David Blake enters his first season at Westminster College as the Associate Head Coach, Co-Offensive Coordinator, and Quarterbacks Coach.
In 2021, he made history at Bluefield State College, NCAA Division II HBCU in West Virginia, as the Associate Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator. In less than one year, Bluefield State recruited and started an entire team from scratch and brought football back to the college for the first time in over 40 years. Blake's high-energy downhill attacking Defense consisted primarily of freshmen, and as a unit, no player had ever taken an NCAA snap prior to the start of the season. His youthful group excelled, the Defense was ranked near the top of several NCAA rankings, including #1 Ranked 1st Down Defense, #3 Yards Per Completion, #4 Pass Efficiency Defense, #5 Passing Touchdowns Allowed, #16 Passing Yards Allowed, and #28 3rd Down Defense. Amongst NCAA Division II Independents his Defense was ranked: #1 3rd Down Defense, #1 Red Zone Defense, #1 Rushing Defense, #1 Scoring Defense, #1 Pass Efficiency Defense, and #1 Total Defense.
Blake spent the 2020 season in the SEC as a Defensive Assistant and Player Personnel Analyst at Auburn University. Before heading to Auburn, Blake spent the 2020 spring at Arkansas State University as an Offensive Analyst.
Blake was selected as a Defensive Coordinator for the 2020 Dream Bowl, a College Football All-Star game that showcases FCS, D-II, and D-III players in front of NFL and CFL scouts.
In 2019, Blake joined the Rhodes College staff as the Defensive Backs coach. 2019 season, Rhodes College reclaimed the Edmund Orgill Cup versus rival Sewanee. In 2019, the Lynx pass defense saw improvements in every major statistical category from the previous season. The Lynx football team achieved outstanding academic success finishing the 2019 fall semester with a record-high team GPA of 3.16. Over 60 players finished above 3.0, and 47 were on the Southern Athletic Association's Academic Honor Roll for having over a 3.25 GPA. Blake coached Conner Mitchell and Jacob Andersen. Mitchell finished the season as the team leader in defensive production points, earned Southern Athletic Association all-conference honors, and was voted, Rhodes College's Defensive Player of the Year. Jacob Anderson was selected for the National Football Foundation's Hampshire Honor Society.
At the University of Memphis, he spent the 2016 to 2018 seasons as Defensive Quality Control working with the secondary and 2019 as an Offensive Quality Control working with Quarterbacks under the leadership of Head Coach Mike Norvell. During that time, Memphis was a two-time American Athletic Conference Western Division Champion, appeared in three bowl games, had multiple victories over top-25 ranked teams, including wins over UCLA and Houston, and had the highest-rated recruiting classes in school history.
While at Memphis, the foundation of Blake's high-energy, aggressive defensive philosophy formed under the tutelage of Defensive Coordinator Chris Ball and working alongside Defensive Backs coaches Marcus Woodson and TJ Rushing. The Memphis defense ranked as one of the nation's most-opportunistic units. The Tigers forced the fifth-most turnovers over three years among Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) squads with 80 (29 in 2016/31 in 2017/20 in 2018). The 31 caused turnovers were tied for third nationally in 2017, and the 29 forced in 2016 were tied for fifth nationally.
Notable Defensive Backs during Blake's time at Memphis includes Los Angeles Ram TJ Carter, in 2018, was named second-team American Athletic Conference corner. In 2017, Carter named ESPN.com and USA Today Freshman All-America and American Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year after setting a Memphis record with five interceptions by a freshman. From 2016 to 2018, he worked with Houston Texans Rookie Jacobi Francis. During the 2018 season, Blake worked with current Jacksonville Jaguar Chris Claybrooks when he transitioned from Wide Receiver to Corner Back. In 2016, Arthur Maulet was awarded the team's Defensive MVP and now plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Also, in 2016, Chauncey Lanier was awarded the team's Most Improved Player.
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Blake earned his Master of Science at the University of Memphis and Bachelor of Science at West Liberty University and is currently pursuing his Ed. S. at Auburn University. At West Liberty, he played Defensive Back for the Hilltoppers football team. Blake served in the United States Navy for over nine years as a Legalman and Flight Engineer on board the P-3 Orion.
Blake is a native of Stoneboro, Pennsylvania. He and his wife Ashley are both West Liberty University alumni and have a daughter.
Bowl Experience
- 2018, Birmingham Bowl vs. Wake Forest
- 2017, Liberty Bowl vs. Iowa State
- 2016, Boca Raton Bowl vs. Western Kentucky
