Clayton White Named Special Teams Coordinator, Running Backs Coach at UConn

STORRS, Conn. – Clayton White, a three-year National Football League player who has been coaching on the college level for the past seven seasons, has been named an assistant coach at the University of Connecticut and will work with the running backs and the special teams.

“I am very excited to become a part of the UConn athletic tradition,” White said. “I am looking forward to helping the football program reach even greater heights and build off the previous success. I am looking forward to working with Coach Paul Pasqualoni and the experience staff he has built which will help me grow as a coach.”

White spent the 2010 season as the defensive backs coach and special team co-coordinator at Western Kentucky. White’s punt return team at WKU ranked third in the Sun Belt Conference at 8.13 yards per return. He was part of a defense that led the Sun Belt in total defense for conference games.

Prior to his one year at WKU, White coached the defensive backs and was the assistant special teams coach at Stanford from 2007-09. During Whites’s tenure at Stanford, the Cardinal was ranked as high as 14th in the nation by the Associated Press in 2009 and posted an 8-4 regular season record. The Cardinal’s Sun Bowl appearance in 2009 marked the school’s first bowl game since 2001.

Prior to his arrival at Stanford, White served as the defensive backs coach and special team assistant at Western Michigan (2006) working with the punt return and kickoff coverage units. WMU ranked sixth in the country in kickoff return defense in 2006 at 16.00 yards per return and was tenth in the country in punt returns at 13.56.

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While at Western Michigan, he coached two defensive backs that were selected in the 2009 NFL Draft — Louis Delmas (2nd round, 33rd overall pick by Detroit Lions) and E.J. Biggers (7th round, Tampa Bay Buccaneers). White was part of a Broncos staff that led the 2006 team to an 8-5 record and an appearance in the 2007 International Bowl. He coached a defense that led the nation with 24 interceptions and 3.54 sacks per game, while ranking tied for second with 37 turnovers gained, tied for sixth in rushing yards allowed per game (76.1) and seventh in turnover margin (+0.92).

He spent the previous two seasons (2004-05) at Western Carolina where he coached defensive backs and was a special teams assistant while also serving as recruiting coordinator each year. The Catamounts led the nation in pass defense, ranked fifth in passing efficiency defense and 18th in overall defense in 2005.

White’s special teams unit ranked third in the Southern Conference in yards per punt return (9.84 ypr) in 2004, while Western Carolina recorded two blocked kicks that were returned for touchdowns in 2005. White also served as the football program’s recruiting coordinator during his two seasons.

A native of Dunn, North Carolina, White was a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from March to August of 2003 as a linebacker and special teams player. He spent two seasons (2001-02) with the New York Giants, also as a linebacker and a member of the special teams unit. White played every special teams snap during the 2001 season and made seven tackles for the Giants.

White was a three-year starter at linebacker from 1999-2001 and a member of the special teams unit during his collegiate playing days with North Carolina State. He ended his career with his name in the record book in several categories, including career tackles for loss (33), single-season tackles for loss and tackles in a single game. He was named North Carolina State’s special teams MVP in 1997.

White received his bachelor of science degree from the school in parks, recreation and tourism with a concentration in sports management in 2001. He enjoyed an outstanding prep career at Triton High School in his native Dunn, North Carolina, where he was a first team all-state selection as a defensive back and all-region quarterback. He was named the most valuable player of the 1996 North Carolina East-West All-Star Game and participated in the North Carolina-South Carolina Shrine Bowl.

White will be joined in Connecticut by his wife Kelly.

YEAR-BY-YEAR WITH Clayton White