CONWAY, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas football coaching staff is once again complete with the hiring of Chaz Scales as safeties coach, according to second-year head coach Nathan Brown.

Scales, a former player at Arkansas State University and native of Nashville, Tenn., comes to UCA from Tusculum University where he served as defensive backs coach.

"I am excited to announce Chaz Scales as our new safeties coach,' said Brown. "Chaz displayed a lot of the traits we look for here in an assistant coach. He has a great knowledge of the state of Arkansas after having a great playing career at Arkansas State in Jonesboro. He is also originally from the Nashville, TN area which is an area we have continued to grow in recruiting. I like that he has had a prior working relationship with (defensive coordinator) Coach (Chad) Williams at West Georgia and Valdosta State and also has coached in the Mississippi junior college system as well.'

At Tusculum in 2017, Scales coached All-South Atlantic Conference and All-Region cornerback Martez Thompkins. The Tusculum defense led the conference in fumbles recovered and turnover margin and also led the SAC in pass defense, allowing just 170 yards per game through the air. Scales began his coaching career in 2014 as a graduate assistant at West Georgia in the Gulf South Conference. The Wolves finished 12-3 and reached the NCAA Division II semifinals. That team finished the year ranked sixth in the nation. 

Scales also served as a graduate assistant at fellow GSC university Valdosta State in 2015, helping the Blazers to a D-II playoff berth. In 2016, Scales served as running backs coach at Northeast Mississippi Community College.

As a player, Scales was part of back-to-back Sun Belt Conference championship teams during his junior and senior seasons at ASU, making consecutive appearances in the GoDaddy.com bowls. He played at Centennial High School in Nashville where he was selected to the Tennessee Sports Writers Association (TSWA) Class 5A All-State team as a quarterback for the Cougars.

"Chaz brings a lot of energy and knowledge to our DB room,' said Brown. "He will be an instant hit with our players and fans. It takes about five minutes to sit with him and see his passion and love for not only the game of football but also the opportunity to impact young men lives every day. I look forward to getting him in right away and getting to work.'