Calvin University

Year	Record	MIAA	Finish
2024	2-10	0-7 (8th)	-
Total	2-10	0-7

Trent Figg was hired as the first head coach in Calvin University football history on January 6, 2023. He heads into his second full season of competition this fall. 

The selection of Figg followed a national search that commenced in early November. The search committee that selected Figg from a national pool of candidates included representation from faculty, staff, administrators, and coaches.

Figg was selected to lead a Calvin football program in the process of bringing in its first recruiting class for the fall of 2023 and slated for its first varsity competition in the fall of 2024. In the fall of 2022, the university announced football as an addition to its offerings of 24 varsity intercollegiate sports.

In 2024, he led the Knights through their first varsity campaign with Calvin producing a 2-8 record with four of its eight defeats coming by 10 points or less. Calvin captured the first win in program history on September 7, 2024, as the Knights blitzed Oberlin College 50-6 in front of more than 4,200 fans gathered to watch the program's varsity debut. 

Figg arrived at Calvin after spending the 2022 at the University of Oregon. In 2022, he has served as the football program’s senior offensive analyst under current head coach Dan Lanning. Oregon recently completed a 10-3 season that included a 28-27 win over the University of North Carolina in the Holiday Bowl.

A native of Chillicothe, Missouri, Figg is a 2008 graduate of William Jewell College (Mo.). He was a four-year member of the William Jewell football team as a defensive back. He graduated with degrees in secondary education and physical education. He later earned a master’s degree in educational leadership from Northwest Missouri State in 2013.

Figg remained at his alma mater as a graduate assistant from 2009-2012 and worked with the football program’s defensive backs, running backs and later outside linebackers.

His first full-time football coaching position came at Division II Southern Arkansas University where he served as special teams coordinator and defensive backs coach. He later became the defensive coordinator at William Jewell College from 2015-2016 where his defense led its conference in quarterback sacks and tackles for loss.

He returned to Southern Arkansas as defensive coordinator in 2017. His Southern Arkansas defense was ranked as the No. 2 unit in the Great American Conference.

His first Division I job came in 2018 when took over as special teams coordinator and running backs coach at Missouri State. He later spent two years (2019-2021) at the University of Hawai’i. At Hawai’i, he began as chief of staff of the football program. After nine months he was named associate head coach of the defense and defensive backs coach. While at Hawai’i, Figg coached a Jim Thorpe national defensive player of the week and had a first time all conference safety who was tied for 2nd in the country in interceptions. Two of his defensive backs – Eugene Ford and Cortez Davis – later signed NFL free-agent contracts.

Last year Figg joined the Oregon football program where he served under Lanning. Lanning was the defensive coordinator of the 2021 University of Georgia national championship football team.

“I would first like to thank God for putting me in this situation. I also want to give thanks to provost Dr. Noah Toly and to head athletics director Dr. Jim Timmer and associate athletics director Dr. Amber Warners as well as the rest of the search committee for giving me this opportunity and for taking the time to get to know me and for letting me get to know them,” said Figg. “I feel extremely blessed and honored to receive this position and I do not take it lightly. Adding football to its athletics offerings is a significant step for Calvin University. It’s an opportunity that my family and I are extremely excited about. We can’t wait to get to Calvin and get to work.”

Figg and his wife Tori are parents to three sons, Titus (10), Thomas (7) and Tobias (5). Tori is a former women’s volleyball player at William Jewell with the couple meeting during their time with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes as William Jewell students.

Figg is looking forward to joining a Calvin athletics department that has annually finished in the top 30 of the Learfield Directors’ Cup standings with its teams competing regularly for conference championships and national tournament berths.

“Calvin is adding football to come and join its successful athletics community, not be its own entity,” said Figg. “That truly excites me and is one of the reasons Calvin is so special.”

Figg’s football coaching philosophy has foundational tenets.

• ”We want to recruit great young men who want to grow as Christians, be at Calvin, love Calvin and love to compete.”
• “We want our players to graduate and grow to be the best Christian men they can possibly be. We want them to be great husbands, fathers and servant-leaders who will be ready to enter the real world and give back to society. A Calvin degree is a significant achievement. Our student-athletes will be here to be serious about academics and about life. We want their Calvin experience to be something that sets the foundation for the rest of their lives.”
• “We want Christian young men who are tough. We will be building a program from scratch which will present some early challenges so we will need our players to have toughness.”
• “On the football field, we want to be explosive, both on offense and defense. We will be looking for dynamic playmakers on both sides of the ball. We want to stretch the field on offense and put pressure on opponents with our defense. We want to run systems that our players will enjoy and thrive playing in.”

Figg is grateful for the coaches that have shaped and molded him during his coaching tenure. “I have worked for seven different head coaches and with many other assistant coaches and I am thankful for everyone of them,” said Figg. “They have helped play a major role in putting me in the position that I am in today.”

TRENT FIGG COACH ENDORSEMENTS

*Oregon Coach Dan Lanning: "Trent will make a phenomenal Head Coach at Calvin. I am excited about the future for him, his wife Tori and their boys. He is a great coach and an even better person. He will create an environment ready for success with his leadership and relentless work ethic."

*Former Azusa Pacific head coach and current J. Serra Catholic High School Head Coach Victor Santa Cruz: "Coach Figg is an outstanding coach and even better human being! Calvin University football is in good hands!"