Defensive Coaching Changes

[Reggie Redbird]

Mike Banks moving on up! Did we have OLB/MLB Coaches distinction before? IIRC Coach Schoonover handled all LBs, as well as Special Teams.

http://www.goredbirds.com/news/2018/1/9/football-banks-elevated-to-assistant-coach-at-illinois-state.aspx

I think we can assume Mike Banks will put the same heart and soul into coaching that he did into playing, and he was one of the very best we've ever had. He believes in ISU, and that's not a bad thing in an assistant coach. I'll also sing one of my favorite tunes - nice to have an assistant with roots in Chicago and especially in the Chicago Catholic League and specifically Mount Carmel. Can't hurt recruiting one bit.

Hearing about his passion makes me think of Khenon Hall. If he's like Khenon, I could see coaching here a while.

 

[fourthandshort]

4 year starter at cornerback ... oh he'll yeah !!

couple more comments ... a little odd that he is coming on at LB coach .. would really love to see him working with our young DB group a full offseason .. we lost 3 of 4 in our secondary.

oh well, having started 4 years and coming out of program like Mt Carmel, like this hire a lot. And here is an obscure factor that makes me think he will be very good coach ... he wasn't just a very good player, he was an undersized (5'7") very good player ... which tells me 2 more things about him:

- you have to be that much better and smarter at your position
- you have to have a serious chip on your shoulder

Didn't realize he was still here getting Grad Degree as Grad Asst ... this is a very promising hire for ISU !!!

 

[redbirddad10]

Very glad Coach held on to some of the young talent and appears to have brought in some experienced replacements at OC and DC. Very promising. Mike Banks has a great pedigree and a bright future.

 

[saxman210]

https://twitter.com/pg_reinhardt/status/953003754466496513

 

[Total Red]

Another former Redbird. I'm glad that an Illinois State University background counts for something in the hiring process. If Stewart can coach the position as well as he played it we're in great shape.

 

[fourthandshort]

https://twitter.com/pg_reinhardt/status/953003754466496513

Now it's starting to fill in very nicely on offense and defense. Biggest question mark is the new DC .. it's a step up so we'll see how it goes. But now we are set at all positions .. nice bios everywhere .. hopefully this comes together quickly but nice group of hires across the board.

 

[DannyCooksey]

Another former Redbird. I'm glad that an Illinois State University background counts for something in the hiring process. If Stewart can coach the position as well as he played it we're in great shape.

agreed. Kye was an excellent player. glad to see he's passing on the knowledge as a coach.

 

[fourthandshort]

I'm not sure this could have gone any better. Just based on Bios:

- OC & QB Coach Beathard (edit) .. huge upgrade .. nuff said
- WR Coach Anderson .. nice upgrade with his playing and coaching background
- OL Coach Etheridge .. slight upgrade with his playing and coaching background
- RB Coach Hall .. slight downgrade - like him on our staff, but Conard was doing something right with our RB group .. even if he was allegedly fudging the game grades

- DC & DL Coach Niekamp .. slight downgrade for now, but looks to be very groomable and with Spack mentoring him, I would expect little drop off .. but we did lose 7 starters, plus Barry now.
- LB Coach Stewart .. nice upgrade with his playing and coaching experience
- DB Asst Banks .. can only help with our young secondary

6 new hires, including Banks going from Grad Asst to Coach .. 5 with nice playing & coaching resumes at the positions they are coaching.

Does anyone else get the distinct impression, AD Lyons had to open up his check book some to help Spack put this staff together ??

 

[Reggie Redbird]

I'm not sure this could have gone any better. Just based on Bios:

- OC & QB Coach Beathard (edit) .. huge upgrade .. nuff said
- WR Coach Anderson .. nice upgrade with his playing and coaching background
- OL Coach Etheridge .. slight upgrade with his playing and coaching background
- RB Coach Hall .. slight downgrade - like him on our staff, but Conard was doing something right with our RB group .. even if he was allegedly fudging the game grades

- DC & DL Coach Niekamp .. slight downgrade for now, but looks to be very groomable and with Spack mentoring him, I would expect little drop off .. but we did lose 7 starters, plus Barry now.
- LB Coach Stewart .. nice upgrade with his playing and coaching experience
- DB Asst Banks .. can only help with our young secondary

6 new hires, including Banks going from Grad Asst to Coach .. 5 with nice playing & coaching resumes at the positions they are coaching.

Does anyone else get the distinct impression, AD Lyons had to open up his check book some to help Spack put this staff together ??

I don't believe so, and I'll explain:

OC/QB - this could have been an enticing offer for Beathard to come back. "Hey, we'll give you $25k or $50k more a year to come back." It could also be that his daughter graduated and the QB Academy wasn't doing as well as he had hoped or it got him through wanting to be in TN with his daughter.

WR - we hired a coach who appears to have been out of the game. You have to contrast that with his experience versus Kiernan's.

RB - It all depends on if he got a boost in pay for his added responsibilities. I would guess yes.

LB - I'm guessing he's making more taking opening pay here is going to be more than he was at Alcorn State. We just have to hope, if he's a solid coach, that Fuente doesn't come calling from VaTech.

