San Diego Athletics

Ben Barton enters his eighth season overall at USD and seventh straight. He coaches defensive backs as well as serves as the special teams coordinator.

A long-time assistant with head coach Dale Lindsey, Barton got his start at USD back in 2008 when Lindsey was the linebackers coach before returning to the Toreros in 2015. With the program, he has been a part of five PFL championships and four FCS Playoff appearances.

Since overseeing the team's defensive backs, he has also helped 12 members of the secondary capture all-conference honors. In his first season leading the special teams unit, junior Hunter Nichols was named PFL Co-Special Teams Player of the Year.

Barton has coached at all levels, including the FBS, FCS, junior college and high school levels. The Texas native has spent seven of his 13 years coaching in the FCS and won a total of five conference titles.

In 2014 - in his most recent coaching stop before returning to USD - he was linebackers coach for South Carolina State where he helped the Bulldogs win the MEAC championship. Barton also guided Darious Leonard to the MEAC Freshman of the Year award.

Prior to SC State, Barton spent the 2013 season as a graduate assistant for the defense at Louisiana Tech, his third season at the FBS level.

His other two stops at FBS were with New Mexico State (2010) and Utah State (2009). With the Aggies in Las Cruces, he was a graduate assistant that worked with the linebackers and assisted Lindsey for the second time early in his career.

Prior to Louisiana Tech, Barton spent one year at Coffeyville Community College (Kansas). While there, he worked with the linebackers and was the punt return coordinator. He was also responsible for recruiting throughout Florida and Kansas. He coached Martrell Spaight, who earned All-America honors in 2012 after leading the nation in tackles and went on to play for Arkansas before being selected in the 2015 NFL Draft.

Before Coffeyville, Barton was the defensive coordinator for a year at Sky View High School in Smithville, Utah. Prior to that, he was a defensive graduate assistant at New Mexico State where he worked on the defense with the linebackers and helped run some of the Aggies football camps.

During the 2009 season, Barton worked with the scout team at Utah State as the defensive quality control assistant.

While earning his bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska, Barton was also a student-assistant for the Huskers football program from 2006-07.

A native of Tyler, Texas, Barton graduated from Lubbock Coronado High School. After graduation, Barton spent two years at Lake Tahoe Community College from 2004-05.