Coaching Wire: Week of April 14-20
[dropcap]S[/dropcap]cott Stoker, defensive coordinator and linebackers coach FCS member Sam Houston State, has accepted the defensive coordinator job at UTEP. Stoker replaces Jeff Choate as the Miners’ defensive coordinator. Choate was hired by Will Muschamp at Florida as outside linebackers and special teams coach on Wednesday.
Stoker is in his fifth season with the Bearkats and led a Bearkat defense that led the Southland Conference in rushing defense, total defense and pass efficiency defense in 2012. His 2011 defense finished the season ranked No. 1 nationally in rushing defense, No. 2 in scoring defense and turnover margin and No. 3 in total defense (No. 3) and pass efficiency defense. Sam Houston played in the FCS national championship game both season.
Before Sam Houston, Stoker was head coach at FCS member Northwestern State (La.) for seven seasons. He also played quarterback there from 1986-89. His father, Butch Stoker, was one Louisiana’s most successful high school coaches during a 33-year career at Alexandria High School.
* Daniel Ifft, who played at Ball State and was a grad assistant at Toledo, was hired as an off-field recruiting assistant at Michigan. He started his new job on Monday.
* Texas hired Riley Dodge in an offensive quality control role. Dodge actually committed to the Longhorns as a wide receiver recruit out of high school but wound up signing with North Texas, where his father, Todd Dodge (a former Texas QB) was head coach. He was a GA at Texas A&M last season.
* Illinois‘ Tim Beckman named Matt Sinclair, a former Illini linebacker, was named assistant director of player personnel and relations. Sinclair spent last four years as co-defensive coordinator, linebackers, and special teams coach at Wheaton Warrenville South High School in Wheaton, Ill. Mike Bellamy, who previously held the position, was promoted to wide receivers coach in February.
FCS
* First-year Delaware coach Dave Brock has completed his 2013 staff with the hiring of Tom McEntire as safeties coach. Brock and McIntire worked together on Kyle Flood’s Rutgers staff last season where McIntire was an off-field defensive assistant. McEntire has seven years of coaching experience at the FBS, FCS, and D-III levels, including a year at fellow CAA member Maine.
* Savannah State fired head coach Steve Davenport and his staff. Davenport was 2-20 in two seasons. Cornerbacks coach Corey Barlow, a former All-American at Auburn, was the only staff member retained. He was named interim head coach.
* Brian Bohannon, the former Georgia Tech assistant hired last month to launch the Kennesaw State program, named normer Carroll (Ga.) Central High head coach Grant Chesnut was named offensive coordinator and offensive line coach. Liam Klein and Shane Bowen, who worked with Bohannon at Tech in off-field roles, will also join the Bohannon’s staff in undetermined roles.
* Mickey Joseph, starting quarterback on three Big Eight title-winning teams at Nebraska, has been named wide receivers coach at Alcorn State. Joseph was head coach at NAIA Langston University in Langston, Okla. the past two seasons. At the college level, he’s had coaching stints at Central Oklahoma, Alabama State, Tulane, Wayne State College.
D-II
* Sam Perryman has been named wide receivers coach at Lenoir-Rhyne in Hickory, N.C. Perryman was secondary coach at D-II Lock Haven (Pa.) University in 2012. Before that, he spent two years at D-II Beloit (Wis.) as defensive coordinator (2011) and defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator (2010).
* Tripp Merritt, who was hired in February, was also announced as Lenoir-Rhyne’s secondary coach. Merritt was head coach at Davidson for the past eight seasons, and was defensive coordinator there for seven seasons before that.
D-III
* Doug Semones, first-year head coach at Occidental College in Los Angeles, has announced his staff. On offense, former Cal Lutheran o-line coach Brian Smith was named offensive line coach and offensive coordinator, while Darnell Arceneaux will coach quarterbacks, Don Nelson will be running backs coach and Richard Brown will lead the wide receivers. Smith was an offensive lineman at Hawaii while Semones was an assistant there, and Arcenaux was quarterback the Arena League’s Hawaii Islanders while Semones was the team’s defensive and special teams coordinator.
Semones leads a defensive staff that will include Justin Luthey, the defensive line coach, recruiting coordinator and director of football operations; Kevin May, linebackers coach and strength and conditioning coach; and Rob Hartenfels, defensive backs coach and video coordinator. Matt Anderson, a former Oxy football and baseball player, will stay on as a strength and conditioning coach.
* Rick Willis, head coach at Wartburg College in Waverly, Ia., promoted Chris Winter, an assistant for the Knights since 2005, to assistant head coach. Winter will retain his title as the program’s defensive coordinator. Willis hired former Augustana linebackers coach Andrew Hawken was hired in the same capacity. Hawken replaces Scott Power. Nathan Roach is Wartburg’s new running backs coach. He spent the last three seasons at Northwest Missouri State, where he coached the running backs and the wide receivers.
* Calvin Gibson is the new wide receivers coach at Capital University in Bexley, Ohio. Gibson is a former player at NAIA Shorter University in Rome, Ga. and was a GA there last year.