With nearly 30 years of coaching experience, including eight years as a Division I Head Coach, Brian Jenkins Sr. enters his second season as the Tigers’ Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator/QB Coach. In his first year at EWU, the 3-time MEAC Coach of the Year and two-time AFCA FCS Region II Coach of the Year led the Tigers to their most wins as a program since 2018, in the school’s first season in Division II after transitioning from NAIA, with wins over rivals Florida Memorial and Allen.
Prior to joining the Tigers, Coach Jenkins spent Spring 2019 as the RB Coach/Special Teams Coordinator for North Carolina Central University, a position he also held for the 2018 season at Alabama A&M. While at Alabama A&M, the team ranked #1 nationally in Blocked Kicks Allowed and Blocked Punts Allowed, #7 nationally in Total Offense and Scoring Offense, and in the top four in the SWAC in Kick Return Defense, Kick Returns, and Net Punting.
Coach Jenkins served as the Head Coach for Alabama State for three seasons from 2014 through 2017, where he compiled a 10-17 record, defeated Alabama A&M in the State Farm Magic City Classic (35-20), and won both the 92nd and 93rd Turkey Day Classics over Miles College in 2015 (26-7) and 2016 (53-20).
In five seasons as the Head Coach at Bethune-Cookman (2010-14), Jenkins’ Wildcats posted a .767 winning percentage (46-14), winning outright or sharing four Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) titles, earning three FCS playoff berths, and claiming two HBCU national titles. Bethune-Cookman won at least eight games each season, including a pair of 10-win seasons, and never finished below second place in the conference standings in posting a 34-6 record in MEAC contests, including a perfect 8-0 mark in 2012. The Wildcats also won 18 straight conference games between 2011-13, the second-longest streak in MEAC history. Jenkins’ teams also defeated rival Florida A&M four straight seasons (2011-14) for the first time in school history.
Jenkins’ success at Bethune-Cookman was not limited to FCS opponents. In both 2013 and 2014, the Wildcats defeated FBS member FIU, with both wins coming on the road. Of Jenkins’ 14 losses as Bethune-Cookman’s Head Coach, four were to Power 5 schools (Miami in 2011 and 2012, eventual national champion Florida State in 2013, and eventual AAC Champion UCF in 2014), and three came in the FCS Playoffs. For this success, Jenkins was honored as the MEAC Coach of the Year in 2010, 2012, and 2013, and the AFCA FCS Region II Coach of the Year in 2010 and 2012.
A native of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Jenkins served as an Assistant Coach for 16 years in collegiate and professional football before taking over the reins at Bethune-Cookman. Jenkins began his career as WR Coach at Western Kentucky (1994), before coaching both wide receivers and running backs for five seasons at Eastern Illinois (1995-1999). After a one-year stint as RB Coach at Bowling Green (2000), Jenkins coached one season as RB Coach/Special Teams Coordinator for the Frankfurt Galaxy of NFL Europe in 2001.
After his time in NFL Europe, Jenkins served as RB Coach/Special Teams Coordinator at Louisiana for seven seasons (2002-08), and had a one-year stint as WR Coach at Rutgers (2009) under Greg Schiano prior to being named Head Coach at Bethune-Cookman in 2010.
Jenkins played college football as both a wide receiver and running back at the University of Cincinnati, where he finished his career as the Bearcats’ career leader in Kickoff Returns (62) and Kickoff Return Yards (1,506), and ranked among the all-time leaders in Kickoff Return Yards for a season (505). He graduated in 1993 with a bachelor’s degree in social work and an associate’s degree in education.
Coach Jenkins He has two daughters, Brittany and Briana, and one son, Brian Jr., who is a star wide receiver at Alabama A&M.
