Perry Carter brings a long line of accolades to the Northwestern State coaching staff, joining the Demons as their cornerbacks coach ahead of the 2023 season.
Carter has spent nearly two decades coaching at the professional and college level, developing a number of award-winning defensive backs, including Pro Bowler Johnathan Joseph of the Houston Texans.
A four-year NFL veteran who played for Arizona, Kansas City and the then-Oakland Raiders as well as the Canadian Football League’s Edmonton Elks, Montreal Alouettes and BC Lions, Carter is familiar with the state of Louisiana after spending the past five seasons coaching in the Pelican State.
The past two seasons saw Carter coach at Louisiana Tech as part of a staff that saw its pass defense improve within Conference USA while Baylen Buchanan became an honorable mention all-conference selection.
That improvement mirrored what Carter’s defensive backs helped ULM achieve in his three seasons with the Warhawks. In that time, ULM’s defense climbed from the bottom of the Sun Belt Conference to a No. 3 ranking in the conference.
Carter helped mold ULM’s Corey Straughter into an All-American, a first-team All-Sun Belt selection and the nation’s top passer rating allowed. Straughter also led the Sun Belt in pass breakups and interceptions.
Carter spent the 2017 season at Texas Tech where the Red Raiders led the Big 12 in takeaways and ranked in the top 10 nationally. Four Texas Tech defensive backs earned All-Big 12 honors that season.
Carter coached a season at St. Pius X High School, producing a defense that recorded 16 interceptions and topped 100 pass brakups. Three of his defensive backs were unanimous first-team all-district picks as St. Pius X had the No. 1 defense in Texas. In his lone season at St. Pius X, Carter led all his senior players to Division I scholarship offers.
During a two-season span at North Texas, Carter turned the Mean Green’s safeties into a record-setting group.
He coached the first pair of North Texas safeties to record at least 100 tackles in the same season while North Texas led C-USA in pass defense. Led by All-Conference USA freshman team selection Kishawn McClain, the UNT defense held three straight opponents under 100 yards passing.
Carter made his mark as a young coach with the NFL’s Houston Texans, working as an assistant defensive back coach and working with the Houston special teams units.
With the Texans from 2006-13, Carter helped Houston’s pass defense rank third in the NFL in the 2011 and 2013 seasons while helping Joseph earn a pair of Pro Bowl selections. In addition to Joseph, A.J. Bouye, Glover Quin and Kareem Jackson cut their teeth under Carter’s direction.
Carter began his pro coaching career with the Hamburg Sea Devils of NFL Europe in 2006 where he coached Rayshaun Reed to all-league honors.
A Senior Bowl and All-American Bowl participant during his playing days at Southern Miss, Carter began his coaching career in 2004 at Texas A&M-Commerce, helping the Lions rank first in the Lone Star Conference in both pass defense and turnovers forced.
A McComb, Mississippi, native, Carter lettered three years at Southern Miss, recording 11 career interceptions – four of which he returned for touchdowns, establishing a school record. His three pick-sixes in 1992 are the school’s single-season record.Â
A 1994 Southern Miss graduate in communications, Carter spent four seasons in both the NFL and CFL. He and his wife, Nicole, have two children – Bria and Perry Jr. Bria was a four-year track and field letterwinner at Houston while Perry Jr. plays wide receiver at Jacksonville State.Â
