Kirk Randal Botkin (born March 19, 1971) is the former

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

for the

South Carolina State University South Carolina State University (SCSU or SC State) is a public, historically black, land-grant university in Orangeburg, South Carolina. It is the only public, historically black land-grant research university in South Carolina, is a member o ...

Bulldogs football team and a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

and

long snapper In gridiron football, the long snapper (or deep snapper) is a Center (gridiron football), center on American football positions#Special teams, special teams whose duty is to Snap (gridiron football), snap the football over a longer distance, ty ...

who played four seasons in the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

with the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

and the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

. He has since coached football at the collegiate level. Botkin and his wife, the former Rebecca Holloway, have three children.

Early life

Botkin was born in

Baytown, Texas Baytown is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within Harris County, Texas, Harris and Chambers County, Texas, Chambers counties. Located in the Greater Houston, Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan statistical area, it lies on the nor ...

, where he attended Robert E. Lee High School.

College football

Botkin played college football at the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

from 1990 to 1993. In 1992, he was selected to the 1st team

All-SEC The All-SEC football team is an annual Southeastern Conference (SEC) honor bestowed on the best players in the conference following every college football season. Seasons Following is a list of all-conference teams in the history of the SEC: * ...

football team as named by the conference's coaches. He was the first Razorback to earn that honor. He was named to the 2nd team by the AP in 1992. In 1993, Botkin was named 2nd team all conference by the AP and the Coaches. He went through four different head coaches during his time in Fayetteville.

Ken Hatfield Kenneth Wahl Hatfield (born June 6, 1943) is an American former college football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the United States Air Force Academy (1979–1983), the University of Arkansas (1984–1989), Clemson Unive ...

recruited him;

Jack Crowe Jack Crowe (born May 2, 1947) is an American former college football coach. He played quarterback at West End High School in Birmingham, Alabama. He was most recently the head coach at Jacksonville State University in Alabama, a position he held ...

coached him from 1990 to the first game of the 1992 season; Joe Kines coached the team for the remainder of the 1992 season after Crowe was fired; and finally

Danny Ford Danny Lee Ford (born April 2, 1948) is an American former college football player and coach. He played college football at the University of Alabama from 1967 to 1969. He then served as the head football coach at Clemson University from 1978 to ...

became the head coach in 1993. Botkin played in one bowl game during his time with Arkansas; a loss in the 1991 Independence Bowl.

Pro football career

Botkin went undrafted in the

1994 NFL draft The 1994 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 1994, at the Marriott Ma ...

, but was signed by the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

just afterward. He was released by the Patriots during training camp in August 1994. He was picked up by the New Orleans Saints once the 1994 season was underway. He remained with the Saints though the 1995 season. Botkin was waived by the Saints prior to the 1996 season, but was claimed off waivers by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was used by the Steelers over the next two seasons primarily as a

, but also saw some work at

due to an injury to the team's starting tight end,

Mark Bruener Mark Frederick Bruener (born September 16, 1972) is an American former professional football player who was a tight end in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Washington Huskies, earning All-American honors i ...

. Botkin did not return for 1998 after the Steelers rescinded a contract offer to him.

Coaching career

Botkin was the linebackers coach for the

South Carolina Gamecocks The South Carolina Gamecocks represent the University of South Carolina in the NCAA Division I. The University of South Carolina uses "Gamecocks" as its official nickname and mascot. While the men's teams were traditionally known as the Fight ...

from 2012-2016. Previously, Botkin was hired as a football coach at

Jacksonville State University Jacksonville State University (JSU or Jax State) is a public university in Jacksonville, Alabama, United States. Founded in 1883, Jacksonville State offers programs of study in six academic schools leading to bachelor's degree, bachelor's, mas ...

by head coach

under whom Botkin had played at Arkansas. He moved on to become the

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

s coach and

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

coordinator at the

University of Louisiana at Monroe The University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM) is a public university in Monroe, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the University of Louisiana System. History ULM opened in 1931 as Ouachita Parish Junior College. Three years later it becam ...

in 2006. Botkin returned to his alma mater, Arkansas, in 2008 as the

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

s coach and

coordinator under head coach

Bobby Petrino Robert Patrick Petrino (born March 10, 1961) is an American college football coach who is the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Arkansas. He served as the head football coach at Missouri State from 2020 to 2022. P ...

. He was relieved of his special teams responsibilities in 2009, but remained as a defensive coach. He left Arkansas in January 2010. Then took a job at

Texas High School Texas High School (THS) is a public high school in Texarkana, Texas, United States. It is part of the Texarkana Independent School District and is classified as a 5A school by the University Interscholastic League. For the 2021–2022 school ye ...

in Texarkana, Texas (along with 2 other ex-NFL players:

Earnest Rhone Earnest Calvin Rhone (born August 20, 1953) is a former American football linebacker who played ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the Miami Dolphins. He was also an assistant high school football coach at Texas High School fr ...

and Cody Spencer. On January 13, 2012, Botkin was named

s coach for the

. Botkin was relieved of his duties as linebackers coach at South Carolina after the retirement of

Steve Spurrier Stephen Orr Spurrier (born April 20, 1945) is an American former football player and coach. He played ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL) before coaching for 38 years, primarily in college. He is often referred to by his nicknam ...

. Botkin was then hired by the South Carolina State University Bulldogs in Orangeburg, SC as the defensive coordinator in February 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Botkin, Kirk 1971 births Living people Players of American football from Baytown, Texas American football tight ends Arkansas Razorbacks football players New Orleans Saints players Pittsburgh Steelers players Players of American football from Harris County, Texas