DB - a fresh new grad assistant, my guess is he will not be making more than Hall's salary from last year.

OL - this is another situation, like our WR coach, where he was out of the game for a season. He wasn't on GaSt's coaching roster last year and wasn't retained after Miles was fired. Despite his experience, I'm not sure if we would pay that much more than we were Clark.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Georgia_State_Panthers_football_team

DC - I would guess this is a decent savings from where Nowinsky was at that could offset any raises for the OC/WR/RB coaches noted above.

 

[MadBird]

I'm not as concerned about anyone being "out of coaching" for a season after getting let go in a coaching change. Lots of factors could be involved - kids finishing up school, like the town you're living in, time to take a "sabbatical", etc. Assume they got some "separation pay" so not necessary to sign up elsewhere right away. Anderson was at Minnesota, and Tracy Claeys sat out last year and just got a gig at Washington St. That group didn't get bounced until after the bowl game, maybe too late for some of them to get signed up somewhere else.

I like the hires, especially their FBS experience. Stewart played 4 years of pro ball, that has to be good for his coaching and recruiting.

Etheridge and Niekamp (and Anderson) have been around, seen lots of situations including FBS, must have lots of contacts. I hope they mesh with Spack, it's got the makings of a good team.

I'm still kinda worried about Beathard hanging around for the long term. He may leave again in a year or two, just kinda worries me. But for next year, I'm happy.

 

[Reggie Redbird]

I'm not as concerned about anyone being "out of coaching" for a season after getting let go in a coaching change. Lots of factors could be involved - kids finishing up school, like the town you're living in, time to take a "sabbatical", etc. Assume they got some "separation pay" so not necessary to sign up elsewhere right away. Anderson was at Minnesota, and Tracy Claeys sat out last year and just got a gig at Washington St. That group didn't get bounced until after the bowl game, maybe too late for some of them to get signed up somewhere else.

I like the hires, especially their FBS experience. Stewart played 4 years of pro ball, that has to be good for his coaching and recruiting.

Etheridge and Niekamp (and Anderson) have been around, seen lots of situations including FBS, must have lots of contacts. I hope they mesh with Spack, it's got the makings of a good team.

I'm still kinda worried about Beathard hanging around for the long term. He may leave again in a year or two, just kinda worries me. But for next year, I'm happy.

I should have been more clear - my response was only talking salary and why those coaches may not demand as much as they normally would. I figure they probably did something to earn money, but yes, coaches receiving severance pay may choose to take some time off, even a season.

 

[MadBird]

I'm not as concerned about anyone being "out of coaching" for a season after getting let go in a coaching change. Lots of factors could be involved - kids finishing up school, like the town you're living in, time to take a "sabbatical", etc. Assume they got some "separation pay" so not necessary to sign up elsewhere right away. Anderson was at Minnesota, and Tracy Claeys sat out last year and just got a gig at Washington St. That group didn't get bounced until after the bowl game, maybe too late for some of them to get signed up somewhere else.

I like the hires, especially their FBS experience. Stewart played 4 years of pro ball, that has to be good for his coaching and recruiting.

Etheridge and Niekamp (and Anderson) have been around, seen lots of situations including FBS, must have lots of contacts. I hope they mesh with Spack, it's got the makings of a good team.

I'm still kinda worried about Beathard hanging around for the long term. He may leave again in a year or two, just kinda worries me. But for next year, I'm happy.

I should have been more clear - my response was only talking salary and why those coaches may not demand as much as they normally would. I figure they probably did something to earn money, but yes, coaches receiving severance pay may choose to take some time off, even a season.

Gotcha. All good

 

[Birdfan 4Life]

http://goredbirds.com/news/2018/1/17/hendricks-joins-football-coaching-staff-as-defensive-line-coach.aspx

Welcome D Line Coach, Brian Hendricks from Montana!

"We are excited to add Brian to the staff to work with our defensive linemen," Spack said. "He and Travis worked together at Montana and Travis was high on adding Brian to the staff. I feel it's very important for the coordinator to have a say in who he will be working with, so that prior experience with those two should only help aid in the transition. The coaches I have talked to about Brian have raved about him and his work ethic. He's tough, smart and someone our players will gravitate to because he's played and coached at a high level."

 

[dpdoughbird06]

http://goredbirds.com/news/2018/1/17/hendricks-joins-football-coaching-staff-as-defensive-line-coach.aspx

Welcome D Line Coach, Brian Hendricks from Montana!

"We are excited to add Brian to the staff to work with our defensive linemen," Spack said. "He and Travis worked together at Montana and Travis was high on adding Brian to the staff. I feel it's very important for the coordinator to have a say in who he will be working with, so that prior experience with those two should only help aid in the transition. The coaches I have talked to about Brian have raved about him and his work ethic. He's tough, smart and someone our players will gravitate to because he's played and coached at a high level."

https://twitter.com/pg_reinhardt/status/953699085906784257

Sad to see Coach Schoonover leave. He and Nowinsky were the first two to bring D.P. Dough into the Redbird Football fold, so I probably have a special attachment to them. "Football guys" both - the highest compliment I think you can pay a coach.

