Grant Chesnut enters his eighth season as the Owls’ offensive coordinator and offensive line coach in 2021. He was the first hire to Brian Bohannon’s coaching staff in April 2013 after spending two seasons as athletic director and head coach at Central High School in Carrollton, Ga.
Behind a spread option offense that Bohannon crafted under Paul Johnson at Georgia Tech, Chesnut’s Owls have produced eye-popping numbers and led the Big South Conference in rushing yards per game and scoring offense in each of the program’s first five seasons.
The rushing attack has ranked in the top three of the FCS in each of the last six 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.
In the 2021 fall season, Chesnut's offense ranked third in the FCS in rushing yards per game and KSU fans were introduced to All-American quarterback, Xavier Shepherd. With Chesnut's play calling, Shepherd led the FCS in rushing touchdowns with 23 and also set school records for passing yards in a season (1,341), passing touchdowns in a season (15) and passing touchdowns in a single game (4).
Chesnut helped guide his quarterback to being named a STATS Perform FCS First Team All-American, HERO Sports First Team All-American and Associated Press Third Team All-American. Shepherd also took home the Big South Offensive Player of the Year Award and was selected to the All-Big South Conference First Team.
After losing 10 of 11 starters on offense from the 2018 team, Chesnut’s biggest challenge to date came in 2019 and he did not disappoint, leading Kennesaw State to the No. 7 scoring offense in the country 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.
Chesnut’s young offensive line grew up over the course of the 2019 season and blocked for a rushing offense that recorded 400+ rushing yards in a game four times, including a season-high 490 yards against North Alabama (Oct. 26). The frontline allowed just 10 sacks on the year to rank No. 3 in the country at 0.64 sacks allowed per game.
Led by back-to-back Big South Offensive Player of the Year and Walter Payton runner-up Chandler Burks, the Owls racked up 5,902 yards of total offense in 2018, their second straight season with over 5,500 yards of offense.
Also in charge of managing the offensive line, Chesnut’s frontline allowed the third-fewest sacks in the nation (five) to help Burks lead the nation in scoring (174 points) while tying the Big South record for touchdowns with 29.
KSU's 2018 success came off a 2017 season in which the Owls ran for a FCS-leading 330.2 yards per game, finishing second in the country in total offense (435.1 yards) and touchdowns (53), all while limiting turnovers to tout the nation’s best turnover margin (1.64).
In 2017, Kennesaw State methodically eliminated teams with the third-highest time of possession (467:08) in the country – with only four programs in all of Division I holding the ball longer overall (Navy, Wisconsin, Weber State and North Dakota State). Burks was also the first player in conference history to both rush and pass for 1,000 yards in the same year.
In the much-anticipated 2015 inaugural season, KSU rolled from the get-go, putting up the fifth-highest single-season rushing yards (3,398) in Big South history, rushing for five 300-yard games on the year.
Record books notwithstanding, Chesnut wasted no time in jumping on teams, recording back-to-back 50-plus point games to jumpstart Kennesaw State’s football program.
The Owls’ offense scored 56 points at East Tennessee State on Sept. 3, 2015 in KSU’s inaugural game, which marked the most points scored by a Big South member in a season opener against an FCS opponent, and the fourth-most points scored overall in an opening game of a season since the league’s formation in 2002.
Kennesaw State followed that performance by scoring 58 points over Edward Waters in its first-ever home game at Fifth Third Bank Stadium.
A native of Snellville, Ga., Chesnut has been associated with winning programs throughout his career, and prior to taking over as head coach at Central High School was recognized by the Atlanta Journal Constitution as one of the Top 10 Hires of 2011.
He took over a Central High School team that went 0-10 in 2010 and guided the Lions to a 4-6 record in 2011 and 5-6 mark in 2012. His 2013 squad advanced to the Georgia state playoffs for the first time in 10 years.
Chesnut was the offensive coordinator, offensive line and strength and conditioning coach at Class AAA Mary Persons from 2007-10. Prior to his stint with the Bulldogs, he served as the defensive line coach at Camden County High School (2005-06), the co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach at Thomasville High School (2002-04) and the offensive line coach at Pickens County High School (1999). Chesnut also was a defensive line coach at Presbyterian College in Clinton, S.C. for two seasons (2000 and 2001), where the Blue Hose went a combined 15-6 (.714).
During Chesnut’s four seasons at Mary Persons High, the Bulldogs compiled an overall record of 27-15 (.643). In two years at Camden County, he helped guide the Wildcats to a 22-3 (.880) mark that included an Elite Eight appearance and Region 3 AAAAA championship in 2005. The 2006 squad reached the Sweet Sixteen and captured the Region 3 AAAAA championship.
While working on the defensive side of the ball for three seasons at Thomasville High, Chesnut was part of a coaching staff that led the Bulldogs to a 24-9 (.727) overall record and won three regional titles.
Chesnut earned a bachelor’s degree in social science education from Georgia Southern in 1999 and a master’s in educational leadership from Nova Southeastern University in 2004.
During his junior and senior seasons as an offensive tackle at Southern, he was part of Eagle teams that won the Southern Conference Championship and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA playoffs in 1997 and advanced to the 1998 NCAA national championship game, finishing the year with a 14-1 record.
Chesnut, who played high school football at Brookwood High School in Snellville, is married to the former Heather Harris. The couple has three daughters – Brin, Allie Grace and Eva Claire.
