Dave Calcutta joined the Averett University football program as an assistant coach in March 2023, working with the defensive line.
Calcutta coached the 2023 Old Dominion Athletic Conference's Defensive Player of the Year and Touchdown Club of Richmond's Defensive Lineman of the Year, Jahlin Russell, who broke several records.
Calcutta came to Averett with an extensive coaching background at the college level. He began his career at Division I Howard University, coaching tight ends and wide receivers from 1987-88. During that time the Bison won the 1987 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) championship and were named the Sheridan Broadcasting Network’s Black College national champions. He then spent 13 seasons from 1989-2001 at Division I South Carolina State University as the tight ends coach, before coaching running backs and eventually moving to linebackers coach and special teams coordinator. There, the program made three Heritage Bowl appearances in five years.
After coaching running backs and serving as the special teams coordinator at Division I Norfolk State University in 2002, Calcutta coached for three seasons at Division II Clarion University, where he worked with the defensive line that led the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference in tackles for loss all three years. Calcutta left Clarion for then-Division III Frostburg State University, where he was the defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator during his stint there from 2006-09. Calcutta then coached for nine years at Mountain Ridge High School in Frostburg, Maryland, where he was he defensive line coach and special teams coordinator for two seasons before spending seven years as the defensive coordinator. He worked in the private sector from 2020-22 before returning to the college game with Averett.
Calcutta was successful at all of his stops, producing numerous all-conference selections while helping his teams rank among the top teams in the conference or nation in various statistical categories. He also coached numerous student-athletes who played in the NFL.
Calcutta earned his bachelor’s degree in communications from Saint Joseph’s College in Indiana in 1987. He and his wife Kim have two sons, Anthony and Michael.
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