Football
Cal King
- Title:
- Safeties
- Alma Mater:
- Presbyterian, 2019
- Office Phone:
- (478) 301-2713
- Email:
- king_c2@mercer.edu
A seven-year collegiate coaching veteran with previous stops at three other collegiate institutions, Cal King begins his first year at Mercer in 2026-27 as the safeties coach for the Bears. He spent the 2025 season as the linebackers coach and interim defensive coordinator at Samford.
King’s linebackers unit accounted for a large share of the defensive success that Samford registered in 2025, amassing 246 tackles – more than 30 percent of the team’s total stops (807) – while also tacking up 16-1/2 tackles for loss (83 percent of team total) as well. Those achievements were headlined by senior Jaden Mosley who bullied his way on to the All-Southern Conference squad with 107 stops, including a team-best 9-1/2 stops behind the line of scrimmage.
King assumed the role of interim defensive coordinator for Samford in Week 10 and engineered a defense that limited FCS opponents to just 148.9 yards per game on the ground, including two outings in which Samford surrendered 111 rushing yards or fewer. The Bulldogs also forced five turnovers across that four-game stretch as well.
Prior to venturing to the Iron City, King left a wake of success amid a five-year stay on the defensive staff at Georgia Southern. He began his stint in Statesboro, Ga., as a graduate assistant defensive coach for two seasons (2020-21), while also taking on a role as the interim cornerbacks coach for the final eight games of the 2021 campaign. He mentored the nickel position players for the Eagles during the 2022 season, and finished out his career at GSU (2023-24) with oversight of the linebackers, while also serving as a senior defensive analyst.
The Eagles rattled off 31 wins and made four bowl appearances with King patrolling the sidelines in southeast Georgia, while the energetic mentor also oversaw the development of multiple All-Sun Belt Conference standouts, including 2024 SBC Defensive Player of the Year Marques Watson-Trent who eventually hauled in all-America nods as well. King also oversaw a linebacker group that turned in 100 or more tackles for three-straight seasons.
King kickstarted his coaching career at Louisiana in 2019 where he served as offensive quality control coach and assistant running backs coach for a Ragin’ Cajuns squad that posted an 11-3 clip, including a 27-17 triumph over Miami (Ohio) in the Lending Tree Bowl.
King played quarterback for four seasons (2015-18) at Presbyterian College and earned his bachelor’s degree in history from PC in 2019. He completed his graduate work in kinesiology at Georgia Southern in 2021. He is married to his wife, Eliza.
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King’s linebackers unit accounted for a large share of the defensive success that Samford registered in 2025, amassing 246 tackles – more than 30 percent of the team’s total stops (807) – while also tacking up 16-1/2 tackles for loss (83 percent of team total) as well. Those achievements were headlined by senior Jaden Mosley who bullied his way on to the All-Southern Conference squad with 107 stops, including a team-best 9-1/2 stops behind the line of scrimmage.
King assumed the role of interim defensive coordinator for Samford in Week 10 and engineered a defense that limited FCS opponents to just 148.9 yards per game on the ground, including two outings in which Samford surrendered 111 rushing yards or fewer. The Bulldogs also forced five turnovers across that four-game stretch as well.
Prior to venturing to the Iron City, King left a wake of success amid a five-year stay on the defensive staff at Georgia Southern. He began his stint in Statesboro, Ga., as a graduate assistant defensive coach for two seasons (2020-21), while also taking on a role as the interim cornerbacks coach for the final eight games of the 2021 campaign. He mentored the nickel position players for the Eagles during the 2022 season, and finished out his career at GSU (2023-24) with oversight of the linebackers, while also serving as a senior defensive analyst.
The Eagles rattled off 31 wins and made four bowl appearances with King patrolling the sidelines in southeast Georgia, while the energetic mentor also oversaw the development of multiple All-Sun Belt Conference standouts, including 2024 SBC Defensive Player of the Year Marques Watson-Trent who eventually hauled in all-America nods as well. King also oversaw a linebacker group that turned in 100 or more tackles for three-straight seasons.
King kickstarted his coaching career at Louisiana in 2019 where he served as offensive quality control coach and assistant running backs coach for a Ragin’ Cajuns squad that posted an 11-3 clip, including a 27-17 triumph over Miami (Ohio) in the Lending Tree Bowl.
King played quarterback for four seasons (2015-18) at Presbyterian College and earned his bachelor’s degree in history from PC in 2019. He completed his graduate work in kinesiology at Georgia Southern in 2021. He is married to his wife, Eliza.
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| THE KING FILE | |
| Coaching Experience | |
| 2019 | Louisiana (Offensive Quality Control, Running Backs Assistant) |
| 2020 | Georgia Southern (Graduate Assistant Coach/Defensive Backs) |
| 2021 | Georgia Southern (Graduate Assistant Coach/Interim Cornerbacks) |
| 2022 | Georgia Southern (Senior Defensive Analyst, Nickels) |
| 2023-24 | Georgia Southern (Senior Defensive Analyst, Linebackers) |
| 2025 | Samford (Assistant Coach/Linebackers, Interim Defensive Coordinator) |
| 2026-Present | Mercer (Assistant Coach/Safeties) |
| Playing Experience | |
| Played four seasons (2015-18) in the quarterback rotation at Presbyterian. | |
| Education | |
| Bachelor's degree in history (Presbyterian, 2019); master's degree in kinesiology (Georgia Southern, 2021). | |
| Family | |
| Wife, Eliza | |
Updated: January 2026
Mercer Men's Basketball 2026 | vs. UNC Greensboro | Full Game Highlights
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