Clayton White (born December 2, 1977) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach and former player who is serving as the

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

for the

South Carolina Gamecocks The South Carolina Gamecocks represent the University of South Carolina in the NCAA Division I. The University of South Carolina uses "Gamecocks" as its official nickname and mascot. While the men's teams were traditionally known as the Fighti ...

. Prior to being hired at South Carolina, he was the defensive coordinator for the

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers and Lady Toppers are the athletic teams that represent Western Kentucky University (WKU), located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, competing in the Co ...

. He played college football for

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The university ...

Playing career

College

White grew up in

Dunn, North Carolina Dunn is the largest city of Harnett County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 9,263 at the 2010 census, and an estimated 9,718 in 2018. It is the anchor city of the Dunn Micropolitan Area, population 114,678 (2010 census), which ...

, and attended Triton High School in nearby

Erwin Erwin may refer to: People Given name * Erwin Chargaff (1905–2002), Austrian biochemist * Erwin Dold (1919–2012), German concentration camp commandant in World War 2 * Erwin Hauer (1926–2017), Austrian-born American sculptor * Egon Erwin Kisc ...

, where he played

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

. Out of high school he attended

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...

. He started at linebacker and special teams in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

and

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

. White set multiple records at NC State: career tackles for loss, single-season tackles for loss, and tackles in a single game. He graduated in 2001 with a degree in sports management.

NFL

In the NFL, he spent two seasons with the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

as a linebacker and a special teamer. He played in every Giants game during the

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

season. White injured his knee during an April 2002 practice. He did not appear in a game during the 2002 season, and the Giants cut him in February 2003. He then signed with the

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 ...

but was cut during

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

prior to the start of the

2003 NFL season The 2003 NFL season was the 84th regular season of the National Football League (NFL). Regular-season play was held from September 4, 2003, to December 28, 2003. Due to damage caused by the Cedar Fire, Qualcomm Stadium was used as an emergenc ...

Coaching career

Early coaching career

Following his release White turned to coaching, and was hired as an assistant coach at Sanderson High School in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

, coaching

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

s. Tim Gillespie, the head coach, was also a former NC State player. He then spent 2004 and 2005 as Western Carolina's defensive backs coach. In 2006 he worked at Western Michigan as the team's defensive backs coach and special teams coordinator.

Stanford

From 2007 to 2009 White coached the defensive backs at Stanford.

Western Kentucky (first stint)

In 2010 White spent the season at WKU on Willie Taggart's first staff. There he served as the Co-Special Teams Coordinator and Defensive Backs Coach.

UConn

White served as the special teams coordinator and running backs coach for the Huskies in 2011 and 2012.

NC State

From 2013 to 2016 White worked as the co-special teams coordinator and safeties coach for NC State.

Western Kentucky (second stint)

In 2017 White returned to Western Kentucky as the team's defensive coordinator and cornerbacks coach. He remained in that position until after the 2020 season.

South Carolina

In 2021 White was hired to be the defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach for the Gamecocks as a part of Shane Beamer's inaugural staff. Despite losing multiple players to graduation, injuries, and the transfer portal, White's 2021 defense over-achieved and tied Notre Dame for 11th in the nation in forced turnovers with 23 takeaways.

References

External links

South Carolina profile

Western Kentucky profile

NC State profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:White, Clayton 1977 births Living people African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football American football linebackers American football quarterbacks Coaches of American football from North Carolina High school football coaches in North Carolina NC State Wolfpack football coaches NC State Wolfpack football players New York Giants players People from Dunn, North Carolina Players of American football from North Carolina South Carolina Gamecocks football coaches Stanford Cardinal football coaches UConn Huskies football coaches Western Carolina Catamounts football coaches Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football coaches Western Michigan Broncos football coaches