Staff Directory
Bryant Foster
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
(Cornerbacks)
- Email:
- Phone:
- (478) 301-2713
A veteran secondary coach with more than two decades of experience across the collegiate and professional levels, Bryant Foster begins his first season at Mercer in 2026-27, as well as his first alongside head coach Joel Taylor, as the cornerbacks coach for the Bears. Foster most recently served on the coaching staff of the Wroclaw Panthers of the European League of Football, the modern professional American football platform in Europe following the NFL Europe era.
Player development has been a defining theme for Foster across each step of his 26-year coaching career. His players have combined to rake in 19 all-conference awards, including a pair of defensive standouts that have been recognized as all-Americans. Three of his mentees have posted conference-leading interception totals on the way to all-league recognition, including Charleston Southern’s James Allen who finishing among NCAA FCS’s most prolific ball hawks in both interceptions and passes defended as a senior in 2018.
He has also mentored both NFL Combine and East-West Shrine Bowl invitees, as well as professional signees.
While serving as defensive backs coach and co-defensive coordinator in 2025, Foster helped Wroclaw make a measurable jump in pass defense, improving from 17th to 10th in passing yards allowed from 2024 to 2025. The Panthers reduced opponent passing production from 3,196 yards to 2,655 yards - a 541-yard improvement - while also allowing 123 fewer pass attempts and 32 fewer passing first downs.
Foster helped construct a dominant defensive unit in three seasons (2023-25) at Alabama A&M as the Bulldogs showcased an impressive secondary that surrendered just 218.1 passing yards per game across that 35-game stretch, while also racking up 27 interceptions. Alabama A&M led all 122 NCAA FCS squads with 26 forced turnovers amid the regular season portion of the 2023 schedule, including the nation’s 29th-best interception total (11), and yielded a paltry 204.4 yards per game through the air that season as well.
Prior to making the move to northern Alabama, the energetic mentor enjoyed a heap of success at Coastal Carolina where he served four seasons (2019-22) as the defensive backs coach for the Chanticleers who churned out a cumulative 36-14 clip over that span, a Sun Belt Conference regular season and divisional crown and a trio of bowl appearances. That run included 11-win seasons in 2020 and 2021, as well as a 9-win campaign in 2022. CCU also spent two weeks in the No. 9 position of the Associated Press Top 25 late in the 2020 campaign before ultimately concluding the season with a No. 14 national ranking.
While in Conway, S.C., Foster played a big part in the engineering of a dominant secondary that yielded just more than 226 passing yards per game and picked off 42 passes. The Chanticleers led the SBC and ranked 16th, nationally, in passing defense (190.3 yards allowed/game) during a magical 2021 season that culminated with a win over Northern Illinois in the Cure Bowl, but Coastal ranked among the league’s top passing efficiency defenses across the entirety of Foster’s tenure in teal.
Foster dipped his toes in the collegiate coaching world as a defensive assistant at Presbyterian in 2002 before transitioning to the prep football circuit for two seasons (2003-04) as an assistant coach at Greer (S.C.) High School where he helped lead the Yellow Jackets to the 2003 Class 3A state championship. He returned to the collegiate ranks in 2005 as the linebackers coach at University of the South where he was a part of the 2005 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Staff of the Year.
The Chesnee, S.C., product took on a pair of position groups across four seasons (2007-10) at his alma mater, beginning with a two-year stint as the outside linebackers coach for Gardner-Webb, and concluding with another two-year stay as the skipper of the cornerbacks. The Runnin’ Bulldogs paced the Big South Conference in total defense in his first season, and boasted the nation’s sixth-ranked passing defense and 15th-best total defense amid his final season in Boiling Springs, N.C.
Foster also spent two seasons coaching the secondary at Delaware State (2011-12), Campbell (2013-14), Hampton (2015-16) and Charleston Southern (2017-18) prior to joining the staff at Coastal Carolina. His work at Delaware State helped the Hornets produce their first winning season since 2007, while DSU also boasted the nation’s third-ranked turnovers gained and 12th-best interceptions totals.
A regular on the professional development and clinic circuit, Foster was selected for the NFL Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship with Washington in 2019 and was invited to the 2025 NCAA/NFL Football Coaches Academy. He has also served as a clinic speaker and presenter on defensive back fundamentals, secondary technique, player development, and recruiting. He was named one of the Top 50 defensive backs coaches in college football by Big Game Boomer in 2021-22.
A four-year letterwinner at Gardner-Webb under coaches Woody Fish and Steve Patton from 1995-99, Foster was a three-year starter at defensive back for the Runnin’ Bulldogs and was decorated with the Bulldog Award as a senior which is given to the most dedicated and hard-working player.
Foster earned his bachelor’s degree in management information systems from Gardner-Webb in 1999.
Player development has been a defining theme for Foster across each step of his 26-year coaching career. His players have combined to rake in 19 all-conference awards, including a pair of defensive standouts that have been recognized as all-Americans. Three of his mentees have posted conference-leading interception totals on the way to all-league recognition, including Charleston Southern’s James Allen who finishing among NCAA FCS’s most prolific ball hawks in both interceptions and passes defended as a senior in 2018.
He has also mentored both NFL Combine and East-West Shrine Bowl invitees, as well as professional signees.
