{{Short description|American football player and coach (born 1980)}} {{Use American English|date = April 2019}} {{Use mdy dates|date = April 2019}} {{Infobox college coach | name = Tyson Summers | image = SunBeltMD-2016-0725-TysonSummers.png | caption = Summers at 2016 Sun Belt Media Day | current_team = Colorado State | current_title = Defensive coordinator | current_conference = MWC | current_record = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1980|4|11}} | birth_place = Tifton, Georgia, U.S. | player_years1 = 1998–2001 | player_team1 = Presbyterian | player_positions = Linebacker | coach_years1 = 2002 | coach_team1 = Tift County HS (GA) (DB) | coach_years2 = 2003 | coach_team2 = Presbyterian (DB) | coach_years3 = 2004 | coach_team3 = Troy (GA) | coach_years4 = 2005 | coach_team4 = Georgia (GA) | coach_years5 = 2006 | coach_team5 = Georgia Southern (S) | coach_years6 = 2007–2010 | coach_team6 = UAB (LB) | coach_years7 = 2011 | coach_team7 = UAB (S/co-ST) | coach_years8 = 2012–2014 | coach_team8 = UCF (DC) | coach_years9 = 2015 | coach_team9 = Colorado State (DC/S) | coach_years10 = 2016–2017 | coach_team10 = Georgia Southern | coach_years11 = 2018 | coach_team11 = Georgia (DQC) | coach_years12 = 2019 | coach_team12 = Colorado (DC/S) | coach_years13 = 2020 | coach_team13 = Colorado (DC/ILB) | coach_years14 = 2021 | coach_team14 = Florida (DA) | coach_years15 = 2022–2024 | coach_team15 = Western Kentucky (DC/S) | coach_years16 = 2025–present | coach_team16 = Colorado State (DC) | coach_years17 = 2025 | coach_team17 = Colorado State (Interim HC) | overall_record = 5–16 | bowl_record = | tournament_record = | championships = | awards = | coaching_records = }} '''Tyson Summers''' (born April 11, 1980) is an American college football coach who is the defensive coordinator for Colorado State University. He previously served as the defensive coordinator at Western Kentucky University and as an analyst at University of Florida. Prior to that, Summers served as the defensive coordinator at the University of Colorado Boulder. Summers was the head football coach at Georgia Southern University from 2016 to 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/2015-12-21/georgia-southern-football-eagles-hire-tyson-summers-head-coach|title=Georgia Southern football: Eagles hire Tyson Summers as head coach|date=December 21, 2015|website=National Collegiate Athletic Association|access-date=February 5, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://savannahnow.com/local-colleges/news/sports/2017-10-22/georgia-southern-fires-head-coach-tyson-summers|title=Georgia Southern fires head coach Tyson Summers|date=October 22, 2017|website=Savannah Morning News|access-date=October 22, 2017}} {{Dead link|date=April 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.savannahnow.com/news/sports/sec/2018-01-23/former-georgia-southern-coach-tyson-summers-title-and-salary-revealed-uga|title=Former Georgia Southern coach Tyson Summers' title and salary revealed at UGA|last=Weiszer|first=Marc|date=October 22, 2017|website=Savannah Morning News|access-date=January 23, 2018}}</ref>
==Playing career== A four-year letterwinner at Presbyterian College, Summers earned All-South Atlantic Conference honors as a linebacker in 1999 and was selected as team captain as a senior. He received his bachelor's degree in political science from Presbyterian in 2002.<ref name="USA Today">{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/sunbelt/2015/12/20/georgia-southern-tyson-summers-head-football-coach-colorado-state-defensive-coordinator/77674002/|title=Georgia Southern hires Tyson Summers as new head coach|last=Wolken|first=Dan|date=December 21, 2015|website=USA Today|publisher=Gannett|access-date=February 5, 2016}}</ref>
==Coaching career== Summers began his coaching career in 2002 at Tift County High School in Tifton, Georgia, his alma mater. He then returned to Presbyterian in 2003, this time as defensive backs coach.
After serving as a graduate assistant at Troy (then Troy State) and Georgia, Summers coached safeties at Georgia Southern in 2006 before coaching linebackers and eventually safeties at UAB for five seasons under Neil Callaway, the offensive coordinator/offensive line coach at Georgia while Summers was a GA with the Bulldogs.
From 2012-2014, Summers was on the staff at UCF, eventually being named defensive coordinator and overseeing a unit that ranked 5th in the country in total defense in 2014.
In 2015, Summers reunited with another former Georgia assistant, Mike Bobo, at Colorado State, where he was the defensive coordinator and safeties coach.
