Itta Bena, Miss.– Mississippi Valley State Head Football Coach Vincent Dancy announces the addition of two new coaches to his staff for the fall 2021season in Kenton Evans and Brice Carlson.
Kenton Evans has been tabbed as the new Offensive Coordinator for the Mississippi Valley football program. Evans spent this past spring season as the quarterbacks coach for the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff leading one of the conference’s top offenses to the Southwestern Athletic Conference Football Championship game.
Before joining the staff at UAPB, Evans spent the previous two seasons as offensive coordinator at Central Methodist University, where WR Katavious Taylor was a two-time NAIA All-American and was one of three players to earn all-conference honors in 2019.
Evans joined Central Methodist after spending the 2017 season as the quarterbacks coach at NCAA Div. III Brevard College in North Carolina. He guided a Tornado offense that averaged nearly 28 points/game.
In 2013, Evans spent a season as quarterbacks coach at Valparaiso. QB Eric Hoffman finished with almost 3,000 passing yards and threw for 22 touchdowns. Hoffman also broke single game records for completions (36) and passing yards (495).
Evans also has extensive experience in the high school ranks. Evans had two different stints as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Martin Luther King HS (Lithonia, Ga.), generating among the top offensive in the DeKalb County (2014-15).
In his first stint between 2010-12, Evans helped guide the Lions to three straight regional championships. The program produced the second-leading passer in Georgia high school football history, as well as six receivers who earned Division I football scholarships.
Evans also coached at Cedar Grove High (Ellenwood, Ga.), Towers High (Decatur, Ga.) and Georgia Prep Sports Academy (also in Decatur).
On the playing field, Evans excelled as a quarterback. He spent three years Memphis before spending his final season at Tennessee State University. In his senior campaign, Evans threw for nearly 2,000 yards and 19 touchdowns, earning OVC Newcomer of the Week recognition twice. After a 451-yard, four-touchdown performance against Murray State, he was named ESPN/USA Today I-AA Player of the Week.
After his college playing days, Evans spent eight years in the Arena Football League. He threw for 54 touchdowns and over 6,500 yards during his professional career.
Evans finished a legendary prep career at Westwood High in Memphis as the fourth-leading passer in Tennessee high school history with 10,519 career passing yards, as well as 115 touchdowns. He also was named the Gatorade Player of the Year for Tennessee among numerous prep honors.
Evans is a 2003 graduate of Tennessee State University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology.
Brice Carlson begins his first season as the Offensive Line Coach for the Mississippi Valley football program. Carlson spent the two previous seasons on the coaching staff at West Virginia State University where he served as the Offensive Line Coach, Run Game Coordinator and Academic Coordinator.
Prior to joining West Virginia State, Carlson coached at Southwest Baptist University, Malone University, Lindenwood University, University of West Georgia, Delta State University, and Becker College. He made two NCAA playoff appearances while on the coaching staffs at West Georgia and Delta State.
Carlson was the offensive line coach at West Georgia during the 2015 football season. He led a rushing attack that averaged 220.2 yards per game and helped the team achieve a Gulf South Conference championship along with a semifinal appearance in the NCAA Division II Football Championship. Carlson had multiple All-American and All-Conference honorees on his offensive line at West Georgia. Dominique Robertson and Orion Awa-Dubose were both All-Gulf South honorees and named All-Americans by Don Hansen, D2Football, and AP Little. Carlson also had Harley Vaughan named Second Team All-Gulf South as a center in his first year playing at the position.
Before being named Offensive Line Coach at West Georgia, Carlson served as the Assistant Offensive Line Coach during the 2013 and 2014 seasons at Delta State. During his time there, the offense averaged 44 points per game, gave up only 10 sacks, won a conference championship in 2014, and earned a berth in the second round of the NCAA Division II Football Championship in 2014. In his tenure at Delta State, Carlson coached multiple offensive linemen that earned All-Conference recognition.
Carlson graduated from Guilford College (N.C.) in May of 2011 with a Bachelor of Science in Sport Management and a minor in Education. During his time as a player at Guilford College, Carlson started 30 consecutive games on the offensive line with many of them at center. He went on to earn his Master’s of Science in Human Performance with a concentration in Sports Administration from Delta State University in 2015.