Chatting With SCAD Head Coach Cristian Orth

Collegiate Flag Football recently sat down with Cristian Orth, the head coach of SCAD Savannah's women's flag football team. SCAD is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and is located in Savannah, Georgia. SCAD announced the addition of flag football at the start of September and will begin competing as a member of the NAIA's Sun Conference in the 2026-27 academic year.

Orth was named the program's inaugural head coach in mid-November. He was part of the coaching staff for the men's tackle football team at Jupiter High School as a defensive line coach. In addition, he helped coach the junior varsity flag football team for two seasons, which went 19-0 in his tenure.

Coach Orth talks about his background before taking the head coaching job, how SCAD's academic offerings are different, how he plans to recruit over the next few years and much more. Thank you to head coach Cristian Orth for taking the time to discuss SCAD's flag football program with Collegiate Flag Football!

Let's start with your background and how you became the head coach at SCAD.

CO: "I played Division I football at Morehead State University in Kentucky. After that, I got the opportunity to come back down to Jupiter, Florida, where I'm from, to coach at Jupiter High School. While coaching flag football, our JV team went 19-0 over the last two seasons, giving up just 24 points. I also spent some time at FAU [Florida Atlantic University] interning with their football program. I learned a lot about how to run a program, how to be a head coach, and all the intricacies of college athletics.

I was looking at potentially becoming a head coach at the college level for flag football around a year ago. In February [2025], an NCAA Division III school offered me to be a flag football coach, but I still wanted to gain more experience as a coach and try things within college football. That's why I ended up at FAU.

Fast forward a few months, and SCAD opened up. It was a great opportunity to be right there in Savannah and close to home. I feel like it's a good place where we will be able to recruit and have success. Our athletic director, Amanda Haverstick, just got inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame, so having a lot of support there, I just thought it was a great place."

How do SCAD's academic programs differ from a typical liberal arts program you'd see at most universities?

CO: "SCAD's pretty unique in that way. It's the number one art and design school in the United States and one of the best in the world. It has a lot of different majors, like fashion, film, architecture, etc. It's one of the best schools you can go to for architecture.

It's called the University for Creative Careers because it really lets you branch out and get internships with a lot of top programs. I know a lot of our top internships and placements are with Fortune 500 companies. A lot of SCAD alumni are working for Nike, Puma, Adidas, and specifically a fashion sneaker design.

There's so much going on in Savannah with the SCAD Film Festival, which just took place. There are also famous actors and actresses like Miles Teller, Sydney Sweeney, and Jenna Ortega who go there every year to talk about their experiences.

I just think it's a great place. There's a lot of history in Savannah, obviously, within the historic district. The campus is spread out around downtown and the historic district. SCAD is a great opportunity for students to try out a creative career and there are over 100 programs we offer. In addition, we have minors, including some in business and entrepreneurship. There are programs you can go into and still tie back into the sports world if that's what someone is interested in."

What advice would you give a recruit if they wanted to play flag football at SCAD?

CO: "At SCAD, if you want to be recruited, some people may look at it on the surface and see that it's an art school. Maybe they think it's not as serious. We win national championships in a plethora of sports. We had multiple swim national champions, women's soccer won a title in 2024, and our women's lacrosse team won the Sun Conference in 2024.

We're in the NAIA's Sun Conference, which is probably the best flag football conference top-to-bottom. We're competing with some of the best teams in the country and we offer scholarship money. From an athletic standpoint, recruits are going to get the absolute best and be able to compete every single day.

SCAD is building a brand new facility for all the spring sports. Five brand new locker rooms are going to be built and will probably be finished around September [2026]. It will house our men's and women's lacrosse teams and flag football.

From a student's perspective, SCAD's offerings are different from most other schools. We have so many opportunities and different options where you can grow and try out new things. You can be creative and end up working for Disney, Xbox, Pixar, or Universal. If you want to work with user experience (UX), graphic design, or even if you want to be in the business world.

A recruit told me that they wanted to manage a restaurant someday. At SCAD, you can work on how you want the menu to look, the interior of the restaurant, the exterior, etc. I think there are so many great opportunities as a recruit, academically and athletically, that it's kind of hard not to want to go here."

What general advice do you have for recruits?

CO: "I think being able to push yourself and game film. If your school has Hudl, and you can put up a highlight tape, then send it out to coaches. Coaches check their email and social media every day. I also think getting your content out as much as possible and having a good relationship with your high school coach is important. Having them push your information and your content will be helpful.

One of the biggest things is academics. If you have a high GPA, 3.5 or higher, it's really hard for any school to say no. The lower the GPA, the harder it is for recruits to go to the school they want. The higher the GPA, the more opportunities there are for recruits. I'd say academics first, but being able to push yourself out there and promote yourself to coaches all around the country is also important."

What are some measures of success for SCAD in its first year in spring 2027?

CO: "I think the biggest thing is being competitive. I know we're going to be the new kid on the block in the Sun Conference as the 11th team. Everyone else has been playing flag football, and some schools, like Keiser, Thomas, and St. Thomas, have been playing since 2021.

We want to work every day, not worry about what other teams are doing, what their record is, or how many points they score. I want to make sure we're getting better every single day. As we build this program with freshmen, by the time those recruits are juniors or seniors, we want them to be one of the most competitive teams. Not just in the conference, but in the country.

I think building every single day, every single week, every single month, every single year is the base. From there, we'll figure out our success."

As a former NCAA Division I athlete, what are some things you learned that will help you as a coach?

CO: "I think playing at that level, and as a younger coach, is understanding how players feel and how it is going through school. It's understanding that players have to go to study hall, balance their academics with athletics, especially if you go in as a freshman.

It's a big transition going from high school to college. It's 20 hours a week in college versus 2 hours a day in high school. Being able to understand that transition and how I can help my players go through that to make it as smooth as possible will really help me."

Since the rest of the 2025-26 academic year will be spent recruiting and building the program, are there any plans to have a camp or clinic in the spring?

CO: "Right now, I'm looking at finalizing the process. I'd like to have at least one camp every summer, and maybe have a prospect camp and youth clinics. I want to emulate how the college football programs do it to maximize exposure. Since we're not playing in the spring, we have a great chance to do something on our SCAD Day in February."

Editor's note: Coach Orth confirmed the date and timing of the prospect camp in February 2026, a few weeks after the interview. SCAD Savannah (GA) is hosting a women's flag football prospect camp on Saturday, February 21, 2026, from 3:30 to 5:30 PM. The camp will take place after the SCAD Day events from 9 AM to 2 PM. The camp will be held at the SCAD Athletics Complex, located just across the Georgia-South Carolina border in Hardeeville, South Carolina.