In his first season as the Hawks’ defensive coordinator, Nathan Burton saw his unit emerge as one of the best in the Gulf South Conference last season thanks to a new-look style of play.
While Shorter finished its first season as an NCAA Division II program in 2012, posting a 6-5 overall record and a 2-3 slate in the highly-competitive GSC, Burton saw his defense end the year ranked second in the conference allowing an average of just 136 rushing yards and 336 total yards a game.
The Hawks also developed a reputation for causing havoc in opposing teams’ backfields where they recorded 26 sacks – the most since 2008 when a record 31 were made – and collected 79 tackles for losses, the most since 2006.
Burton brought his exciting form of defensive play to Shorter after spending the two seasons on the coaching staff at the University of Tennessee-Martin where he served as the secondary coach in 2011 that saw UTM finish second in overall defense in the Ohio Valley Conference and as the linebackers coach in 2010 when UTM led the OVC in total defense and was ranked 12th nationally.
A native of Lilburn who prepped at Greater Atlanta Christian, Burton proved early that he was bound and determined to be successful on the college football level when he earned a spot on Georgia Tech’s roster as a walk-on freshman, earned a scholarship and became a four-year letterman as the Yellow Jackets’ safety.
After obtaining his degree from Georgia Tech in 2005, Burton served as a graduate assistant coach for Tech and then joined the coaching staff at Oklahoma State.
Burton has been married to Britney Keener Burton for seven years and as two children, Charlie (3) and Grady (1).
