Deonte’ Cruse will be entering his second season as the Defensive Line Coach for the Golden Norsemen. He will also hold responsibility as Outgoing Recruiting Coordinator. Cruse originally came to NEO as a football player in June 2010 as a nose guard. Cruse finished 5th in the SWJCFC with 36 solo tackles, and 34 assists while making 2 quarterback sacks for -13 yards. He also recorded 1 tackle behind the line of scrimmage for a -2 yards and 1 fumble recovery. He played under Coach Dale Patterson, Coach Zach Crissup, Coach Zach Allen, Coach Stacy Satterwhite, Coach Chad Davis and Coach James Cheatham. His stats as a freshman were: 70 total tackles; 48 solo tackles; 22 assisted tackles; 2 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and 2 fumble recoveries and Sophomore stats were: 71 total tackles; 33 solo tackles; 38 assisted tackles; 2 sacks; 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery. Awards Cruse received during his tenure as a Golden Norseman were: 2011 Honorable Mention All-SWJCFC Freshman, 2012 First Team All-SWJCFC Sophomore and 2012 All Region XIV. After graduating from NEO, he became an Oklahoma State Cowboy in June 2013 and played under Coach Mike Gundy and Defensive Line Coach Joe Bob Clements and Defensive Line Assistant Coach Eric Henderson who is now the Defensive Line Coach and run game coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams. Cruse’s awards as a Cowboy include: 2013 Practice Player of the Week vs Texas Longhorns, 2014 Practice Player of the Week vs Baylor Bears, 2014 AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic and 2015 Cactus Bowl Champions.
After leaving Oklahoma State University, Cruse went on to play Arena Football, prior to his coaching career at NEO, starting with the Las Vegas Outlaws in 2015 in the Arena Football League. From there he went on to play for the Atlanta Vultures in February 2016. Cruse played for the West Michigan Ironmen, where he started every game as OL, rotated heavily on defense, split time as FB, and won the 2016 AIF Northern Division Championship. He had 1 rushing touchdown, 2 sacks and 5 assisted tackles and averaged over 70ppg as OL for the Ironmen. He also played for the Cedar Rapids Titans in the Indoor Football League. He was promoted to the Arena Football League with the Tampa Bay Storm. He went on to play for the Jacksonville Sharks who were a part of the Arena Football League (now, the National Arena League). He also played in the CIF with the Texas Revolution. Cruse was invited to play with the 2017 U.S. Federation’s National Team for the World Games in Wroclaw, Poland. In June of 2019, Cruse spent some time with the World Champions, the Philadelphia Soul. In January 2020, Cruse signed with the Music City Fire of the AAL, but the season was cut short due to Covid-19.
Cruse is originally from Murfreesboro, Tennessee and received his Associate of Science (AS) Degree from NEO in December 2012. He and his wife Teleshia have three children, Amare’, Aria and Ayden.
