Due to the date change of the football game opener to Thursday, we skipped ahead two days in the countdown......
It's now 64 days until the kickoff of Catamount football on Thursday, September 3th, 2020 at 7 pm, against the Eastern Kentucky Colonels, in Roy Kid Stadium, Richmond, KY.
To help pass those long summer days, and hopefully get the Catamount faithful more excited about the upcoming season, and knowledgeable of the team members, we'll continue the football countdown each day until kickoff day.
There is no one currently assigned to #64 on the preseason roster, so we'll highlight assistant football coach Nick Newsome .
Nick Newsome
Western Carolina head football coach Mark Speir officially announced the addition of Nick Newsome to his defensive coaching staff where he will primarily work with the Catamount safeties. Newsome comes to Cullowhee after two years as a graduate assistant at Georgia Tech and a total of eight years of coaching experience including six at the collegiate level.
During his career, Newsome has coached a myriad of positions in all three facets of the game. Most recently, he had coaching responsibilities with the Yellow Jackets' running backs and wide receivers for the nation's top rushing offense in 2018 (325.0 yards/gm), while also assisting with all special teams units.
"We are excited to have Nick join our coaching staff," said Speir. "He is a young, energetic, and knowledgeable coach with a strong reputation as a recruiter. Having coached on both sides of the football at the collegiate level, he also has been a part of coaching special teams. We are happy to have Nick, his wife Mary Beth, and son Will in our Catamount Family."
While at Georgia Tech, Newsome mentored All-ACC selection, running back Jordan Mason who accounted for nearly 900 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground, while also assisting with freshman WR Ahmerean Brown who caught 21 passes for 396 yards and seven TDs earning PFF All-Freshman Team accolades.
Prior to making the move to Atlanta, Newsome spent three seasons at Capital University (2015-17), a NCAA Division III program in Columbus, Ohio. In his first year at Capital (2015), he coached the A-backs and was the special teams coordinator. He spent his final two seasons as the wide receivers coach and special teams coordinator, while also heading up the recruiting efforts. He recruited three of Capital's top offensive players in two-time all-conference selection – and program's all-time leading receiver – David Barnett (2016-17), wide receiver Dartavious Stanford (2017), and quarterback Thomas Wibbler (2017).
Newsome got his first hands-on experience in the coaching profession while still an undergraduate as a volunteer at Dyersburg High in Tennessee, briefly assisting with all backfield positions and the defensive safeties in 2008. He returned to DHS in the spring of 2012 as the interim physical education teacher and an assistant football coach before landing a position at the collegiate level at Tennessee-Martin in June 2012.
He began his time at UT-Martin in 2012 as the defensive graduate assistant working with the linebackers, special teams, and assisting strength & conditioning. In the spring of 2013, he moved to the offense in assisting with tight ends and H-backs.
All told, three players in which Newsome has worked with during his collegiate coaching career – Tony Bell (Cincinnati Bengals), Ben Johnson (Kansas City Chiefs), and Corey Jordan (Jacksonville Jaguars) – have gone on to play in the NFL.
Newsome also spent two years teaching and coaching at South Gibson County High in Medina, Tenn., working with the quarterbacks and defensive backs while also coaching special teams both seasons.
A four-year letter-winner as an H-back and long snapper at Austin Peay (2008-11) where he played in 39 career games, Newsome graduated from APSU with a bachelor's degree in political science while minoring in secondary education. He was named the Austin Peay Athlete Leader of the Year in 2010-11. He later earned his master's degree in sport management from UT-Martin in 2014.
Originally from Dyersburg, Tenn., Newsome is married to the former Mary Beth Ozment of Dyersburg; the couple has a son, William "Will" Newsome.
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