.”
Williams said Bohannon’s lack of head-coaching experience was a concern, but in the end he decided that Bohannon’s background made him a candidate that he couldn’t pass on.
“I think from all the criteria, his characteristics, his talent, his skill, what he’s been around, that outweighs that,” Williams said. “He deserves a chance. He’s ready.”
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