Kirby is entering his eighth year as the head baseball coach at Tuskegee. During his tenure, the Golden Tigers are 118-182 overall with berths in the last five Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) tournaments.
In 2011, he guided the baseball Golden Tigers baseball team to their first winning season since 1995. During the 2013 and 2014 seasons he led the team to the SIAC Baseball Championship game, with 2012 being the first since 1989. The team also qualified for the SIAC baseball championships in 2015 and 2016 under Kirby.
In addition to his baseball duties, Kirby is in his 10th season on the Tuskegee football coaching staff, handling the quarterbacks.
Last season, the Golden Tigers led the conference in scoring for most of the year and finished by averaging 28.46 points per game. The team finished with 88 first downs passing and finished the year averaging 163.15 yards per game through the air.
Kirby coached starting quarterback Kevin Lacy to a nation-leading 16.70 yards per completion throughout the year, and 16 touchdowns.
The Golden Tigers also finished the season by averaging 321.8 yards of total offense on 757 plays - 25 yards more than their opponents on 105 less plays.
During the 2014 season, Tuskegee led the conference in scoring by averaging 34.8 points per game which was seven points higher than the next closest team in Stillman (27.9 ppg). They also finished top in the conference in total offense (385.8 ypg), pass efficiency (143.6), first downs per game (19.0) and third down efficiency (41.7%). The team also finished in the top three in the conference in passing offense (212.6 ypg).
The Golden Tigers also finished in the top 40 nationally in statistics during the 2014 season, finishing 28th in passing yards allowed (185.3 ypg) and 36th in team passing efficiency (143.49).
Under Kirby, Kevin Lacey finished 10th in the SIAC in passing average per game, averaging 108.2 yards per game with 1,299 total yards passing. He also finished second in the conference in passing efficiency at 142.4 with seven touchdowns, while teammate Justin Nared finished third in the conference in passing efficiency at 142.3 with eight touchdown passes.
Prior to his stint at Tuskegee, Kirby spent two seasons coaching wide receivers before making the move to quarterbacks during the 2004 season at Jacksonville State University.
Under Kirby’s guidance, the Jacksonville State’s quarterbacks tossed just five interceptions during the 2004 season, the second-lowest total in all of NCAA I-AA (FCS) football. Junior quarterback Maurice Mullins led the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) in passing efficiency and was fifth in total offense.
Kirby, a native of Anniston, Ala., was the 1998 Southland Football League Offensive Player of the Year and is Jacksonville State University’s all-time leader in total offense (7,688 yards) and second all-time leading passer (6,587 yards). He led the Gamecocks to a 7-4 record as a senior and the most wins in school history – at the time - in Division IAA (FCS). Kirby signed with the Hamilton Tigercats after his stellar collegiate career, in which he was named an All-Amercia, and was a member of the 1999 Grey Cup Championship team.
He was just selected for induction in the Jacksonville State University Athletic Hall of Fame.
He was the starting quarterback for the Birmingham Steeldogs of the AF2 indoor league, and posted a 12-6 record en route to leading his team to the Conference Championship game of the Af2 playoffs in 2002. Kirby passed for more than 3,800 yards and 82 touchdowns and helped the Steeldogs to their first post-season win.
Prior to his collegiate experience, Kirby led Anniston (Ala.) High School to the 6A State Football Championship in 1994.
In addition to coaching football, Kirby is entering his sixth year as the head baseball coach at Tuskegee. In 2011, he guided the baseball Golden Tigers baseball team to their first winning season since 1995. During the 2013 and 2014 seasons he led the team to the SIAC Baseball Championship game, with 2012 being the first since 1989.
Kirby earned his Bachelor’s degree from Jacksonville State University in the Spring of 2001 and he is married to the former Keisha Fant. The two are the proud parents of Caleb (3) and Payton Louise Kirby (1).
He is also a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated.
