Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina head football coach Kerwin Bell this week officially announced that Chazmon Scales has been elevated to defensive coordinator after sharing the duties as a co-coordinator a season ago.
 
Scales joined the Catamount coaching staff in early July 2021 to coach WCU's safeties after spending the previous two seasons at Central Arkansas helping guide the Bears to the 2019 Southland Conference Championship. He also worked with cornerback Robert Rochell, who went on to be a fourth-round draft pick by the Los Angeles Rams in the NFL.
 
In his first year in Cullowhee, Scales mentored All-Southern Conference selection in safety Andreas Keaton, who was selected as the SoCon Freshman of the Year by the league's head coaches and was among the 23 finalists for the Jerry Rice Award. Keaton finished his rookie season with 45 total tackles including 29 solo stops, starting all 11 games in the defensive secondary. He finished with a team-best three interceptions as a part of nine passes defended.
 
Prior to Central Arkansas, Scales coached two seasons at Tusculum in 2017 and 2018 where he was the defensive pass game coordinator while also serving as co-special teams coordinator. Under his tutelage, Martez Thompson earned All-South Atlantic Conference (SAC) plaudits and was an All-Region cornerback. He also coached All-SAC selection Malik Goodman and two-time All-SAC performer Dee Alford who went on to sign with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League recently signed with the Atlanta Falcons in the NFL.
 
Scales began his coaching career in 2014 as the defensive graduate assistant at the University of West Georgia and served as a quality control assistant at Valdosta State in 2015 where he mentored DB Kenny Moore who earned USA College Football All-America honors and All-Gulf South Conference designation.
 
Originally from Franklin, Tenn., Scales was a four-year contributor on defense at Arkansas State where he was a part of two consecutive Sun Belt Conference championship teams as a junior and senior, earning berths in the GoDaddy.com Bowl in Mobile, Ala.
 
Western Carolina continues its annual spring drills on Thursday (March 17) afternoon, returning to the turf at E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field for the second of 15 practice sessions which will culminate with the Spring Football Showcase, presented by the UltraStar Multi-tainment Center at Harrah's Cherokee, on Saturday, April 9 at Noon.
 
Season tickets and game day parking for the 2022 Catamount football home schedule are on sale now through the WCU Athletics Ticket Office, located on the first floor of the Ramsey Center, by phone at (828) 227-2401, and online at CatamountSports.com. Fans can purchase tickets and parking for each of WCU's five home dates through the 2022 regular season. The deadline for current season ticket holders to renew is June 1, 2022.
 
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