Craig Nelson Yeast (born November 20, 1976) is an American

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

coach and former player. He is the head football coach at

Kentucky Wesleyan College Kentucky Wesleyan College (KWC) is a private Methodist college in Owensboro, Kentucky. The college is known for its liberal arts programs. Fall 2018 enrollment was 830 students. History Kentucky Wesleyan College was founded in 1858 by the Kent ...

, a position he has held since December 2018.He now is the head coach of the Mercer County Titans. Yeast played professionally as a wide receiver and

kick returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

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 ...

with the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

and the

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

and 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

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

and

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...

. He 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 ...

at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

High school career

Yeast 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

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 ...

for

Harrodsburg High School Harrodsburg is a home rule-class city in Mercer County, Kentucky, United States. It is the seat of its county. The population was 9,064 at the 2020 census. Although Harrodsburg was formally established by the House of Burgesses after Boonesb ...

in Harrodsburg, Kentucky. Harrodsburg High School merged with Mercer County Senior High School in 2006.

College career

Yeast played

at the

for four seasons, from 1995 to 1998. When he graduated, Yeast was the all-time leader in career receptions in the history of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

, with 208 catches, and was second in career receiving yards with 2,899. In 1998, he returned three kickoffs and one punt for touchdowns. As a senior, he was a third-team All-American according to ''

College Football News ''College Football News'' (''CFN'') is a magazine and website published by College Football News, Inc., headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. News coverage includes scores, statistics, rankings, and reports on college football games. Analysis include ...

'', and was also a consensus All-Southeastern Conference first-team selection and a semi-finalist for the

Fred Biletnikoff Award The Fred Biletnikoff Award is presented annually to the most outstanding receiver in American college football by the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation, Inc. (TQCF), an independent not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. The award was creat ...

. Yeast was also a member of the

Phi Beta Sigma Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. It was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C. on January 9, 1914, by three young African-American male students with nine other Howard students as char ...

fraternity.

NFL career

Yeast was the third pick of the fourth round in 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 ...

. He played for the

and the

. His best NFL season came as a Bengal in 2000 when he caught 24 passes for 301 yards (12.5 average) and had one rushing attempt for 15 yards.

CFL career

In four seasons with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Yeast had 158 pass receptions for 2,706 yards (17.1 yards per catch) and 13 touchdowns. In 2004 Yeast had 59 catches for 1,184 yards (20.1 average) and 8 touchdowns. In 2005 Yeast had 65 catches for 1,010 yards (15.5 average) and 3 touchdowns. On July 29, 2006, Yeast was released by the Tiger-Cats. Following his years as a Tiger-Cat, Yeast had a short stint with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Coaching career

After one season as head coach at

Bryan Station High School Bryan Station High School, founded in 1958, is a high school within the Fayette County Public Schools system in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. During the 2006–2007 school year, students were moved to their newly built school known as Brya ...

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

, Yeast became wide receiver coach at

Tiffin University Tiffin University is a private university in Tiffin, Ohio. It was founded in 1888 and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs at the main campus in Tiffin, Ohio; the Unive ...

Tiffin, Ohio Tiffin is a city in and the county seat of Seneca County, Ohio, United States. Developed along the Sandusky River, which flows to Lake Erie, Tiffin is about 55 miles southeast of Toledo. The population was 17,963 at the 2010 census.Fremont Ross High School Fremont Ross High School (FRHS) is a public high school in Fremont, Ohio, United States. It is the only high school in the Fremont City School District, and one of two high schools in Fremont, the other being Saint Joseph Central Catholic High S ...

Fremont, Ohio Fremont is a city in and the county seat of Sandusky County, Ohio, United States, located along the banks of the Sandusky River. It is about 35 miles from Toledo and 25 miles from Sandusky. It is part of the Toledo metropolitan area. The populat ...

. December 2018, Yeast was hired as the head coach at

Owensboro, Kentucky Owensboro is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Daviess County, Kentucky, United States. It is the fourth-largest city in the state by population. Owensboro is located on U.S. Route 60 and Interstate 165 about southwest of Lou ...

. February 15, 2022, Yeast takes over the head coaching job for the Mercer County Titans in his hometown of Harrodsburg, Kentucky

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

Kentucky Wesleyan profile

Franklin (IN) profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yeast, Craig 1976 births Living people American football return specialists American football wide receivers Canadian football return specialists Canadian football wide receivers Cincinnati Bengals players Franklin Grizzlies football coaches Hamilton Tiger-Cats players New York Jets players Kentucky Horsemen players Kentucky Wildcats football players Tiffin Dragons football coaches High school football coaches in Kentucky High school football coaches in Ohio People from Danville, Kentucky People from Mercer County, Kentucky Players of American football from Kentucky African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football African-American players of Canadian football 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople