Donald Dykes enters his fourth year as Assistant Head Coach on head coach Gwaine Mathews' staff. Prior to coming to UAM, Dykes served on the same staff as Mathews, serving as the defensive secondary coach at Tennessee-Chattanooga. No stranger to coach Mathews, Dykes has been closely associated with the new UAM head coach since Mathews' days as a graduate assistant at Delta State.

Along with the many years of experience he brings, Dykes has also been a coach on a National Championship program and has played in the National Football League.

Dykes coached the defensive backs at Delta State from 1993-2001.  The Statesmen won the 2000 NCAA Division II National Championship, defeating Bloomsburg to claim the title and finish with a 14-1 overall record.

Dykes competed in the NFL for four seasons, playing on the same defensive unit as the legendary "New York Sack Exchange" (Mark Gastineau, Joe Klecko, Marty Lyons, and Abdul Salaam).  He was the fourth defensive back selected overall and a third-round draft pick of the New York Jets in 1979.  He played three seasons with the Jets for Head Coach Walt Michaels and spent the 1982 season as a member of the San Diego Chargers.  He wrapped up his professional football career after playing three years with the USFL’s Jacksonville Bulls.

His coaching career began in 1989 in his hometown of Hammond, La., where he served as assistant coach at Hammond High School, his alma mater.  From 1990-91, he worked as assistant football coach and head track coach at Istrouma High School in Baton Rouge, La., and coached in the same capacities at Baker High School in Baton Rouge from 1991-93.

Dykes moved to the college ranks in 1993, serving under head coaches Todd Knight and Steve Campbell at Delta State University in Cleveland, Miss.

Dykes earned four letters in football and four in track and field at Southeastern Louisiana University.  He was a four-year starter at cornerback for Head Coach Billy Brewer and earned All-Conference honors as a senior.

Dykes was a two-time National Champion and an eight-time All-America in the long jump at Southeastern Louisiana.  He won the 1975 NCAA Indoor Track and Field national title and the 1977 NCAA Outdoor Championship.  In 1977, he was ranked 17^th in the world in the long jump.  His personal best in the event was 26 feet, three inches, while his best in the triple jump was 53-5.

As a high school athlete, he was the No. 1-ranked long jumper in the nation his senior year.  He won three state long jump titles, two state triple jump titles and led Hammond to back-to-back State Championships in 1972 and 1973.

Dykes earned a bachelor’s degree in Criminology in 1986 from Southeastern Louisiana and a master’s degree in Education in 1994 from Delta State.  He is married to the former Yolanda Vaughn of Baton Rouge, and the couple has a daughter, 28, and a son, 24.