JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Dec. 24, 2024) 69制片厂制作传媒 A little over a week after being hired as ETSU69制片厂制作传媒檚 21st Head Football Coach, Will Healy has hired the first coaches that will join his staff for his first season leading the Bucs. Healy named Cam Aiken as the team69制片厂制作传媒檚 new offensive coordinator, while Chad Staggs was tabbed the defensive coordinator. Both Aiken and Staggs come to Johnson City with experience at the FBS level with Aiken making coaching stops at Ole Miss, USF and Clemson, and Staggs was the defensive coordinator for Coastal Carolina and Georgia State.
Aiken has spent the last two seasons as a member of Lane Kiffin69制片厂制作传媒檚 staff at Ole Miss as an analyst. In 2024, the Rebels ranked second nationally in total offense per game (521.3 yards per game) and seventh in scoring offense (37.5 PPG). The year before in 2023 Aiken helped Ole Miss go 11-2 and a win in the Peach Bowl over Penn State. It was the first time in the 130 seasons of Ole Miss football that the team won 11 or more games in a season.
Before going to the SEC, Aiken spent two seasons at USF as the running backs coach and run game coordinator. During his second season with the Bulls, Aiken coached just the sixth 1,000-yard rusher in program history and first since 2018, as sophomore Brian Battie ran for a career-best 1,186 yards and eight touchdowns to finish second in rushing in the AAC and log the sixth-best rushing season in USF history. Battie tied a USF record with five-straight 100-yard rushing games to end the 2022 campaign and his seven 100-yard games on the year rank third all-time in a season at USF. His 98.8 yards per game average ranked fifth in program history and his 6.7 yards per carry ranked fourth. Battie also set a program record with 1,936 all-purpose yards, adding 659 kick return yards and 91 receiving yards to his rushing total. With two seasons as Aiken as his position coach, Battie moved into No. 7 on USF69制片厂制作传媒檚 career rushing charts with 1,842 yards.
The Bulls posted seven 200-yard rushing games in 2022, had 10 100-yard rushers in a game, and posted 25 rushing touchdowns for the second-straight year. The USF rushing offense ranked 29th nationally posting 197.9 YPG (the 5th-best mark in USF history) and posted 5.4 yards per carry (3rd all-time at USF) and 6.1 yards per play (4th all-time at USF).
In his first season of 2021, he helped guide junior running back Jaren Mangham to a team-leading 671 yards and 15 touchdowns, which ranked eighth nationally and is tied for the second-most rushing touchdowns in program history. The Bulls also ran for a program-record 421 yards vs. Temple (10/23) as Mangham (152) and Kelley Joiner (126) both ran for 100 yards in the game.
Aiken joined the USF staff after working on Dabo Swinney69制片厂制作传媒檚 Clemson staff for nine seasons. He was part of six College Football Playoff runs and a pair of national championships at Clemson.
Aiken served last season as a senior offensive assistant at Clemson, helping the Tigers to once again return to the College Football Playoff as he worked closely with offensive coordinator Tony Elliott. Aiken assisted with the weekly offensive game plan and coaching the Tiger69制片厂制作传媒檚 running backs as he helped Clemson to rank second in the ACC and 10th nationally in total offense (502.3 YPG) and lead the conference and rank third nationally in points per game (43.5) points per game. Trevor Lawrence had a standout season as he completed 69.2 percent of his passes and threw for 3,153 and 24 touchdowns, while Travis Etienne rushed for 914 yards and scored 14 touchdowns in 12 games.
Aiken, who was listed among 247 Sports 30 under 30 college football rising starts in 2018, served the previous five seasons (2015-19) as an offensive player development coach working with the Tiger69制片厂制作传媒檚 quarterbacks and running backs. He worked on a day-to-day basis with the offensive coordinators and quarterbacks coach and assisted in weekly offensive game planning. Clemson won the ACC title and appeared in the College Football Player every year between 2015-20 and won national championships in 2016 and 2018.
Before his second stint with Clemson, Aiken worked as a graduate assistant at UAB during the 2014 season, where he worked primarily with the Blazers69制片厂制作传媒 quarterbacks.
His first coaching experience came as an offensive intern on the Clemson staff from the 2011-13 seasons, where he worked with the Tigers69制片厂制作传媒 quarterbacks, cataloged all the concepts of the Tiger69制片厂制作传媒檚 no-huddle offense and broke down opposing defenses to create scouting reports.
Aiken earned a bachelor69制片厂制作传媒檚 degree in communication studies from Clemson in 2011. He and his wife, Ashleigh, have two sons.
