Former Georgia Tech DC Nathan Burton hired as Kennesaw State defensive coordinator

Former Georgia Tech defensive coordinator Nathan Burton has been hired to fill the same position at Kennesaw State, according to FootballScoop.

Burton, 42, was a walk-on for the Yellow Jackets from 2001-2004 before joining the staff as a graduate assistant for four seasons. During his playing career, he letter all four years he was on the team and even later earned a scholarship along with the nickname “The Admiral.”

He then spent a year at Oklahoma State before accepting a job as a defensive assistant coach at UT-Martin. He earned his first defensive coordinator job at DII Shorter in Rome, Georgia, where he coached from 2012-13. For three seasons after that, he was the defensive coordinator at DII West Alabama.

Burton returned to the Division I ranks in 2017 as a quality control assistant for NC State and then as the defensive backs coach at Temple under Geoff Collins.

After Collins was hired at Georgia Tech, Burton joined him in Atlanta as the program’s defensive coordinator and safeties coach. He was fired after the 2021 season.

Last year, he served as the safeties coach for USFL’s New Orleans Breaker and had recently been hired to join Eli Drinkwitz‘s staff at Missouri as a defensive analyst.

Nathan Burton joins Kennesaw State program transition to FBS

Nathan Burton joins Kennesaw State at an interesting point in the young program’s history. Since its first season as a program in 2015, the Owls have been a very good program. They won three Big South titles over five seasons and made four FCS Playoff appearances, winning at least their first round game in all four.

But the team moved to the ASUN last fall and sturggled to a 5-6 record. The program will now be an FCS Independent before joining Conference USA for the 2024 football season.

Brian Bohannon has been the leader of the program since it started. He and Burton were on the staff together at Georgia Tech in 2008.