MARSHALL, Texas – The East Texas Baptist University football program has added three new coaches for the upcoming season. Jaylan Moss (safeties), Jeremy Batten (wide receivers), and Donald Kinchen (offensive line) finish out Head Coach Calvin Ruzicka's staff for the 2024 season.
 
"Jaylan is a great addition to our defensive staff. He is originally from the Waco area and has good relations there, which helps with recruiting. His experience as a player at Nelson University (formerly Southwestern Assemblies of God) and as a coach at the NCAA Division II level will benefit our secondary. Jaylan has a strong faith and will be able to pour into our players. I'm excited to see him continue to grow as a coach on this staff and see how he continues to grow our players," Ruzicka said. 
 
Moss is helping bolster the defensive staff. As a graduate assistant at NCAA Division II Arkansas Tech, he helped the program to five wins in 2023. He was involved in athlete skill development, monitoring academic progress, and practice and game plan preparations.
 
Moss played for four years for Nelson University (formerly Southwestern Assemblies of God) from 2019 to 2022. He helped Nelson to the 2021 NCCAA (National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association) Victory Bowl Championship and were runners-up in 2022. The NCCAA awarded him to the All-NCCAA Team as a returner and All-American second team in 2019.
 
He graduated from Nelson University in 2021 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Sports Management.
 
Ruzicka added "I'm excited about adding Coach Batten to our staff. There's some divine intervention in bringing Jeremy back to East Texas, where he grew up. He had the opportunity to play four games in Ornelas Stadium during his collegiate career at Howard Payne and Belhaven, so it will be great to have him on our sideline finally. He has experience in the ASC as a player, and his previous coaching experience will benefit our players. I can't wait to see how he takes our wide receiver room to a new level."
 
Batten adds professional and NCAA Division III experience to Ruzicka's staff as the wide receiver's coach. He comes to ETBU from LaGrange College (Ala.), where he was the wide receiver's coach for one season. Prior to LaGrange, he was at Anderson Broaddus University, coaching wide receivers on the sprint football team. He started his coaching career at North Carolina Wesleyan as the tight ends coach and helped with special teams.
 
His playing career started at Howard Payne University for two seasons in 2018 and 2019, before finishing at Belhaven University as a two-year starter in 2020-21. He played in the COVID-19 spring 2021 season (5 games) along with fall 2021 for his final two years of eligibility, compiling 254 yards receiving on 25 receptions in 15 games. Belhaven went 10-5 in those two years, with a 7-3 season in fall 2021. He earned four Academic All-Conference awards in that time.
 
Headed to the next level, professionally, he played for the West Texas Warbirds and the Albany Empire in the National Arena League. He also had a stint with the Salina Liberty in the Arena Football League.
 
He earned a Bachelor's Degree in Kinesiology from Howard Payne University in 2019 and a Master's in Sports Management from Belhaven University in 2021.
 
Ruzicka says about Kinchen, "We are fortunate to add Donald to our staff. He played in this system under our offensive coordinator, Ryan Smith, when he was at Nelson University, and that experience will help develop our offensive line. Even though he is young, he has a proven track record in developing the offensive line and getting the most out of his players. He takes great pride in growing his players in mind, body, and soul, and I can't wait to see him build those relationships with our players and their progress."
 
Coaching the offensive line for the past three years in the NAIA, Kinchen makes his way back to Texas after two years at St. Andrews University in North Carolina. He started his coaching career at Nelson University as a graduate assistant.
 
He recruited Georgia, Mississippi, Florida, and Alabama at St. Andrews and developed the offensive linemen. He was also in charge of the weight room programming. While a graduate assistant at Nelson, he helped with game planning for the run game and pass game protections.
 
Pearl River Community College is where his collegiate playing career started for two years (2017-18). Mississippi College was the next stop on the offensive line in 2019 and 2020. He helped the Choctaws to a 5-5 record at NCAA Division II as the offense averaged 27 points and almost 300 yards of offense per game. His 2020 season was cut short due to the pandemic as he finished his career at Nelson in 2021. Nelson went 9-3 that year, breaking 17 team offensive records, winning the NCCAA Victory Bowl, 31-14, over Sterling College.
 
ETBU opens its 2024 season on Friday, September 6, at home vs. LaGrange College at 7:00 p.m.