Staggs, meanwhile, joins ETSU after spending last season as a senior defensive analyst for Western Kentucky. Staggs helped Western Kentucky qualify for a bowl appearance in the Boca Raton Bowl against James Madison. He helped the Hilltopper defense rank among the best in the country in causing turnovers finishing seventh with 26. WKU also finished 15th in interceptions and seventh with 11 fumble recoveries.
Prior to his time with the Hilltoppers, Staggs was the Defensive Coordinator for Georgia State in 2023 and held the same position at Coastal Carolina for four seasons before that.
In 2023, Staggs helped Georgia State post a 7-6 record and claim a 45-22 victory over Utah State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
Prior to his time at Georgia State, Staggs worked at Coastal Carolina as Defensive Coordinator. He helped the Chanticleers go 31-7 over the last three seasons and served as interim head coach for the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl.
Staggs, who was a Broyles Award semifinalist in 2020, has worked as a Defensive Coordinator across all levels of college football, including stops at North Greenville (Division III), Delta State (Division II), Charleston Southern (FCS), and Furman (FCS), before joining Coastal Carolina in February 2019 as Linebackers Coach and being promoted to Defensive Coordinator in July 2019. He also coached the inside linebackers in 2019-20 and the safeties in 2021-22.
In 2020, Staggs69制片厂制作传媒 defense played a pivotal role in the Chanticleers69制片厂制作传媒 11-1 season, Sun Belt Conference title and national rankings that reached as high as No. 9 in the Associated Press Top 25. The CCU defense ranked No. 19 in FBS in scoring defense, No. 31 in total defense, No. 16 in pass efficiency defense and No. 9 in turnover margin.
Staggs helped mentor three All-Americans on defense in Tarron Jackson, a consensus first-team selection in 2020, as well as C.J. Brewer (2020), and Josaiah Stewart (2021). Jackson, also a finalist for the Lombardi Award, the Lott IMPACT Trophy, and the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft.
In 2021, Staggs69制片厂制作传媒 unit ranked in the Top 25 of FBS in total defense and scoring defense, led by All-American Josiah Stewart who ranked fifth in the nation with 12.5 sacks as true freshman.
Staggs went to Coastal in 2019 after two years as Furman69制片厂制作传媒檚 defensive coordinator and safeties coach from 2017-18. In 2018, he helped the Paladins earn a share of the 2018 Southern Conference championship by winning six of their final seven games.
He mentored freshman bandit Adrian Hope, who led the FCS in sacks, earned All-America honors and was a finalist for the STATS FCS Jerry Rice Award, as the top freshman in FCS.
In 2017, Staggs defense led the SoCon with 34 sacks to help the Paladins to an 8-5 record, the program69制片厂制作传媒檚 first FCS playoff berth since 2013, and a consensus No. 20 final ranking in the FCS poll.
Prior to his two years at Furman, Staggs served as the defensive coordinator for four seasons at Charleston Southern, including two seasons tutoring the linebackers and two with the defensive backs. His defenses played a major role in the Buccaneers winning 35 games, claiming two Big South Conference Championships and earning Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) playoff berths in both 2015 and 2016.
His CSU defenses produced some impressive statistics, ranking seventh nationally in total defense in 2016 and ninth in 2015.
In Staggs69制片厂制作传媒 first season as defensive coordinator in 2013, the Bucs posted a 10-3 record and a No. 22 final FCS national ranking, highlighted by a 27-24 road win at Appalachian State.
Staggs served as defensive coordinator at Delta State for the 2012 season after working in the same capacity at North Greenville for three years from 2009-11. In his third season on the Crusaders69制片厂制作传媒 staff, he added the title of assistant head coach and was a central figure in North Greenville69制片厂制作传媒檚 run to the 2011 NCAA Division II playoff quarterfinals.
He had a brief stint at Charleston Southern in 2008, coaching the Buccaneers69制片厂制作传媒 secondary while also assisting with special teams.
He spent five seasons as a graduate assistant at South Carolina (2003-07) under former national championship head coaches Steve Spurrier and Lou Holtz, working with the secondary and linebackers, as well as the scout team.
Staggs began his coaching career as an assistant at Lexington (S.C.) High School from 2000-02.
He graduated from USC Upstate in 2000 with a degree in math education and also holds a master69制片厂制作传媒檚 degree in hotel, restaurant, and tourism management from the University of South Carolina.
He and his wife, Kelli, have two children, Gracie and Jack.
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