Ryan Hunt begins his first season as the head baseball coach at Cumberland after spending the last six seasons as the head coach at Vol State Community College.

Hunt compiled a 110-100 record entering the 2021 campaign which he is currently 124-110. Prior to Vol State, Hunt was a longtime assistant coach under Woody Hunt from 2002-2015.

Cumberland has won four Tran South Conference and one Mid-South Conference regular-season championships and six Tran South Conference and one Mid-South Conference Tournament title during his tenure as an assistant. The Bulldogs have also claimed five regional championships, four super regional titles and played in six NAIA World Series, winning national championships in 2004, 2010, and 2014. CU was also the NAIA World Series runner-up in 2006 and finished fourth in the nation in 2005.

Hunt has coached 20 NAIA All-Americans and 22 players who signed professional contracts during the previous 12 campaigns.

During his five years at Cumberland as a player, the Bulldogs claimed five conference championships, four conference tournament titles, and two regional championships, advancing to the NAIA World Series in 1997 and 1998.

Hunt graduated from Cumberland with a bachelor’s in Physical Education in 2003 and earned a master’s in Education in 2007.

The Lebanon, Tenn., native was a four-year starter at second base at Lebanon High School from 1993-96, earning All-District honors as a sophomore and senior and All-Midstate Honorable Mention as a sophomore.

He is married to the former Melissa Lauper of Gallatin, Tenn., and the couple has two daughters – eight-year-old Rylee and three-year-old Lyla Noelle.

Hollis is a graduate of the University of Pikeville and a four-year member of the Bears program from 2010-2014. During her collegiate bowling career, she was a part of the Bears 2012 NAIA National Championship team as well as 2013 and 2014 Xbowling National Collegiate Team Championship Runner-Up 2013.

Hollis earned First-Team NAIA All-American honors, National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association Honorable Mention All-American, and First-Team Mid-South Conference in 2014.

After graduating, Hollis began her coaching career as a Graduate Assitant for the Women’s Bowling program at Pikeville from 2014-2016. She assisted with recruiting, practice plans, and statistical entries for tournaments. After Pikeville, she went to Union College assisting their men’s team to a Mid-South Conference Runner-Up, was an assistant coach at Life University in Marietta, Georgia, and most recently an assistant coach here at CU since August 2020.

“I am excited that Christina will be our Interim Head Men’s and Women’s Bowling Coach. She brings a wealth of experience to help build strong programs. Christina has already been a volunteer for the program so she knows the players and the Cumberland University culture|” Director of Athletics Ron Pavan said. 

Hollis graduated from the University of Pikeville with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication with a minor in Business in 2014 and a Masters in Business Administration in 2016.

Brad Higginson is entering his first season with Cumberland as the linebacker coach for the Phoenix Football Program. He comes from Manchester University where he spent the past twelve seasons as an assistant football coach. During his time with Manchester, he had the roles of Defensive Coordinator, Defensive Backs Coach, Linebacker Coach, and Defensive Line Coach. He has mentored two NCAA Division 3 All-Americans and 26 All-HCAC Players for 40 All-HCAC selections. While at Manchester, the Spartans had some of the best teams in school history with multiple 6-4 finishes. Higginson coached 5 Spartans that would break records while at Manchester.
Prior to Manchester, Higginson was a Graduate Assistant Coach at NCAA Division 2 Gannon University. During his time with the Golden Knights, he coached the Defensive Backs in 2007 and the Corners in 2008. While coaching the Golden Knights, Higginson had one PSAC-West All-Conference selection in the secondary.
Higginson’s playing career was at Kentucky Wesleyan College where he was a four-year starter for the defense as a Free Safety and a D2.com honorable mention All-American. He finished his career with the Panthers ranked 6th in Interceptions and 7th in Passes Defended. He holds the single game record of 21 tackles against Campbellsville in 2003 and is also in the top 10 for his efforts against Bacone in 2005.  Higginson also tallied 5 interceptions in 2004 which makes him 10th in single-season rankings. He completed his career with 171.5 total tackles, 9 tackles for loss, and 10 total interceptions in a total of 39 games played. During his time with KWC, Higginson also competed for two years with the basketball program.
Higginson is a native of Poseyville, IN and has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer information Systems from Kentucky Wesleyan College and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Gannon University. Higginson and his wife Sydney live in Lebanon, TN.

