Name: Tim Beasley
Nickname: Coach Tim / Big Beas
Contact for Media Inquiry
WFA Spotlight: Coach Tim Beasley, Knoxville Lightning
Age:  48
Birthday & Location Born:  17 Aug in El Paso Texas
College:  Ohio University
High School:  Jeffersontown H. S., Jeffersontown KY
Favorite Sports Teams: Carolina Panthers, Oakland Raiders, Kentucky Wildcats, Alabama Tide
Hobbies: Reading, Cooking, Scuba Diving, Couch Potato, Traveling
Passions: Football
Other Sports played: Baseball, Basketball, Volleyball, Softball
How/why you got into football: When I was 11/12, a few of the boys in the neighborhood was playing and asked if I wanted to join the team so I asked my dad if I could and he said yes and I didn’t stop playing until Nov. 2012 when I finally hung up the cleats.

Family:
Dad – Troy (deceased); Step-Mom – Barbara (deceased)
Mom – Holly; Step-Dad – Jim
Wife – Desiree
Kids – Kai (11), JT (2), Oliver (16) and Kira (1)

Pets: Dogs – Pongo and Roxie; Cats – Nora, Zoe and Tigger

TWO TRUTHS & A LIE:
— I enjoy scuba diving
— I miss coaching overseas in Europe and Asia.
— I am not a fan of social media. Things can be misconstrued and taken in the wrong context or it might come back and bite you in the ass years later.

 

FOOTBALL EXPERIENCE:
Playing:
• Enschade Warriors (Netherlands) DL/LB (1990)
• Hilversum Hurricanes (NL) LB/DL/RB (1991)
• Utrecht Vikings (NL) DL/LB (1992-93)
• USAF Soesterberg Wolfhounds (NL) DL/OL (1990-92)
• Carolina Hurricanes (SC) OL/DL/LB (1995-1999)
• Charleston Firecats (SC) DL/OL (2000-01)
• Orangeburg Ruffriders (SC) OL/DL (2001-06)
• Port City Chargers (NC) DL/OL/RB (2007-08)
• Philippine Punishers (PH) OL/DL/RB (2011-12)

Coach
• Hilversum Hurricanes (NL) Defensive Coordinator (1991)
• Alphen Eagles (NL) Head Coach (1992)
• Rotterdam Trojans (NL) Defensive Coordinator (1993)
• Carolina Hurricanes (SC) Head Coach (1995-1999)
• Port City Chargers (NC) Offensive Coordinator (2007)
• Philippine Punishers (Philippines) Head Coach (2011-13)
• Knoxville Football Academy (TN) Youth Coach (2013-16)
• Knoxville Lightning (TN) Head Coach (2017-Present)

Administrator
• Carolina Hurricanes (SC) Team Owner (1995-1999)
• American Football Federation of the Philippines
Founder and Chief Operations Officer (2011-2013)

Other Profession/Occupation and how many years there?:
Technical Trainer – 7 years
Training Manager – 2 years
Chief Operations Officer – 2 years
Industrial Electrician – 6 years
USAF Ground Radio Technician / Logistics – 10 years

In His Own Words:

Hello, my name is Coach Tim Beasley. My wife is Desiree. She is a retired advertising producer. She is now a stay at home mom.

We have 1 biological son, Kai. We are Foster and Foreign Exchange parents. We are in the process of adopting JT, Kira is our foster daughter and Oliver is our Danish son. We live in Knoxville, TN and I am the Head Coach for the Knoxville Lightning.WFA Spotlight: Coach Tim Beasley, Knoxville Lightning

I have a Master’s Degree from Ohio University in Recreation and Sports Science. This coursework helped me to become a better football coach and administrator.

After High School, I went into the Air Force. When I was stationed in the Netherlands, I walked onto the Air Force football team and I also got involved in the local American Football Federation. It was a dream made in heaven. In the springtime, I played in the Dutch teams and when that season was over, I played for the Air Force in the Fall Season.

In my second year in the Dutch League, I was asked to be the Defensive Coordinator as well as a 2-way player. That was my first experience as a coach. In my third year in the Dutch League, I was asked to be the Head Coach for a lower level team. That was such a fiasco season but it was an eye opener in the ways of coaching. After that, I decided to go back to being a defensive coordinator in my final season in the Dutch League.

After spending 4 years in the Netherlands as a coach and player, I was stationed in Charleston SC. Along with a couple of other guys, we created our own Minor League Football team, the Carolina Hurricanes. The first year was the hardest as an owner, Head Coach and as a player. We were able to last 5 years before we disbanded.

I spent the next few years bouncing from team to team. I didn’t want to coach football…I just wanted to play. In 2007, an old friend of mine called asking me to be his Offensive Coordinator in Wilmington NC. I said yes and I would drive 3 hours (each way) twice a week to coach his football team. In our second year, I went back to being a player for my friend. In a game in Southport, NC, I tore my bicep muscle and that was it for me as a player.

My wife got a job offer in the Philippines in 2010 so we moved to Manila. After a few months, I got bored and spoke with some ex-pats about creating an International Football team. That was the creation of the Philippine Punishers. The idea was for me to run day to day operations and be the Head Coach while they would handle other aspects of the organization and just play.

We held tryouts in Jan 2012 and within four months, we had 50 players preparing for our first International game against Guam. We lost to an experienced Guam All-Star team but it was good experience for the new Filipino players. The very next week, we played a team from Hong Kong and came out victorious.

Over the course of several months, we traveled to Beijing with 12 players and beat the Beijing Guardians, whose roster was deep with 45 players.

Coming back home with that win gave our players more confidence. We won our 3rd game of the season in Hong Kong but the biggest victory for us was our win over Saipan in Manila.

After a successful first year with the Punishers, I started conducting training clinics across Manila. In over 2 months, I trained over 200 Filipinos in American Football.

Along with the American Football Federation of the Philippines, we created a developmental league based off of the 8 man concept. We had a successful season and we were able to recruit some of those players to come play with the Punishers.

During the Punishers second season, we decided to move to Knoxville TN. Once we got settled in Knoxville, I coached youth football for about 3 years since our son Kai was 6 and we wanted to get him involved in youth football. We had some good seasons and a couple of bad seasons. We won a championship in the U6 division and another in the U10 division.

In 2016, I was working on my Master’s when I heard about the women’s football team (Knoxville Lightning) in Knoxville. I reached out and spoke to Lena Bennett (team owner). After our call, I stayed in contact with Lena during their second season. After a fluke run-in at a water park in Williamsburg KY with Lena, we started talking about becoming the Head Coach for the team’s third season.

I am now entering my second season with the Lightning with high expectations for another success season.

Over the years, I won Defensive Player of the Year, was selected as an All-Star player 11 times while winning Overall MVP All-Star just once. I was chosen as an IWFL All Star Coach in 2017 and I was inducted into the 2017 class of the American Football Association Hall of Fame.

In closing, I think that I would like to see Women’s football progress into a professional league (similar to the early days of the NFL). Women can play this sport just like men and they deserve the opportunity to prove themselves to the community.