Teddy Keaton Returns Home to Lead Stillman Football Revival as Coach and Athletic Director

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Stillman College President Yolanda W. Page introduced Teddy Keaton as the school's new head football coach and director of athletics Thursday at a well-attended press conference at Birthright Alumni Hall.

Keaton, a 1999 Stillman graduate, returns to his alma mater to lead a football program that has not played since the 2015 season. The college announced the return of Tiger football on Aug. 14 as part of its 150th anniversary celebration.

“It feels good to come home,” Keaton said during the press conference.

Keaton told HBCU Legends that returning to Stillman as athletic director and football coach “wasn’t an easy decision,” but he made it out of love for the school.

“I think it was time,” Keaton told HBCU Legends in an exclusive interview. “I think that Stillman needed football, and football needed a person that’s familiar with Stillman.”

He said the program needed a leader who “understood what to do, how to do it, and why it’s important to do it that way.”

A Familiar Face in Tuscaloosa

Keaton said he spent 15 years of his career in Tuscaloosa. After graduating, he worked on the Stillman staff, serving as director of football operations, running backs coach, and special teams coordinator through 2004.

He returned as head coach in December 2010 and led the Tigers from 2011 through 2015. His first team went 7-4 and tied for first in the SIAC West Division. Stillman discontinued football after the 2015 season.

“I have a love for that navy and gold more than probably just about anybody that would have any invested interest in it,” Keaton said.

At Thursday's introduction, Keaton said he envisions his first team running onto the field in its “Navy Blue and Vegas Gold.” He shared the program's motto: “The power of we over me!”

His message to the players for game day was short. “Do your job.”

Two Jobs, One Rebuild

Keaton confirmed to HBCU Legends that he will hold both titles, head football coach and athletic director.

He said he did not go looking for a homecoming. “Honestly, I never signed up to do it,” Keaton said. “If you ever started a program, it takes all of you. It’s a commitment.”

Keaton said former Stillman coach and interim athletic director Greg Thompson encouraged him while he weighed the offer. Thompson reminded him the school never had trouble attracting players, Keaton said.

Keaton has experience starting from scratch. He led Allen University's football return in 2018 after a 15-year hiatus and built the Yellow Jackets into a 7-3 team by 2023. He said Stillman starts from a stronger position.

“Stillman’s still got its stadium. It’s got its locker rooms. It’s got everything that it had, the practice field,” Keaton said. “And we didn’t have none of that at Allen.”

He added that the weight room remains in place. “Stillman is much further along as a program than Allen was,” he said.

A Three-Year Recruiting Plan

Keaton said building a competitive roster will take about three years. “It could be faster with the portal and the different things,” he said.

He pointed to his coaching resume as a recruiting tool. Keaton has been a head coach in college and indoor football, including stops at Stillman, Allen and Clark Atlanta. He led Clark Atlanta to a 7-3-1 record and an SIAC championship game appearance in 2024.

“I have a casting net,” Keaton said. “There’s a lot of players that would love to come play for me.”

Keaton said Stillman has historically recruited well in Tuscaloosa. “We never had a problem getting players there. Never,” he said.

He listed a footprint that stretches from Jackson, Columbus and Meridian in Mississippi to Mobile, North Alabama, the Florida Panhandle and Georgia. Keaton, who lives in Atlanta, also cited a strong Stillman alum base in that city.

Keaton said he recalled the program drawing a large turnout when football restarted at Stillman in 1999. “We brought 500 students there,” he said. “And that was no scholarships.”

He believes overlooked high school players will fuel the early rosters. “There’s so many high school kids that’s getting overlooked right now,” Keaton said. “You might not get the transfer portal kids, but you’re going to get the kids that want opportunity to be able to play.”

He also named local programs such as Paul W. Bryant, Hillcrest and Tuscaloosa County as sources of talent, along with junior college players with Tuscaloosa ties.

What Comes Next

Stillman competes in the NAIA and the HBCU Athletic Conference in its other sports. The college has not announced a conference affiliation, a schedule, or a first game date for the football program.

Keaton's immediate tasks include hiring a staff, recruiting a roster, and ordering equipment for a program that will play its first game in more than a decade.

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