The list of Valdosta State University people includes notable alumni, faculty affiliated with Valdosta State University, and famous athletes.
Members of each section are listed in alphabetical order.
Valdosta is a city in and the county seat of Lowndes County in the U.S. state of Georgia. As the principal city of the Valdosta metropolitan statistical area, which in 2020 had a metropolitan population of 148,126, its metropolitan area includes Brooks County to the west. With a city population of 55,378 in 2020, Valdosta is the home of Valdosta State University, a regional university in the University System of Georgia with over 12,000 students as of 2015.
Michael Rene Mularkey is a former American football coach and tight end in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Florida, and was drafted in the ninth round of the 1983 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers and lasted until the final round of cuts. Mularkey then signed with the Minnesota Vikings with whom he played for six seasons before playing another three with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Jim Bates is a former American football coach in the National Football League (NFL), most recently serving as defensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He primarily ran a 4–3 scheme, using fast, undersized linebackers. Bates served as interim head coach for the Miami Dolphins during the 2004 NFL season.
Jerry Michael Glanville is an American football coach. He is the defensive coordinator for Northwestern Oklahoma State University, a position he has held since 2024. Prior to that, was most recently the head coach of the Alabama Airborne of Major League Football (MLFB). He played football at Northern Michigan University in the early 1960s, and is a former NASCAR driver and owner, and sportscaster. He served as head coach of the Houston Oilers from 1986 to 1990 and the Atlanta Falcons from 1990 to 1994, compiling a career National Football League (NFL) record of 63–73. From 2007 to 2009, he was the Head Football Coach at Portland State University, tallying a mark of 9–24. Glanville has worked as an analyst on HBO's Inside the NFL, CBS's The NFL Today/NFL on CBS and Fox's coverage of the NFL. He has also raced on the Automobile Racing Club of America circuit. Glanville also briefly served as a consultant and liaison for the United Football League in 2011.
Russell Dean Pees is a former American football coach who spent 18 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He has served as the defensive coordinator for the New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens, Tennessee Titans, and Atlanta Falcons. Pees was also the head coach at Kent State University from 1998 to 2003, compiling a record of 17–51.
The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football team represents the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in NCAA Division I FBS college football. It was part of the Western Athletic Conference until July 2012, when the team joined the Mountain West Conference.
Chris Hatcher is an American football coach and former player. He is the head football coach at Samford University, a position he has held since 2014. Hatcher served as the head football coach at Valdosta State University from 2000 to 2006, Georgia Southern University from 2007 to 2009, and Murray State University from 2010 to 2014. His Valdosta State Blazers won the NCAA Division II Football Championship in 2004. Hatcher played college football as a quarterback at Valdosta State from 1991 to 1994.
In American football, the 3–4 defense is a common defensive alignment consisting of three down linemen and four linebackers. It is called a "base defense" because it will readily switch to other defensive alignments as circumstances change. Alternatively, some defenses use a 4–3 defense: four down linemen and three linebackers.
Robert Lanier Jackson is an American former football coach and college player who was a professional assistant coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 21 seasons, including three as an offensive coordinator. In his NFL tenure, Jackson coached five Pro Bowl running backs, including at least one in three of his five stops where he has tutored the running backs. The list consists of Pro Football Hall of Fame player Marshall Faulk, Stephen Davis, Terry Allen, Brian Mitchell, and Marion Butts.
The Valdosta State football team represents Valdosta State University in football. The Blazers are a member of the Gulf South Conference (GSC) in NCAA Division II. Valdosta State University has had a football team since 1981. The Blazers play in Bazemore–Hyder Stadium in Valdosta, Georgia, which has a capacity of 11,249. The stadium is also the home of the historical Valdosta High School Wildcats. The Blazers have won a total of four Division II National Championship titles.
Travis Jones is a former American football player and former assistant coach. He played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs from 1990 to 1992 and 1994 and professional football for the Baltimore Stallions of the Canadian Football League in 1995 and the Florida Bobcats of the Arena Football League in 1996. In a coaching career of more than 20 years, he was a member of Nick Saban's staff at LSU that led the 2003 team to the national championship. He was also an assistant coach on teams that won Super Bowl championships, first with the 2009 New Orleans Saints and later with the 2013 Seattle Seahawks. He was most recently an assistant coach for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL).
David Dean is an American college football coach and former player. He was the head football coach for the University of West Georgia from 2017 to 2023. Dean served as the head football coach at Valdosta State University from 2007 to 2015, compiling a record of 79–27 in nine seasons. His team won the NCAA Division II Football Championship in 2007 and in 2012.
In American football the air raid offense refers to an offensive scheme popularized by such coaches as Mike Leach, Hal Mumme, Sonny Dykes, and Tony Franklin during their respective tenures at Iowa Wesleyan University, Valdosta State, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Louisiana Tech, and Washington State.
The Valdosta State Blazers are the athletic teams that represent the Valdosta State University, located in Valdosta, Georgia, in intercollegiate sports at the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The Blazers have primarily competed in the Gulf South Conference since the 1981–82 academic year.
Dave Huxtable is an American football coach who is the senior defensive assistant for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He served as the defensive coordinator at the North Carolina State University from 2013 to 2019. He previously served as the defensive coordinator of the Pittsburgh Panthers football team.
Robert Parks Brown is an American football coach who was most recently the quarterbacks coach for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). Prior to that, he was a special assistant to the head coach and the senior offensive analyst at West Virginia University.
James Willie Rowe III is an American football coach who is currently the defensive passing game coordinator for the University of South Florida. In 2021, he was the cornerbacks coach for the Indianapolis Colts. A 15-year coaching veteran, Rowe has four seasons of experience in the NFL. He was a three-year letterwinner (2005–07) as a baseball player at South Florida.
The 2022 Gulf South Conference football season was the season of college football played by the eight member schools of the Gulf South Conference (GSC) as part of the 2022 NCAA Division II football season.
Kaleb Nobles is an American football coach. He is the head football coach for the University of West Florida, a position he has held since 2023.