James Hicks begins his fifth season as head coach at Cumberland in 2019-20 after serving three years in the same capacity at Darton State College in Albany, Ga.

Hicks led the Phoenix to the Mid-South Conference Tournament championship in his first year at the helm of the program, tying for the team title for the program’s first-ever MSC title. For his efforts he was voted Mid-South Conference West Division Coach of the Year. Sammy Rosario, Nate Croley, Orlando Nawade, Kyle Delaune and Dustin Harris all earned Second Team All-Mid-South honors and Croley went on to garner All-America accolades at 157.

In addition eight student-athletes were named Academic All-Mid-South Conference and Peter Donchev and Nick Paden were recognized as NAIA Scholar-Athletes.

Last season two athletes recieved All-America honors – Anothony Maia and Nathan Walton. Maia reached the national tournament semifianls and Walton reached the seventh pplace event.

In 2016-17, three student-athletes earned All-America honors for the Phoenix – Rosario, Croley and Delaune – tying for the most All-Americans in a single season in program history. Croley was voted Second Team All-Mid-South while nine athletes were named Academic All-Mid-South and Matt Carroll, Evan Cole and Peter Donchev were reconized as NAIA Scholar-Athletes.

Hicks produced two national champions and six junior college All-Americans during his three seasons at Darton State. The Belle Glade, Fla., native was named Region III Eastern District II Coach of the Year in each of the last two seasons for the Cavaliers and the team won the Eastern District II Championship in both campaigns as well.

Twenty-two wrestlers qualified for the NJCAA national tournament over his three years, including nine in 2015 and eight in 2014. The team finished in the Top 25 at the national tourney all three seasons, including 14th in 2015 and 17th in 2014. Darton State also placed third each of his last two years in the non-scholarship division of the NJCAA National Championships. In addition, five wrestlers garnered Academic All-America honors under Hicks’ tutelage.

Hicks served as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Campbellsville University, for four years, with the Tigers placing in the Top 7 at the NAIA Championship in three of those campaigns. Campbellsville won the East Region Qualifier in his final season as an assistant in 2012 and finished in the Top 5 at the NWCA National Duals in 2010, 2011 and 2012. The Tigers also won the Mid-South Conference regular season title in each of his last three years with the program.

During his time as an assistant coach, Campbellsville produced a pair of national champions, 19 NAIA All-Americans, 47 national qualifiers, 10 East Region champions, 17 Mid-South Conference champions and seven NAIA Scholar-Athletes.

Hicks was a three-time NAIA national qualifier and a Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athlete during his wrestling career at Campbellsville as well as a three-year starter for the Tigers. He was a member of the 2006 NAIA National Championship club at Dana College in Blair, Neb., ranking as high as sixth nationally and receiving the team’s Freshman of the Year award. He placed fourth as a senior at the FHSAA State Championships for Glades Central High School.

Hicks received his bachelor’s in Physical Education from Campbellsville in 2009.

Thomas Denney begins his first year as Associate Broadcasting Director at Cumberland.

Denney will be responsible for broadcasting all home sporting events, working closely with the radio and video teams. 

Denney has spent the last 11 years working as a videographer at Cumberland for the home football, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, and men’s and women’s volleyball. He has also undertook broadcasting audio, and video with Lebanon High School football. Denney is employed full-time at System Integrations, working with various audio and video products.

He and his wife have been married for 13 years.

Scott Davidson joined the Cumberland women’s soccer coaching staff as a full-time assistant in March 2018.

Davidson spent the last year serving as head coach for Nashville Rhythm FC in the Women’s Premier Soccer League as well as serving as Age Group Director and Lead Coach for the Nashville United Soccer Academy. He was also the Assistant Executive Director/Director of Coaching for the Williamson County Soccer Association for one year.

He worked the 2015 season as an assistant men’s coach and goalkeeper coach at Emmanuel College in Franklin Springs, Ga., assisting with team and individual workouts as well as recruiting. The Lions earned a berth in the NCCAA National Tournament that season, finishing the year 7-9-3 overall.

Davidson spent the 2014 campaign as assistant men’s coach at Truett-McConnell College in Cleveland, Ga., serving as camp director as well as leading recruiting for the Bears.

