Monday, July 26, 2021

40 days to WCU Football Kickoff - Chaz Scales




 


Welcome to the eleventh annual Catamount Football "100 days to Football Kickoff Countdown".

During the countdown, we'll highlight the player whose number corresponds to that day in the countdown. 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 Saturday.

Since the official 2021 Catamount Football Roster has not yet been published, we'll use the 2021 Catamount Football Preseason Roster for jersey numbers until the new roster is posted, at which point we'll switch to the official roster for the remainder of the countdown.

It's now 40 days until the kickoff of Catamount football on Saturday, September 4th, 2021, against the Eastern Kentucky Colonels, in E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field, Cullowhee, NC.

No player is assigned to #40 on the preseason roster, so we will highlight another assistant coach:

Chaz Scales












TITLE Assistant Coach / co-Defensive Coordinator / Safeties












Chaz Scales joined the Catamount football coaching staff in early July 2021 as the co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach. Scales, a former football student-athlete at Arkansas State comes to Cullowhee after serving two seasons on staff at Central Arkansas in the same capacity.

Scales helped Central Arkansas to the 2019 Southland Conference Championship and competing in the fall of 2020, to a 5-4 overall in his second season. Scales guided Cameron Godfrey to Fall All-Southland Conference honors after leading the Bears with 51 tackles including 31 solo stops, adding a pair of interceptions, two pass breakups and a fumble recovery. He also worked with first-team All-America selection Robert Rochelle, who was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams, and second-team All-Southland honoree Juan Jackson.

While at Central Arkansas, Scales was selected as a participant in the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship. He interned with the New York Giants through mini-camp and team training camp where he assisted with the defensive backs.

Prior to accepting the position at UCA, Scales was an assistant coach at Tusculum for the 2017 and 2018 seasons where coached the cornerbacks and was the pass game coordinator while also serving as the co-special teams coordinator. ScaleS mentored All-South Atlantic Conference and All-Region cornerback Martez Thompson, All-SAC selection Malik Goodman, and two-time All-South Atlantic performer Dee Alford who went on to sign with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League.

With Scales on staff, the Pioneer defense led the conference in turnovers with 13 interceptions and a league-best 12 fumbles recovered, while also pacing the SAC in pass defense in limiting opponents to just 170 yards per game through the air.

Scales earned his coaching start in 2014 as a defensive graduate assistant at the University of West Georgia where he was a part of a 12-3 season that included a semifinal appearance in the NCAA Division II playoffs. The Wolves finished tied for third in the Gulf South Conference (GSC) and finished the year ranked sixth in the nation according to the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA).

Scales instructed West Georgia safety Carlos Hutton, who led the GSC with 13 passes defended and was second with four interceptions, garnering USA College Football All-America plaudits. In addition to Hutton, cornerback Laronji Vason earned All-GSC honors as Vason notched 72 stops, two interceptions and a pair of fumble recoveries under Scales.

In 2015, Scales served as a quality control assistant working with the cornerbacks and special teams at Valdosta State helping the Blazers to nine victories and a NCAA Division II playoff berth, finishing the year ranked 14th in the final AFCA poll. Defensive back Kenny Moore thrived under Scales, tallying three interceptions including two returned for touchdowns in earning USA College Football All-America and All-GSC plaudits.

In 2016, he served as running backs coach at Northeast Mississippi Community College.

As a player, Scales was a four-year contributor on defense at Arkansas State where he was a part of two consecutive Sun Belt Conference championship teams as a junior and senior, earning berths in the GoDaddy.com Bowl in Mobile, Ala. He helped the Red Wolves win nine-straight games in 2011 and seven-consecutive to end his senior season. Scales was a standout player at Centennial High School where he was selected to the Tennessee Sports Writers Association (TSWA) Class 5A All-State team following a senior season in which he accounted for 2,400 yards and 29 touchdowns as the quarterback for the Cougars.

Originally from Franklin, Tenn., Scales is a 2012 graduate of Arkansas State with a bachelor of science in interdisciplinary studies.






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