Tim Glanton enters his 10th season at Kennesaw State as the running backs coach in 2024. He joined Brian Bohannon’s staff in 2013 after a seven-year head coaching career at South Paulding High School in Douglasville, Ga. Glanton served as the team's running backs coach and special teams coordinator from 2013-2020 and returned to Kennesaw State for the 2022 season.
The rushing attack ranked in the top three of the FCS in six of the last eight seasons, including leading the nation in rushing yards per game in 2017 and 2019. The Owls set the program's all-time record with 352.9 yards per game on the ground in 2018, good for second in the nation among all NCAA Division I FBS and FCS team.
Under Glanton, Kennesaw State posted the No. 7 scoring offense in the country in 2019 at 37.9 points per game and the No. 1 rushing attack in the nation at 342.4 yards per contest. The Owls set the school record for rushing touchdowns in a season with 58 as KSU recorded its third straight 11-win season and made a third straight appearance in the FCS Playoffs where it knocked off No. 11 Wofford in the opening round.
After returning to the coaching staff in 2022, Glanton helped running back Issac Foster to a Phil Steele All-ASUN selection. Foster recorded single game highs in rushing attempts, receptions and receiving yards during the season. He also caught a 40-yard pass against North Alabama to set a new career long.
In 2023, Michael Benefield to be the only player in program history with four-straight 100-yard rushing games.
Glanton also served as the team's special teams coordinator during his first six seasons with the Owls. The special teams unit flourished under Glanton, converting 380-of-390 (.974) point after attempts during the program’s first five seasons, while hitting 54-of-73 field goal attempts.
A freshman All-American, two-time All-Big South selection and 2017 Big South Special Teams Player of the Year Justin Thompson was the definition of efficient in his kicking during the 2018 campaign. Of the nine placekickers in the FCS who made more than 50 PAT's, Thompson was one of three kickers to convert 100 percent of his attempts.
On kickoff returns, KSU led the country averaging 34.09 yards per return, one of two teams in all of Division I to average over 30 yards per return. Freshman returner Isaac Foster was named the 2018 Big South Special teams Player of the Year after accounting for 237 yards and two touchdowns on kick returns.
Under Glanton’s tutelage in 2016, then-senior RB Chaston Bennett compiled a record-breaking season, earning first-team All-Big South honors while scoring a league-best 14 touchdowns. The big-play threat averaged 11.8 yards per carry, 24.2 yards per catch and led the team with a 127.6 average in all-purpose yards.
In 2015, the Owls became just the second team in Big South history with 300 rushing yards and 300 passing yards in a single game.
Glanton took over a startup program at South Paulding in 2006 and led the Spartans to a 29-33 mark in seven years, including 6-4 records in his final three seasons. He also coached 30 players that earned college scholarships, including current Owls assistant coach, Chandler Burks.
Prior to his tenure at South Paulding, Glanton assumed the reins of a struggling East Paulding High School program in 2003 that was just 2-38 in the previous four seasons. The best season of his three-year tenure came in 2004 when Glanton guided the Raiders to a 6-4 mark -- the program’s first winning season in 10 years. The team’s turnaround helped earn Glanton 7AAAA Coach of the Year honors.
Glanton’s 23 years as a high school football coach also included time at Villa Rica (2002-03; offensive coordinator), Paulding County (2001-02; offensive coordinator), Brooks County (1998-2001; head coach) and Tift County (1995-98; assistant coach).
Glanton played collegiately at West Georgia College (1985-90) where Bohannon was a graduate assistant coach. He joined the program as a walk-on wide receiver before earning a scholarship. Glanton earned a bachelor’s in recreation management in 1989 and health and physical education in 1990.
A native a Rome, Ga., Glanton and his wife, Latonya, have two children, Megan and Tim, Jr., and reside in Villa Rica, Ga.
