Clayton Valley hires Nathan Kenion as next football coach

Clayton Valley is hiring Nathan Kenion to be its next head football coach, the school announced on Saturday night in an Instagram post. 

Kenion will replace former coach Nick Tisa, who parted ways with Clayton Valley last month. 

Kenion brings nearly 20 years of coaching experience to Clayton Valley. He served as an assistant coach at De La Salle from 2008 to 2022 in various roles, most recently as the Spartans’ defensive coordinator. 

While at De La Salle, Kenion was on staff for six state championships, including the Spartans’ 2015 Open Division title — the last Open Division crown a Northern California team has won. 

After his stint with De La Salle, Kenion served as the defensive coordinator at Diablo Valley College in 2023. For the last two seasons, Kenion was a lead defensive analyst and a safeties coach at Sacramento State. 

Kenion is widely known as a successful trainer and youth coach in the Bay Area, running a training program and 7-on-7 team KT Prep. His list of athletes he trained includes NFL players Brock Bowers, Austin Hooper, Devin Asiasi and Jevon Holland. 

A native of Vallejo, Kenion played football at De La Salle in the early 2000s. He played collegiately at Saint Mary’s and UNLV. 

Kenion will try to elevate Clayton Valley, which has yet to win a league title since moving back to the Diablo Valley Athletic League from the East Bay Athletic League two years ago. 

The Ugly Eagles made it to the North Coast Section Division II championship game this past season, but fell to Monte Vista.