Jackson State University

Raekwon Bethea joins the Jackson State football staff in 2026 as the defensive line coach after spending last season at Hampton in the same role. While at Hampton, he coached Korede Sogbesan to honorable mention All-CAA honors.

Prior to Hampton, he was at SMU where he worked with the Mustang’s defensive linemen. Bethea tutored Jared-Harrison Hunte (first team) and Elijah Roberts. Both Roberts and Hunte were both invited to the East-West Shrine bowl, also the NFL Combine. He also helped SMU post an 11-3 record with a perfect 8-0 mark in the Atlantic Coast Conference. SMU advanced to the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship game, College Football Playoffs for the first time in program history. The 2023 Mustang defense ranked top 25 nationally in ten defensive categories. SMU was ranked 12th in the final Associated Press Poll and was tied for 11th in the Coaches Poll.

The native of Gainesville, Fla. graduated from Santa Fe High. Bethea also attended Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College before transferring to Albany State.

Bethea spent the 2020-21 seasons as the assistant defensive line coach at Albany State. Before moving to Western Kentucky in 2022 as the defensive line graduate assistant. Bethea also was on the staff at Coastal Carolina as a graduate assistant for eight months, before moving on to Kentucky where he was a volunteer assistant for one season.

He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Health and Human Performance from Albany State in 2020.