An Austin Peay alumnus, four-year letterwinner, and defensive back on the Governors’ 2019 Ohio Valley Conference Championship team, Rodney Saulsberry Jr. joined Jeff Faris’ staff as a cornerbacks coach in Feb. 2025.
Before returning to his alma mater, Saulsberry Jr. was a defensive graduate assistant at Tulane for two years and was an assistant coach at his former high school, Whitehaven High School.
In his playing career, Saulsberry Jr. appeared in 31 games for the Governors, recording 24 tackles and three tackles for loss. He also appeared in each of Austin Peay’s three postseason games during the program’s first trip to the FCS Playoffs in 2019. Â
Saulsberry Jr. graduated from Austin Peay with a bachelor’s degree in 2020.
SAULBERRY'SÂ CAREER SUMMARY
Austin Peay (2025-CURRENT)
2025: Named Austin Peay’s cornerbacks coach in Feb. 2025.
Tulane (2023-24)
2024: Second season as a defensive graduate assistant, working primarily with the Green Wave’s linebackers. Tulane went 9-5 with a 7-1 record in the American Athletic Conference to advance to the AAC Championship against Army and earn a bid to the Gasparilla Bowl to take on Florida. Tyler Grubbs led Tulane’s linebackers with 67 tackles and 6.0 tackles for loss, while former APSU letterwinner Sam Howard had 63 tackles and 5.5 tackles for loss in addition to a team-best five fumble recoveries.
2023: Began his collegiate coaching career working with Tulane’s linebackers. Tulane went 11-3 with an 8-0 conference record to advance to the AAC Championship game and earn a bid to play Virginia Tech in the Military Bowl. Jesus Machado highlighted the linebacking corps with a team-best 98 tackles.
Whitehaven High School (2021-22)
2021-22: Spent two seasons at his alma mater, Whitehaven High School in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was a defensive backs coach for his father, head coach Rodney Saulsberry Sr.
COLLEGIATE PLAYING CAREER (2016-19)
A four-year letterwinner for Austin Peay who appeared in 31 games in the Governors’ secondary. Appeared in 10 games as a freshman during the Governors’ 0-11 season, before being a member of the 2017 team that collected eight wins. Appeared in 11 contests during his final collegiate season in 2019, helping Austin Peay secure its first Ohio Valley Conference Football Championship since 1977 and advance to the quarterfinals of the FCS Playoffs during the first postseason run in program history.
