Autry Lamont Denson (born December 8, 1976) is an American

gridiron football Gridiron football,"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Ret ...

coach and former player. He was most recently the head football coach at

Charleston Southern University Charleston Southern University (CSU) is a private Baptist university in North Charleston, South Carolina. It is affiliated with the South Carolina Baptist Convention ( Southern Baptist Convention). History Charleston Southern University was ch ...

, a position he has held since 2019. Denson played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

. He played professionally for four seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) with the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

, the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

, and the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

and one season in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL) with the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

Playing career

High school

Denson attended

Nova High School Nova High School is a public high school located in Davie, Florida and is part of the Broward County Public Schools district. It is one of four schools that comprise the Nova Center for Applied Research and Professional Development, the others ...

where he played for Willie Dodaro.

College

Denson is Notre Dame's all-time leading rusher with 4,318 yards and 43 touchdowns while holding many other rushing records at the University of Notre Dame. In 1997, he ran for 1,268 yards on 264 carries and scored 12 TDs. In 1998, he ran for 1,306 yards on 277 carries and scored 18 TDs. Denson was the MVP of the

Gator Bowl The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in Jacksonville, Florida, operated by Gator Bowl Sports. It has been held continuously since 1946, making it the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first one ever televised natio ...

in 1999 played against

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

Professional

Denson was selected in the seventh round with the 233rd pick of the

1999 NFL Draft The 1999 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 17–18, 1999, at the Theater at M ...

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

. He never made it to the active roster for Tampa Bay. In two years (1999–2000) with

, he ran for 206 yards on 59 carries while also catching 18 passes for 133 yards. In 2000, he returned 20 kicks for 495 yards. Denson spent the 2001 season with the

. He had only one carry for 4 yards while spending most of the year on special teams. While on special teams he returned 23 kicks for 534 yards as well as 1 punt return for 5 yards. During the 2002 with the

, Denson rushed for 2 yards on 2 carries with 2 kick returns for 38 yards. Denson spent the 2004 season in the

(CL) as a member of the

. He finished eighth in rushing with 772 yards and nine touchdowns while being given the player of the week Honors during the season.

Coaching career

In April 2010, after spending some years away from the game of football, Denson was named the head football coach at Pope John Paul II High School in

Boca Raton, Florida Boca Raton ( ; es, Boca Ratón, link=no, ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It was first incorporated on August 2, 1924, as "Bocaratone," and then incorporated as "Boca Raton" in 1925. The population was 97,422 in the ...

. In 2015, Denson was hired to fill the running backs coaching vacancy at the

, his alma mater. Previously, he served as running backs coach at

Bethune–Cookman University Bethune–Cookman University (BCU or Bethune–Cookman) is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Daytona Beach, Florida. Bethune–Cookman University is affiliated with the U ...

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 10 ...

Oxford, Ohio Oxford is a city in Butler County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,035 at the 2020 census. A college town, Oxford was founded as a home for Miami University and lies in the southwestern portion of the state approximately northwest ...

, and the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...

. Denson was named the head coach at

Charleston Southern Charleston Southern University (CSU) is a private Baptist university in North Charleston, South Carolina. It is affiliated with the South Carolina Baptist Convention ( Southern Baptist Convention). History Charleston Southern University was ch ...

on January 14, 2019. He was relieved of his duties following the 2022 season, after a 2–8 finish.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Charleston Southern profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Denson, Autry 1976 births Living people American football running backs African-American players of Canadian football Bethune–Cookman Wildcats football coaches Canadian football running backs Charleston Southern Buccaneers football coaches Chicago Bears players Indianapolis Colts players Montreal Alouettes players Miami Dolphins players Miami RedHawks football coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish football coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players South Florida Bulls football coaches High school football coaches in Florida Nova High School alumni People from Davie, Florida People from Lauderhill, Florida Coaches of American football from Florida Players of American football from Florida African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American sportspeople Sportspeople from Broward County, Florida