While serving as defensive backs coach and co-defensive coordinator in 2025, Foster helped Wroclaw make a measurable jump in pass defense, improving from 17th to 10th in passing yards allowed from 2024 to 2025. The Panthers reduced opponent passing production from 3,196 yards to 2,655 yards - a 541-yard improvement - while also allowing 123 fewer pass attempts and 32 fewer passing first downs.
Foster helped construct a dominant defensive unit in three seasons (2023-25) at Alabama A&M as the Bulldogs showcased an impressive secondary that surrendered just 218.1 passing yards per game across that 35-game stretch, while also racking up 27 interceptions. Alabama A&M led all 122 NCAA FCS squads with 26 forced turnovers amid the regular season portion of the 2023 schedule, including the nation’s 29th-best interception total (11), and yielded a paltry 204.4 yards per game through the air that season as well.
Prior to making the move to northern Alabama, the energetic mentor enjoyed a heap of success at Coastal Carolina where he served four seasons (2019-22) as the defensive backs coach for the Chanticleers who churned out a cumulative 36-14 clip over that span, a Sun Belt Conference regular season and divisional crown and a trio of bowl appearances. That run included 11-win seasons in 2020 and 2021, as well as a 9-win campaign in 2022. CCU also spent two weeks in the No. 9 position of the Associated Press Top 25 late in the 2020 campaign before ultimately concluding the season with a No. 14 national ranking.
While in Conway, S.C., Foster played a big part in the engineering of a dominant secondary that yielded just more than 226 passing yards per game and picked off 42 passes. The Chanticleers led the SBC and ranked 16th, nationally, in passing defense (190.3 yards allowed/game) during a magical 2021 season that culminated with a win over Northern Illinois in the Cure Bowl, but Coastal ranked among the league’s top passing efficiency defenses across the entirety of Foster’s tenure in teal.
Foster dipped his toes in the collegiate coaching world as a defensive assistant at Presbyterian in 2002 before transitioning to the prep football circuit for two seasons (2003-04) as an assistant coach at Greer (S.C.) High School where he helped lead the Yellow Jackets to the 2003 Class 3A state championship. He returned to the collegiate ranks in 2005 as the linebackers coach at University of the South where he was a part of the 2005 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Staff of the Year.
The Chesnee, S.C., product took on a pair of position groups across four seasons (2007-10) at his alma mater, beginning with a two-year stint as the outside linebackers coach for Gardner-Webb, and concluding with another two-year stay as the skipper of the cornerbacks. The Runnin’ Bulldogs paced the Big South Conference in total defense in his first season, and boasted the nation’s sixth-ranked passing defense and 15th-best total defense amid his final season in Boiling Springs, N.C.
Foster also spent two seasons coaching the secondary at Delaware State (2011-12), Campbell (2013-14), Hampton (2015-16) and Charleston Southern (2017-18) prior to joining the staff at Coastal Carolina. His work at Delaware State helped the Hornets produce their first winning season since 2007, while DSU also boasted the nation’s third-ranked turnovers gained and 12th-best interceptions totals.
A regular on the professional development and clinic circuit, Foster was selected for the NFL Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship with Washington in 2019 and was invited to the 2025 NCAA/NFL Football Coaches Academy. He has also served as a clinic speaker and presenter on defensive back fundamentals, secondary technique, player development, and recruiting. He was named one of the Top 50 defensive backs coaches in college football by Big Game Boomer in 2021-22.
A four-year letterwinner at Gardner-Webb under coaches Woody Fish and Steve Patton from 1995-99, Foster was a three-year starter at defensive back for the Runnin’ Bulldogs and was decorated with the Bulldog Award as a senior which is given to the most dedicated and hard-working player.
Foster earned his bachelor’s degree in management information systems from Gardner-Webb in 1999.
| THE FOSTER FILE | |
| Coaching Experience | |
| 2002 | Presbyterian (Graduate Assistant/Defense) |
| 2003-04 | Greer (S.C.) HS (Assistant Coach) |
| 2005-06 | University of the South (Assistant Coach/Linebackers) |
| 2007-08 | Gardner-Webb (Assistant Coach/Outside Linebackers) |
| 2009-10 | Gardner-Webb (Assistant Coach/Cornerbacks) |
| 2011-12 | Delaware State (Assistant Coach/Defensive Backs) |
| 2013-14 | Campbell (Assistant Coach/Secondary) |
| 2015-16 | Hampton (Assistant Coach/Cornerbacks, Defensive Passing Game Coordinator) |
| 2017-18 | Charleston Southern (Assistant Coach/Defensive Backs, Recruiting Coordinator) |
| 2018 | Charleston Southern (Assistant Coach/Defensive Backs, Co-Defensive Coordinator) |
| 2019-22 | Coastal Carolina (Assistant Coach/Defensive Backs) |
| 2023-25 | Alabama A&M (Assistant Coach/Defensive Backs, Interim Defensive Coordinator) |
| 2025 | ELF Wroclaw Panthers (Assistant Coach/Defensive Backs, Co-Defensive Coordinator |
| Playing Experience | |
| Four-year (1995-99) letterwinner and three-year starter at defensive back for Gardner-Webb, earning the Bulldog Award as a senior. | |
| Education | |
| Bachelor's degree in management information systems (Gardner-Webb, 1999). | |
Updated: June 2026
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