Northwestern State is planning to name Blaine McCorkle its next head coach, sources told FootballScoop on Tuesday.
McCorkle is currently the head coach at Belhaven University, a Division III school in Jackson, Miss.
After going 2-8 in his debut season of 2019 and playing an abbreviated season in the spring of 2021 due to the pandemic, McCorkle has vastly improved Belhaven's program over the past three seasons. The Blazers went 7-3 in the fall of 2021, 8-2 in 2022, and posted a 9-2 mark this season. The 2023 campaign saw Belhaven set a program record for single-season wins, win the USA South Conference for the first time, and reach the D3 playoffs for the first team.
In fact, Belhaven's 7-3 mark in 2021 was the program's first (full) winning season since 2012.
McCorkle was named the USA South coach of the year, and the Blazers boasted the USA South's offensive and defensive players of the year, while 14 players earned all-conference honors.
At Northwestern State, McCorkle will undertake one of the most significant rebuilds in all of college football.
The Demons canceled the remainder of their season on Oct. 26 following the murder of player Ronnie Caldwell, who died on Oct. 12. Head coach Brad Laird resigned along with the cancelation of the season.
On the field, Northwestern State has not enjoyed a winning season since 2008. NSU was 0-6 upon the cancelation of the 2023 campaign.
McCorkle attended LSU and began coaching as a student assistant in 1999. Subsequent move took him to Tennessee-Martin, Sewanee, Liberty, Chattanooga, Tennessee Tech, Richmond and Delaware. McCorkle climbed the ladder as an offensive line coach before taking the Belhaven job.
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