Kade Young transitions from the field to the sideline as he enters his first season on the coaching staff as the head of quarterbacks and the passing game.
Young is set to teach athletes according to the experience and knowledge he gained throughout his playing career at the position at both Troy and Faulkner. He was a quarterback for Troy from 2016-19, where he played for notable offensive-minded head coaches in Neal Brown and Chip Lindsey and learned behind prolific Trojan passers Brandon Silvers, Sawyer Smith and Kaleb Barker.
After graduating in 2020, Young was looking for an opportunity at a starting spot. He learned about Faulkner from Trey Dunbar, who held Young’s current job titles at Faulkner under Tommy Wasden and had previously spent time on Troy’s staff while the QB was an underclassman. Young decided to enroll at Faulkner as a graduate transfer and played two seasons as the Eagle signal-caller, thanks to an extra year of eligibility due to COVID-19.
The pairing paid great dividends, as the two seasons resulted in the best program winning percentages since back-to-back playoff appearances in 2013-14. He finished his career in third-place in Faulkner all-time passing yards, behind only a pair of three-year starters, Josh Hollingsworth and Clayton Nicholas. In each season, he was named Appalachian Division Offensive Player of the Week in consecutive weeks and threw for career days of 355 yards and five scores.
Rob Gray wanted to keep Young in the program when his playing time came to an end, and in turn gave him positions where the latter had acumen and could lessen the duties on other staff members, as almost all of the offense fell under Payton Wasden’s purview in 2021.
Young married the former Payton Smithee, now Faulkner’s cheerleading coach, in June 2020. The couple has a newborn son, Keyan.
