Chris Shelling returns back to The Hill and begins his first season as the defensive coordinator at Alabama A&M.
Shelling spent the previous two seasons at Miles College as the defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach.
In 2024, Shelling’s defense was among the best in NCAA Division II as he helped Miles win the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) title. His defenses ranked in several categories, including tops in turnovers gained (first), passes intercepted (second), defensive touchdowns (fourth), fumbles recovered (fourth) and team sacks (eighth). Keith Green, who transferred to Alabama A&M after the season, ranked second in fumbles recovered, while Lashon Young was second in interceptions per game.
In his first season at Miles, Shelling’s defense ranked 13th nationally in red zone defense, 17th in fumbles recovered and 21st in defensive touchdowns. JaMichael Rogers ranked among the best in NCAA Division II in sacks at 10th in the country, while Jeffrey Scott and Chris Ware 22nd in fumbles recovered .
Prior to Miles, Shelling had his first stint at Alabama A&M from 2018-22 where he served as the outside linebackers and safeties coach.
Before Shelling came to The Hill, he served as an assistant coach at Holmes Community College in Goodman, Miss., from 2014-15 and as the defensive coordinator for two seasons.
During Shelling’s final two seasons at Holmes, he served as the program’s defensive coordinator, where he established a reputation for sending players to Division I programs.
Before taking a position at Holmes, Shelling worked at Kossuth High School in Cornith, Miss., where he was the program’s defensive coordinator and Director of Strength and Conditioning.
Prior to his time as Kossuth, Shelling worked as a defensive assistant coach at Northeast Mississippi Community College for the 2008-2009 seasons. He was a graduate assistant for the 2007 season at Troy, where the Trojans finished as the Sun Belt co-champions.
While at Troy, Shelling graduated with a master’s degree.
Shelling graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Auburn, where he played four seasons for former coach Terry Bowden from 1991-1994. In 1994, Shelling was named a First Team All-American and was runner-up for the Jim Thorpe Award. Also, he received Second Team All-SEC honors during the 1993 and 1994 seasons.
After graduating from Auburn, Shelling played with the Cincinnati Bengals and the Atlanta Falcons from 1995-1997, and he then played two seasons with the Rhein Fire in Europe. In addition, he also played in the Canadian Football League (CFL) with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (1998-2000; 2001-2003), Birmingham Thunderbolts (2001).
During his professional career, Shelling won the World Bowl (1998) and Grey Cup (87th) championship, and was a CFL East All-Star (2000, 2001) and a CFL All-Star (2001).
Shelling originally is from Columbus, Ga. His wife, Karen, is from Canada, and they have two sons, Elijah and Jonah.
