Staff Directory
- Title:
- Defensive Coordinator/Safeties
Updated June 2026
Cherokee Valeria was hired as Kent State’s defensive backs coach in spring 2025 and was elevated to defensive coordinator and safeties coach during the summer of 2025.
In his first season with the Golden Flashes, the Flashes finished with a 5-7 record and a five-game improvement, the second-largest turnaround in program history and the fourth-largest in the nation. In conference play, the Flashes went 4-4 for the first time since 2022. Valeria’s Dark Side Defense saw linebacker CJ Young earn 2nd Team All-MAC, defensive end Jamond Mathis earn 2nd Team All-MAC, and linebacker Mason Woods earn 3rd Team All-MAC. Young finished second on the team with 89 tackles and added eight tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. Mathis finished the season with six sacks, six hurries, and eight tackles for loss. Woods led the team with 94 tackles and 11 tackles for loss. The Dark Side Defense saw improvements in third down defense, fourth down defense, first downs, interceptions, passing yards allowed, red zone defense, rushing defense, scoring defense, passing efficiency, sacks, tackles for loss, and total defense.
Valeria made an immediate impact during his first season at Sacramento State, helping the Hornets lead the Big Sky in defensive pass efficiency and red zone defense. The team more than doubled its interceptions from the previous year, jumping from five in 2018 to 11 in 2019. His unit featured standout Daron Bland, a first-team all-conference cornerback who went on to play in the NFL, and safety Caelan Barnes, a second-team honoree.
In 2021, Valeria’s group produced three all-Big Sky selections, led by first-team nickelback Marte Mapu. Mapu broke out with 65 tackles, 10 PBUs, four interceptions, and four TFLs. He would later become Sacramento State’s first-ever Big Sky Defensive MVP in 2022 and the highest NFL draft pick in school history, going in the third round to the New England Patriots.
That 2022 season also saw Caleb Nelson earn second-team all-league honors, highlighted by a 98-yard pick-six in his debut. In 2023, Valeria coached first-team All-Big Sky safety Cameron Broussard and honorable mention cornerback Dillon Juniel. Safety Murvin Kenion III led the DBs with 51 tackles the following year and started all 12 games, pacing a secondary that produced eight interceptions.
Before Sacramento State, Valeria spent seven seasons at Eastern Washington (2012–2018), where he coached 10 all-Big Sky cornerbacks and served as recruiting coordinator for his final three years. His tenure included five FCS Playoff appearances and a trip to the 2018 FCS National Championship game. Among his standouts was T.J. Lee III, a two-time All-American and future CFL standout.
Earlier stops included Southeast Missouri (2011), Cal Poly (2010), and Idaho State (2007–09), where he coached D.J. Clark to two all-conference honors and an NFL career. Valeria began his college coaching career at Central Washington (2005–06), where both starting corners earned first-team all-conference recognition and the defense ranked 11th nationally in turnover margin.
He also has professional minor league experience, including being named the 2004 Northwest Region Assistant Coach of the Year after a playoff run with the West Sound Saints. Valeria began coaching at the high school level in Washington State from 1998 to 2004.
A former wide receiver at Central Washington from 1993–97, Valeria helped lead the Wildcats to the 1995 NAIA National Championship. He earned a degree in biology in 1999, and the 1995 team was inducted into the CWU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005.
He and his wife, Mindy, were married in July 2017. He has two sons, Cameron and Ayosgi Uwasa, and a daughter, T’Kia Li.
