Tyson Butler enters his sixth season on the Ventura College Pirate coaching staff, his fifth as the defensive coordinator.  He will be specializing with the defensive line again in 2016 and is also helps coordinate the Pirates' Strength and Conditioning program.  He coached VC's running backs in 2011 and linebackers in 2012-2014. He has been an instrumental part of VC's school-record five straight bowl appearances and three SCFA Northern Conference championships in 2012, 2014 and 2015.

Butler came to VC after coaching for one season at Feather River College in Quincy, Calif.  He was the defensive line coach and strength and performance coordinator with the Golden Eagles in 2010, coaching two all-conference selections.

A three-sport athlete at Bishop O’Dowd HS in Oakland, Calif, Butler competed in football, basketball and track.  On the gridiron, he played strong safety, inside linebacker, outside linebacker, running back, fullback and long snapper.  Butler was a three-time all-Hayward Area Athletic League selection, and he earned first team all HAAL and second team all-Alameda Newspaper Group honors after his senior season.  His best single-game effort came against Tennyson HS where he had four touchdowns.

Butler received a football scholarship at Sacramento State.  His junior year he broke the Hornets’ single-game school record with 3.5 sacks against Eastern Washington.  He was also the team’s defensive player of the game against Cal-Berkeley and finished fourth in the Big Sky Conference in quarterback sacks.  Butler was named honorable mention All-Big Sky his junior season.

In his senior season in 2006, Butler earned second team all-Big Sky accolades, and finished second on the team with 78 total tackles for the year.  He finished his career with 202 tackles, which ranked seventh all-time in school history.

Butler was also active off the field at Sacramento State, serving on the student athlete advisory committee for four years.  He was also selected to be a member of the NCAA leadership conference as a sophomore.

In 2007, Coach Butler served as a student assistant in strength and conditioning for the Hornets.  He also played with the Central Valley Coyotes in 2007 and 2008, starting at linebacker, leading the team to the franchise’s only two playoff victories.

Butler and his wife Janaye live in Ventura and have a son son Makaio (6) and a daughter Layla (3).