Curious to see who takes over community partnerships; huge shoes to fill.

 

[GratefulRed]

http://goredbirds.com/news/2018/1/17/hendricks-joins-football-coaching-staff-as-defensive-line-coach.aspx

Welcome D Line Coach, Brian Hendricks from Montana!

"We are excited to add Brian to the staff to work with our defensive linemen," Spack said. "He and Travis worked together at Montana and Travis was high on adding Brian to the staff. I feel it's very important for the coordinator to have a say in who he will be working with, so that prior experience with those two should only help aid in the transition. The coaches I have talked to about Brian have raved about him and his work ethic. He's tough, smart and someone our players will gravitate to because he's played and coached at a high level."

https://twitter.com/pg_reinhardt/status/953699085906784257

Sad to see Coach Schoonover leave. He and Nowinsky were the first two to bring D.P. Dough into the Redbird Football fold, so I probably have a special attachment to them. "Football guys" both - the highest compliment I think you can pay a coach.

Curious to see who takes over community partnerships; huge shoes to fill.

Something Learfield will take over? If that is the case....good luck. I know their treatment of a major sponsor of the program is less than stellar and will probably cause them to not be a sponsor.

 

[fourthandshort]

So we hired another coach .. DL Coach Brian Hendricks. Been a DL coach for a few years, most recently Montana .. so OC Niekamp knew him from there. He played Inside LB at Wyoming and was all conference, graduating 2011.

http://www.goredbirds.com/staff.aspx?staff=1399

Welcome to Redbird Nation ... be ready to w-- ... uh ... make them work !!

 

[RBFANTOO]

I'm not sure this could have gone any better. Just based on Bios:

- OC & QB Coach Beathard (edit) .. huge upgrade .. nuff said
- WR Coach Anderson .. nice upgrade with his playing and coaching background
- OL Coach Etheridge .. slight upgrade with his playing and coaching background
- RB Coach Hall .. slight downgrade - like him on our staff, but Conard was doing something right with our RB group .. even if he was allegedly fudging the game grades

- DC & DL Coach Niekamp .. slight downgrade for now, but looks to be very groomable and with Spack mentoring him, I would expect little drop off .. but we did lose 7 starters, plus Barry now.
- LB Coach Stewart .. nice upgrade with his playing and coaching experience
- DB Asst Banks .. can only help with our young secondary

6 new hires, including Banks going from Grad Asst to Coach .. 5 with nice playing & coaching resumes at the positions they are coaching.

Does anyone else get the distinct impression, AD Lyons had to open up his check book some to help Spack put this staff together ??

:text-+1: :text-+1: :text-+1: My expectations are sky high. I just upped my donation and ordered enough Kool-Aid for the whole season. I really like the changes so far.

 

[fourthandshort]

http://goredbirds.com/news/2018/1/17/hendricks-joins-football-coaching-staff-as-defensive-line-coach.aspx

Welcome D Line Coach, Brian Hendricks from Montana!

"We are excited to add Brian to the staff to work with our defensive linemen," Spack said. "He and Travis worked together at Montana and Travis was high on adding Brian to the staff. I feel it's very important for the coordinator to have a say in who he will be working with, so that prior experience with those two should only help aid in the transition. The coaches I have talked to about Brian have raved about him and his work ethic. He's tough, smart and someone our players will gravitate to because he's played and coached at a high level."

my bad .. totally missed this earlier in thread. Yeesh, just 2 months into offseason and I'm way off my game already.

Come on Spring Ball .. my brain is atrophy'd enough already.

p.s. I'm blaming the early signing day .. yeah, that's it !!

 

[redbirddad10]

Very impressed with the replacements overall. ISU pedigrees mixed in with experience and a touch of Name programs. Nice, well done Coach Spack. Tough situation but for Redbird Football glad to see the positions filled with what appear to be great Coaches. Could be the new energy I think was universally understood to be needed. Go Birds.

 

[MadBird]

From the "how the other half lives" department, UNI OL/co-OC Mike Simmonds leaves for UTEP.

http://utepathletics.com/news/2018/2/2/utep-football-head-coach-dimel-completes-staff-for-2018.aspx

Simmonds will enter his 25th year of coaching after being at Northern Iowa for the 2017 season as the program's offensive line coach/co-offensive coordinator. Northern Iowa led the nation (FCS) in red zone offense, converting on 92 percent of its opportunities (51 att., 31 TD, 16 FG). UNI averaged 29.4 points per game in 2017, while averaging 354.7 yards of total offense in 13 games (8-5 overall record). Simmonds spent the 2016 season at Eastern Illinois, directing the offensive line. His line ranked 36th nationally in fewest sacks allowed (2016). Simmonds also spent time at North Texas (2011-15) with current UTEP offensive coordinator Mike Canales, while the two also coached at South Florida together.

"Simmonds is a very good teacher and has great passion and love for developing lineman," Dimel said. "I know the offensive linemen at UTEP will develop and will play with great passion under Coach Simmonds tutelage."