A coaching veteran with experience at the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level and in the National Football League, Andrew Thacker is in his first season as linebackers coach. Head coach Brian Bohannon named him to the position on March 3.
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Thacker replaces Shane Bowen who left the program to assume a defensive assistant position with the Houston Texans.
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"We are extremely excited and fortunate to have somebody of Andrew's caliber and experience join our program," Bohannon said. "His experience at several different levels, knowledge of the game and understanding of our system and culture will be a great asset to our defense, student-athletes and overall success of our program."
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Thacker most recently served as safeties coach at UCF in 2015, returning to the Knights program after a previous tenure as a defensive graduate assistant from 2008-10. During his one year at UCF, Thacker was responsible for recruiting Northern Florida from Tallahassee to Gainesville. Other areas included: Southwest Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee and South Carolina.
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"I'm excited about the opportunity to join the Kennesaw State family and I have been extremely impressed by the quality of people, starting with the leadership of Coach Bohannon and following along with the rest of the staff," Thacker said. "There is definitely something special going on here and I can't wait to get started coaching."
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Thacker returned to the Knights following one season as a defensive assistant with the Atlanta Falcons. In 2014, Atlanta ranked 12th in the NFL in interceptions.
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Thacker spent 2013 as the safeties coach at Southern Miss, and was a defensive graduate assistant from 2010-12 at Oklahoma State where his main focus was on the linebackers. He helped OSU's Caleb Lavey and Shaun Lewis achieve All-Big 12 honorable mention status in 2012.
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The Cowboys went 11-2 in 2010 en route to defeating Arizona in the Alamo Bowl, then were the Big 12 Champions in 2011 with a 12-1 record, a No. 3 final AP ranking and a win over Stanford in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. In 2012, Oklahoma State was 8-5 including a win over Purdue in the Heart of Dallas Bowl.
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While Thacker was a graduate assistant at UCF, the Knights defense allowed just 333.8 yards per game, and was led by All-Conference USA first team defensive backs Sha'reff Rashad and Joe Burnett. UCF recorded an 8-5 record in 2009 that included an appearance in the St. Petersburg Bowl. Defensive end Bruce Miller claimed the C-USA Defensive Player of the Year award, and he was joined by defensive mates Jarvis Geathers and Cory Hogue on the all-league first team.
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Thacker enjoyed a four-year career at Furman where he started at safety for the Paladins. He was the 2004 Southern Conference Freshman of the Year. Furman was 35-15 with Thacker in the secondary, and it made three NCAA FCS Playoff appearances.
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A native of Cartersville, Ga., Thacker received his bachelor's degree from Furman in political science and Spanish. He is married to the former Liza Calhoun and the couple has a daughter, Caroline Brooks.
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The Thacker File
Hometown:Â Cumming, Ga.
College:Â Furman, 2007
Coaching Experience:
Safeties - UCF, 2015
Defensive Assistant - Atlanta Falcons, 2014
Safeties - Southern Miss, 2013
Defensive Graduate Assistant - Oklahoma State, 2010-12
Defensive Graduate Assistant - UCF, 2008-09
