SANTA CLARA, Calif. --- There will be a Tusculum University connection at Super Bowl LX when the Seattle Seahawks face the New England Patriots this Sunday at Levi Stadium.
Karl Scott, who served on the Tusculum football staff for four seasons (2008-2011), is in his third year on the Seahawks' staff. He serves as Seattle's defensive passing game coordinator/defensive backs coach.
The Seahawks (14-3) punched their ticket for their fourth Super Bowl appearance with a 31-27 victory over the Los Angeles Rams in last month's NFC Championship Game.
Scott began his professional football coaching career in 2021 with the Minnesota Vikings, serving as defensive backs coach in his inaugural season in the NFL.
Scott's tenure at Tusculum was his first full-time football coaching position as he assumed the duties of recruiting coordinator and mentored TU's defensive backs and linebackers. He helped the Pioneers post a 9-4 record in 2008 to win the South Atlantic Conference Championship as TU advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division II Playoffs. He mentored two All-SAC performers in Justin Scott and Jarvis Littlejohn. Justin Scott collected All-Region honors as well and established new program record for single-season (22) and career (51) tackles for loss, while finishing the year with 113 tackles and 277 for his career.
Karl Scott's post-Tusculum coaching journey first took him to Southeastern Louisiana where he coached three seasons (2012-2014), serving as linebackers coach the first two years and took over as defensive coordinator in 2014. He helped Southeastern to a pair of Southland Conference titles and two trips to the NCAA FCS Playoffs (2013, 2014).
He moved onto Louisiana Tech where he served as the safeties coach during the 2015 campaign as the Bulldogs posted a 9-4 record and finished second in the Western Division of Conference USA, while winning the New Orleans Bowl. Coach Scott would spend the next two seasons (2016-2017) as the secondary coach at Texas Tech before being named the defensive coordinator at Louisiana-Lafayette in late December 2017.
In 2018, Scott was hired at Alabama to join Coach Nick Saban's staff. He coached the defensive backs for three years, including 2020, as the Crimson Tide won the CFP National Championship going 13-0. In his first year at Alabama, the Tide finished as CFP National Runner-Up.
A native of Houston, Scott played at McMurry University in Abilene, Texas, where he earned his degree in exercise and sports studies in 2007. Scott and his wife Taron have two daughters, Kina Bailey and Kari Mae.
Scott becomes the second individual with Tusculum ties to participate in a Super Bowl. Twenty years ago (2006), former TU All-American cornerback Ricardo Colclough led the Pittsburgh Steelers to a Super Bowl XL title with a 21-10 win over Seattle.
