Latrell Scott is entering his sixth year as the head football coach at Norfolk State.
Scott, who was named the 17th head football coach in NSU history on Dec. 16, 2014, led the Spartans to their best season in eight years in 2019. NSU won five games – the program’s most since 2011 – finishing 5-7 against a schedule that included two FBS opponents and a top-10 FCS opponent.
After starting the 2019 season 1-5, NSU rebounded to win four of its last six games. The Spartans enjoyed a three-game winning streak late in the year, their longest since that same 2011 season.
The Spartans’ resurgence was due in part to the best offense in the school’s Division I history. NSU averaged 28.9 points per game for the year and 31.8 in MEAC-only games, the highest-scoring season since the Spartans moved up to Division I in 1997. NSU ranked second in the MEAC in passing offense with 2,759 yards, the fourth-most in school history. The Spartans also finished third in the conference in rushing offense and total offense while topping the 40-point mark three times.
NSU landed a school-record 13 players on the All-MEAC teams following the 2019 season, bringing the total of all-conference selections in Scott’s tenure to 37.
In 2018, the Spartans led the country in punt return average and ranked sixth nationally in passing yards allowed (149.9 ypg). On the offensive side of the ball, the Spartans posted one of the top passing seasons in school history. NSU threw for 2,425 yards, the fifth-most in a single season in Spartan history. NSU had five All-MEAC performers.
In 2017, the Spartans notched their first win over a ranked Division I FCS team in four years when they took down No. 25 and defending MEAC champion North Carolina Central in Durham. The Spartans had seven players earn a total of eight spots on the postseason All-MEAC teams in 2017.
The Spartans ranked highly in a number of statistical categories nationally in 2017. NSU scored six defensive touchdowns during the season, tied for the most in the nation among FCS teams. They also ranked fourth in the nation in fewest turnovers (11), fifth in turnover margin (+15) and 10th in passes intercepted (17). In addition, NSU was the least-penalized team in the MEAC for the third straight year.
In 2016, the Spartans went 4-7 but finished the year on a high note, winning three of their final four games. Included in that span was a season-ending, come-from-behind win over rival Hampton University. Scott became the first Spartan coach since Bob Ledbetter in 1972-73 to win his first two games against the Pirates.
In his first year as NSU head coach (2015), Scott’s Spartans went 4-7 against a schedule including three Division I FBs teams. Linebacker Deon King became the first consensus first-team FCS All-American in school history and won the Buck Buchanan Award as the nation’s top defender at the FCS level. King went on to sign as a free agent with the Dallas Cowboys before appearing in games with both the San Diego Chargers and Indianapolis Colts in 2016. He then played for both the Cleveland Browns and Jacksonville Jaguars in 2017.
Scott came to NSU following an outstanding two-year run as head coach at Virginia State University. Scott directed the Trojans to a 19-4 record and two Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Northern Division regular-season titles in his two seasons in Petersburg. The Trojans never lost to a CIAA team under Scott’s direction, going a combined 15-0.
Highlighting Scott’s two-year stint at VSU was an historic 2014 campaign. The Trojans went 10-3 overall and won their first outright CIAA championship since 1996 by defeating Winston-Salem State in the conference championship game. VSU recorded its first-ever NCAA football playoff appearance and victory by defeating Long Island University Post in the first round of the Division II Championship in Petersburg. The Trojans, seeded third in the six-team NCAA Division II Super Region One, fell to No. 2 seed Bloomsburg in the second round, snapping a 10-game winning streak. For his efforts, Scott was named the 2014 CIAA Coach of the Year.
In 2013, Scott was voted the Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) College Division State Co-Coach of the Year and the Touchdown Club of Richmond’s state Division II/III Coach of the Year after guiding VSU to a 9-1 overall record and unblemished 7-0 mark in CIAA competition. The VSU football program also attained a top-25 ranking in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) weekly poll in 2013, another program first.
NSU is the third head coaching position in Scott’s career. In addition to leading VSU for two years, Scott was head coach at the University of Richmond in 2010. At 34 years of age, Scott was the youngest head coach at the Division I level at the time of his appointment. He led the Spiders to a 6-5 mark that season. His overall record as a head coach is 41-37.
Scott has 20 years of coaching experience. In addition to his previous stints as a head coach, Scott has also served as an assistant coach at James Madison University (2012), the University of Virginia (2009), the University of Tennessee (2008), Richmond (2005-07), VMI (2002-04), Western Carolina (2001) and Fork Union Military Academy (1999-2000).
At Virginia in 2009, Scott coached the wide receivers. One of his pupils, Kris Burd, signed as a free agent with the New York Jets. The year before, Scott was receivers coach at Tennessee, where he mentored another future NFL player in Denarius Moore, who was a fifth-round draft choice of the Oakland Raiders.
His stints at FBS U.Va. and Tennessee came on the heels of a stellar three-year run as an assistant at Richmond from 2005-07. Scott held the title of receivers coach and recruiting coordinator all three years and was also assistant head coach for the 2007 campaign. Richmond went 26-12, made two NCAA Division I FCS playoff appearances and beat an FBS team (Duke) in Scott’s three years as an assistant. The Spiders broke several school records in 2007, which ended with what was then a school record of 11 wins and a berth in the FCS national semifinals.
Of the 10 UR records eclipsed in 2007, Scott's wide receivers helped the Spiders set new standards for scoring average (34.9), touchdowns (63) and total offense (5,675). Scott helped develop two more pro receivers at UR in Kevin Grayson and Arman Shields. Grayson was a three-time All-CAA performer who played professionally in Europe, while Shields earned an invitation to the NFL Scouting Combine and was picked by Oakland in the fourth round of the 2008 NFL Draft.
Scott arrived in Richmond after spending three seasons as wide receivers coach at VMI. During his tenure in Lexington, the Keydets led the Big South Conference in passing in 2003. His star pupil, Zohn Burden, went on to become the leading receiver in the history of the Big South.
Scott’s first coaching assignment was at Fork Union Military Academy, where he spent two seasons before being named receivers coach at Western Carolina in 2001.
A three-year starter at tight end during his playing days at Hampton University, Scott played on one CIAA championship team and two MEAC championship and NCAA FCS playoff teams for the Pirates. He also competed in the Gridiron All-Star Classic in Orlando, Florida, following his senior season.
A native of Richmond, Scott graduated from Hampton with a bachelor’s degree in sports management in 1999. He attended Lee-Davis High School in Mechanicsville and Fork Union during his prep years.
Scott is married to the former Brandi Bradby of New Kent, Virginia. The couple has one son, Chase Latrell.
