SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) — Centenary College announced in November that they would be reviving their football program, now we know who they have tapped to lead their return to the sport.
Byron Dawson, the former Evangel and LSU standout player was Tulane’s defensive line coach before Centenary tapped him to lead the Gents when the 2024 season begins.
For more than 50 years, Centenary College has not had a football program and Dawson’s hiring says they want their re-entry into football to be taken seriously.
“We were very pleased that many fine head coach candidates from across the nation expressed interest in leading Centenary’s new football program,” Centenary President Dr. Christopher L. Holoman said in a statement. “Coach Dawson emerged from a rigorous search process as a clear choice. I am excited to have him leading our program and can’t wait to see our team hit the field.”
Dawson’s name carries weight in sports throughout the region. He had an impressive high school career at Evangel where he was named USA Today High School All-American, was a Class 3A Defensive MVP for La., All-State and Defensive MVP award winner, and helped lead Evangel to a 15-0 regular season in 1997.
During his time at LSU, Dawson stood out as a four-year starter, had 86 tackles and four sacks, and he was part of LSU’s storied defense during the 2001 season when the Tigers upset Tennessee in the SEC Championship and went on to defeat Illinois in the Sugar Bowl, under the leadership of Nick Saban.
His coaching career started at Redemptorist High School in Baton Rouge before returning to his high school alma mater. Evangel won a state championship, was nationally ranked and Dawson was named Coach of the Year at the city, state, and national levels. During his time as Evangel’s head coach, Dawson coached 10 players who went on to play in the NFL including Jerry Tillery, picked in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
Dawson was added to Tulane’s coaching roster in 2020 as the defensive line coach. His immediate impact on the Green Wave made him a finalist for FootballScoop’s 2020 National Defensive Line Coach of the Year. In 2021 the Greenies were the number two defense in the AAC with 2.8 sacks per game, number 6 in rushing yards allowed. His short stay at Tulane not only provided two NFL draft picks but also earned Dawson a spot in the Bill Walsh Coaching Fellowship Program with the LA Rams as a defensive coaching intern.
During the announcement, Dawson expressed excitement about being chosen to lead Centenary and also being able to coach and encourage players in the place he loves.
“I believe that this is a great opportunity to bring college football to Shreveport-Bossier,” said Dawson after the announcement. “This is a unique and special moment for me: to be a head coach on the college level and to do it in the city that I love. Shreveport-Bossier needs college football and we will give our local student-athletes an option to play college football at home. To lay the foundation for a program at a great school like Centenary is exciting.”
It is still undetermined which conference Centenary football will play in.