SHAWNEE - Oklahoma Baptist football defensive line coach Cedric Leonard and cornerbacks coach Justin Gordon have been named to FootballScoop's 125 Minority Rising Stars Watch List.
With input from double-digit NFL coaches and scouts, more than 100 college coaches and staffers, and a myriad of other figures in football, FootballScoop selected 125 rising stars from a group of well over 400 submissions.
Leonard, a native of Montgomery, Alabama, enters his fourth season as a part of the Bison staff. In 2021, he orchestrated a defensive line that produced 20.0 sacks and 29.5 tackles for loss, the most since OBU joined Division II.
The stat was a vast improvement from his first season in 2019, where his group tallied 17.5 TFLs and 6.5 sacks.
Furthermore, his 2021 campaign featured the first All-Conference selection of his career.
Leonard joined the Bison coaching staff in 2019 after serving the previous two years as a graduate assistant at Midwestern State in Wichita Falls, Texas. Prior to joining the Mustangs in 2017, Leonard was a student assistant coach at his alma mater, the University of North Alabama.
Gordon, a native of Oklahoma, enters his third season with Oklahoma Baptist. He initially joined the Bison football staff in 2017, serving as the running backs coach and film coordinator, before a short stint at Guthrie High School and Northeastern Oklahoma A&M.
Prior to OBU, he spent time at Bartlesville High School, where he coached football and baseball and was voted a Rising Star Teacher. He coached wide receivers, including an All-State and record-breaking student-athlete. The Bruins were 10-2 in Gordon's first year with the team. He also coached the 18-under Bartlesville American Legion team and assisted with the BHS varsity and junior varsity baseball teams.
This past season, Gordon's position group posted six interceptions and accounted for 23 of the team's 33 pass breakups.