He worked two years as a graduate assistant for the women’s program at Trevecca University, helping the Trojans improve from 4-11-2 in 2010 to 8-8-2 the following season. Davidson also spent two years as an assistant for the men’s team at Bryan College, with the Lions registering marks of 12-4-2 and 11-8-0 in 2008 and 2009, respectively.

The Newarthill, Scotland, native played collegiately at Bryan College, scoring 23 goals with six assists as a senior to earn Honorable Mention All-America honors. The Lions compiled a 49-26-3 mark during his four seasons in Dayton.

Davidson played professionally with the Sioux Falls [SD] Spitfires (2007) and Spokane [WA] Spiders (2008) as well as two years with the Nashville Metros (2009-10). He also spent time with Albion Rovers FC Youth (1998-99), Hamilton Academicals FC (2000-02) and Lanark United (2003) in his native Scotland before enrolling at Bryan.

He received his bachelor’s in Communications from Bryan College in 2008 and earned a master’s in Teaching K-6 from Trevecca in 2013. He has earned USSF National “D” and “E” coaching licenses as well as Goalkeeping Levels I and II from United Soccer Coaches (formerly NSCAA). He has also received a Director of Coaching Diploma and Advanced National Diploma from the USC.

Spencer Claypool begins his first year as head coach in Esports at Cumberland and will participate in his inaugural season in the fall of 2021.

Claypool will have the opportunity to start the program from the ground up. Cumberland will compete in a wide number of different game titles. The following represents some of the most popular game titles played at NACE institutions: League of Legends, Overwatch, Smite, Paladins, Hearthstone, Rocket League, Super Smash Bros, FIFA, NBA2k, and Madden. CU will choose exactly which games the Phoenix will participate in at a later date.

Cumberland plans to pave a path for the Middle Tennessee area in the Esports community. There are currently only four other universities that offer Esports, but none in the Middle Tennessee region: East Tennessee State University, King University, Bethel University, and Milligan University.

Claypool spent four years at Kentucky Wesleyan College in Owensboro, Ky. where he held several positions around campus. He spent time as a Resident Assistant, Student Ambassador, Student Admissions Counselor, a member of the Football team, and an Athletic Trainer.

During his time at Cumberland as a Graduate assistant in the sports information office, Claypool handled the responsibilities of the day-to-day reporting on athletics teams including game notes and stories, game and season stats, and postgame information. He assisted in handling all of the department’s weekly and gameday social media graphics as well as managing social media accounts. Claypool also created web and advertising graphics for GoCumberlandAthletics.com and created gameday programs for several sports.

He earned his Bachelor’s of Science in Biology degree from Kentucky Wesleyan College in April of 2019 and graduated from the master’s program for Exercise and Sports Science at Cumberland in 2021.

Scott Blum was hired as the women’s basketball head coach for the Phoenix on April 12, 2018, after spending the previous 14 years as head coach at Grace College in Indiana.

The Lancers posted a pair of 20-win seasons during Blum’s tenure at his alma mater, including 20-15 in 2011-12, the program’s first winning season since 1991-92 and the first 20-win campaign in school history. Grace finished 20-16 this past season. The program has averaged 17.0 wins over the last eight seasons, including an 18-17 mark in 2014-15 and 19-17 in 2012-13. He has compiled 216 career victories.

Blum brings a wealth of coaching experience, serving as men’s basketball head coach at Indiana Wesleyan in Marion, Ind., from 1995-97, leading the program to the NCCAA national championship in 1995, and head men’s coach at Trinity International in Deerfield, Ill., from 1998-01.

He spent one year as the boys basketball coach at Lakewood Park Christian School in Auburn, Ind., and two seasons as an assistant men’s coach at Grace before becoming the women’s head coach for the 2004-05 campaign.

As a starting guard in the early 1990s, Blum earned NAIA All-America honors twice and was a major component in the men’s basketball team’s national championship in 1992 at Grace. He also garnered the Pete Maravich Award as the NCCAA Player of the Year in 1992.

Blum scored 1|576 career points at Oregon-Davis High School in Hamlet, Ind., and became the only player to have his number retired in school history. He then played two years at Valparaiso University before transferring to Grace for his final two seasons, helping the Lancers to a 59-11 record over that span.

Blum earned his bachelor’s in Physical Education from Grace in 1993 and received a master’s in Physical Education from Ball State in 2002. He is married to the former Michelle Hanna and the couple has three boys – Tanner, Connor and Asher.