New football coach optimistic for next season

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When he was hired in December, Southern Miss head football coach Todd Monken announced that he would coach quarterbacks and call the offensive plays in addition to handling the head coaching duties. However, the head coach cannot do everything.

Monken and Southern Miss officially announced the hiring of six new coaches and the retention of one former coach. It is the first announcement of new coaches since Monken was hired, and he hopes to have his entire staff filled by the time spring semester starts at the university.

Steve Buckley, last season?s offensive coordinator, was retained as recruiting coordinator. His experience in the area with local high schools should pay dividends in recruiting. At the moment, Buckley is the only coach kept from last year?s team.

David Duggan will return to Hattiesburg as the defensive coordinator for the Golden Eagles. Duggan served as defensive coordinator for former Southern Miss coach Larry Fedora and followed him to North Carolina as the special teams coordinator. He will have the opportunity to coach several of the players he recruited to Southern Miss.

Two former NFL players will appear on the sidelines this season. Pete Perot played offensive line for the Philadelphia Eagles and the New Orleans Saints before moving on to the coaching ranks. He comes from Louisiana Tech and will be the offensive line coach. John Simon played running back for the Tennessee Titans and the Washington Redskins before becoming the head football coach and athletic director at Roosevelt High School in Dallas, Texas. He will coach running backs on this staff.

John Wazniak will be the special teams coordinator after he left his position as a quality-control assistant at the University of Alabama. Steve Thacker is the new safeties coach after spending the last three seasons as a graduate assistant at Oklahoma State. Marcus Arroyo was hired as the offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach even though Monken will call the plays. Arroyo comes from the University of California, where he was the quarterbacks coach.

Source: http://www.studentprintz.com/new-football-coach-optimistic-for-next-season-1.2971837

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