Dean Craig
Greater Knoxville Executive Director
Dean Craig graduated from Halls High School and received a football scholarship to Vanderbilt University in 1977. However, Dean chose instead to play 6 years professional baseball in the minor leagues with the LA Dodgers and NY Yankees. After his baseball career, Dean signed a football scholarship at Carson Newman College in 1984. Dean played tight-end for Carson Newman on the NAIA National Championship team 1984. He graduated in 1986.
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Dean went on to work in the business world for 3 years in Nashville. He joined the staff of Fellowship of Christian Athletes in 1989. In his time with FCA, Dean has been the director in the Tri-Cities area for 4 years, director in the Chattanooga area for 10 years, and has been serving as the Executive Director in the Greater Knoxville/East TN area since 2002.
Dean has been the chaplain for the Tennessee Baseball team since 2004.
He is married to Lisha Perry Craig, has 4 grown children, and 8 grandchildren.
Ty Greene
Knoxville Area Director
Ty grew up in Knoxville and graduated Bearden High in 2011. Ty served as the FCA school President for two years while also playing basketball and baseball.
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After high school, Ty attended South Carolina Upstate on a basketball scholarship where he graduated in 2015 with a major in Political Science. He again served as FCA campus President for three years.
Ty was drafted into the NBA D-League in 2015 playing a season for the Philadelphia 76ers affiliate team before feeling the call to full time sports ministry with FCA.
Ty's first three years with FCA, he served with Memphis FCA, but returned home to Knoxville. He has served with Knoxville FCA since 2019. Ty was selected as 1 of 35 FCA staff under the age of 40 from around the world to participate in the prestigious Don McClanahan Experience (DME) which is a prestigious two year leadership course.
Ty is married to Taylor Greene. Taylor attended Gibbs High School before going on to play Division 1 basketball at Kennesaw State and Belmont University. She got her OD from Southern College of Optometry in Memphis and has been a practicing Optometrist since 2019. She is an eye doctor at Premier Eyecare in Farragut.
They have two children Cal and Davis and a black lab named Sage.
Full Time Staff Reps
David Brooks
Knoxville Field Rep
David was a multi sport athlete at Central High School. He pursued a baseball career at Walters State when God called him into ministry. He has served with FCA for 3 years and currently
leads FCA at Gibbs, Central, and Halls. David is married to Peyton Brooks and has a son named Neyland.
Cory Crabtree
Knoxville Field Rep
Cory played football at Bearden and graduated in 2011. He pursued his dream of college football until God led him into ministry. In 2016, he graduated from Univ. of the Cumberlands (KY) in Christian Ministries. He has served with FCA for 6 years and leads FCA at Bearden, Karns, and South Doyle. Cory is married to Bri Crabtree.
Peyton Bacon
Knoxville Field Rep
Peyton grew up playing softball in Greeneville and attended Chuckey-Doak High School. She played softball at Carson-Newman University and served as FCA president her junior and senior year. Peyton graduated in 2019 with a B.S. in Physical Education. She has served with FCA for 6 years and heads up FCA at Farragut, Hardin Valley, and West. She loves to spend time outdoors, camping, hiking, paddle boarding, and playing pickleball.
Kristen Cupples
Knoxville Field Rep
Kristen grew up in Anderson County where she played basketball and volleyball through high school. She attended King University to play basketball and graduated in 2019. In 2020 she began serving in full time ministry with Youth with a Mission (YWAM) in Hawaii and Italy before God called her back to Knoxville in 2024. She answered God calling her to serve with FCA in April 2025 and will be serving at Anderson County and Halls.
Chesney Lingerfelt
Knoxville Field Rep
Chesney was a multi-sport athlete growing up in Maryville. She played basketball, volleyball, and softball. She was involved with FCA for years as a student in middle school and high school. After graduating from Maryville High School, she played basketball at Milligan University. Before serving with FCA, she coached middle school basketball. Chesney is in her first year serving on staff and serves at Powell, Hardin Valley and Karns.
