Denny Duron is a pastor, coach, entrepreneur, inventor, educator, author, composer, producer, communicator, motivator, and student of God’s Word. His burning desire is to awaken destiny one heart at a time. Duron is the chancellor of Evangel Christian Academy in Shreveport, Louisiana. He is married to DeAnza; they have seven children, 15 grandchildren, and another one on the way!
Duron’s ministry began on the football field as a player at LA Tech University. As a quarterback in 1972 and 1973, Duron led the Bulldogs to two national championships and a 24-1 record. He was twice
Denny Duron is a pastor, coach, entrepreneur, inventor, educator, author, composer, producer, communicator, motivator, and student of God’s Word. His burning desire is to awaken destiny one heart at a time. Duron is the chancellor of Evangel Christian Academy in Shreveport, Louisiana. He is married to DeAnza; they have seven children, 15 grandchildren, and another one on the way!
Duron’s ministry began on the football field as a player at LA Tech University. As a quarterback in 1972 and 1973, Duron led the Bulldogs to two national championships and a 24-1 record. He was twice named all-Southland Conference first-team quarterback and, in 1973, was chosen as the Southland Conference Most Valuable Offensive Player. In 2017 he was inducted into the Louisiana Tech Football Hall of Fame. Additionally, he was chosen to the Southland Conference All-Decade team for the 1970s.
After receiving honorable mention All-American recognition his senior season, he was drafted in the second round by the Birmingham Americans in the new World Football League and chose the WFL over the NFL. He played two years for the World Bowl Champion Americans. After the league folded, Duron signed with the NFL Washington Redskins in 1976. In that training camp, he first heard God's call to take his life in a different direction. The Washington Star published “Even Redskins No Match for the Call of God” the day after he left camp.
That same year Duron accepted an invitation to start a football program at Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri, where at 24, he would serve as the youngest head college football coach in America. At EU, Duron coached the football seasons of 1977-1982.
Duron began the football program for Evangel Christian Academy in Shreveport, Louisiana, which achieved national prominence in a few years. During that time, “Coach Duron” coached numerous All-Americans while at the same time virtually re-writing the national offensive record books for yardage, touchdowns, and points scored. Evangel Christian Academy was named by USA Today as one of the top eight high school springboards to the NFL, and Fox Sports recognized Evangel as the 1999 National High School Champions. The 2024 season could have as many as eight former Evangel Eagles in the NFL. The Evangel program that Duron established and has managed thru the years has won 14 state championships under six different head coaches. His response to all the accolades is, “To God be the Glory.”
Duron served as the lead pastor of Shreveport Community Church for over 20 years, beginning in 1998, along with maintaining the title of Chancellor of Evangel Christian Academy. Coach Denny is once again head coach of the Evangel Eagles while continuing his leadership coaching and numerous speaking engagements.
His non-profit, Winner’s Circle International, oversees The Educational Center for Autism, Winner’s Circle Camps and Programs (free summer and weekend camps for disadvantaged children), and Eagle Creek Recovery Center, a live-in facility ministering to men with addictions to name a few of the diverse outreach.
Duron is an in-demand speaker and leadership trainer for the corporate world. His screenplay “The Healer” has received numerous top-five awards at internationally recognized film festivals. “The Healer” garnered the top prize at both the Sacramento and Christian Film festivals. Duron was the personal coach for Keke Palmer in the full-length motion picture, “Long Shots,” the story of a Pop Warner football team that was led to the national championship final by a female quarterback. He also worked as an advisor and director of the football scenes in the film. In 1983, the Blackwood Brothers gospel quartet won a Grammy for ‘Best Gospel Performance’ with a song Duron wrote entitled “We’ve Come to Worship.” He shares four US Patents and one Taiwan Patent for inventing Fungoman, an automated fielding and pitching machine used by numerous major league, college, and high school teams. Duron is completing his second book, ‘The Optimum Performance Spectrum©,’ his comprehensive evaluation tool for coaches, athletes, employees, and business organizations.