On December 21, 2015, Summers returned to Georgia Southern as the program's 14th head coach and 2nd in the Eagles' FBS era, replacing Willie Fritz, who left for the same position at Tulane. Despite winning their first three games in the 2016 season, the Eagles went just 2-7 the rest of the way to finish 5-7, their first losing season since 2009. Their conference mark was 4-4, good for 6th in the Sun Belt Conference.
Summers' second season in Statesboro opened with a 41-7 loss at then-No. 12 Auburn. The next week, in Birmingham, Alabama, Georgia Southern lost to FCS program New Hampshire, 22-12, followed by losses against Indiana, Arkansas State, and New Mexico State. On October 22, 2017, a day after a 55-20 loss at UMass dropped the Eagles to 0-6 on the season, Summers was fired<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gseagles.com/news/2017/10/22/football-summers-relieved-of-georgia-southern-coaching-duties.aspx|title=Summers Relieved Of Georgia Southern Coaching Duties|date=October 22, 2017|website=Georgia Southern Eagles|access-date=October 22, 2017}}</ref> and replaced by assistant coach Chad Lunsford.
For the 2018 season, Summers returned to Georgia, joining Kirby Smart's staff as a defensive quality control coach. In 2019, he was named defensive coordinator at Colorado under Mel Tucker and was retained by Karl Dorrell after Tucker's departure, but was fired after two seasons.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://twitter.com/BruceFeldmanCFB/status/1349034172384333825|title=x.com}}</ref>
In 2021, Summers was a defensive assistant at Florida.
On February 13, 2022, Summers was named the defensive coordinator at Western Kentucky.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wkusports.com/sports/football/roster/coaches/tyson-summers/908|title=Tyson Summers - Football Coach|website=Western Kentucky University Athletics}}</ref> Longtime collegiate and professional coach Kim Helton, the father of WKU's head coach, Tyson Helton, was on Neil Callaway's staff at UAB with Summers from 2007-2011; the elder Helton also coached Summers' father, Andy, at Florida in the 1970s. <ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.bgdailynews.com/sports/wku/football-bonds-helton-summers-families-enjoying-football-together-again-5-decades-after-crossing-paths/article_14056f84-bdee-513c-84bc-9b15fdf320f4.html | title=FOOTBALL BONDS: Helton, Summers families enjoying football together again 5 decades after crossing paths | website=www.bgdailynews.com}}</ref> Clay Helton, Tyson Helton's older brother, is the current head coach of Summers' former Georgia Southern program.
In 2025, Summers returned to Colorado State as the defensive coordinator. Midway through the 2025 season, head coach Jay Norvell was fired, and Summers was named interim head coach for the remainder of the season.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/46650475/sources-colorado-state-firing-head-coach-jay-norvell|title=Colorado State fires head coach Jay Norvell in fourth season|first=Adam|last=Rittenburg|date=October 19, 2025|accessdate=October 19, 2025|website=espn.com}}</ref> New head coach Jim Mora retained Summers for the 2026 season.
==Head coaching record== {{CFB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | team = | conf = | bowl = | poll = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Subhead | name = Georgia Southern Eagles | conf = Sun Belt Conference | startyear = 2016 | endyear = 2017 }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 2016 | name = Georgia Southern | overall = 5–7 | conference = 4–4 | confstanding = 6th | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 2017 | name = Georgia Southern | overall = 0–6 {{efn|Georgia Southern fired Summers after 6 games.|group=record|name=2017gaso}} | conference = 0–2 | confstanding = | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal | name = Georgia Southern | overall = 5–13 | confrecord = 4–6 }} {{CFB Yearly Record Subhead | name = Colorado State Rams | conf = Mountain West Conference | startyear = 2025 | endyear = single }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 2025 | name = Colorado State | overall = 0–5{{efn|group=record|Summers replaced Jay Norvell after seven games}} | conference = 0–5 | confstanding = 12th | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal | name = Colorado State | overall = 0–5 | confrecord = 0–5 }} {{CFB Yearly Record End | overall = 5–18 | bowls = no | poll = no | polltype = | legend = no }} {{notelist|group=record}}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Georgia Southern Eagles football coach navbox}} {{Colorado State Rams football coach navbox}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Summers, Tyson}} Category:1980 births Category:Living people Category:Colorado State Rams football coaches Category:Georgia Bulldogs football coaches Category:Georgia Southern Eagles football coaches Category:High school football coaches in Georgia (U.S. state) Category:Sportspeople from Tifton, Georgia Category:Presbyterian Blue Hose football coaches Category:Presbyterian Blue Hose football players Category:Troy Trojans football coaches Category:UAB Blazers football coaches Category:UCF Knights football coaches