Just three weeks after Fresno State hired Kalen DeBoer to run the football program, the head coach is finalizing his assistants.
Within the past week, DeBoer reportedly brought on four assistants: William Inge, Chuck Morrell, Eric Schmidt and Lee Marks.
Inge joins DeBoer from Indiana, where he was the special teams coordinator. He will take over as defensive coordinator for the Bulldogs.
Inge coached the linebackers at Indiana for five years before spending the previous two seasons on special teams. He has experience coaching on the defensive side of the ball for many teams, including Buffalo, Cincinnati, San Diego State and Colorado. He also coached the defensive line for the Buffalo Bills in 2012.
Morrell leaves NAIA school Montana Tech, where he was the head coach for nine years. He will most likely serve as a defensive position coach.
DeBoer and Morrell have a successful history coaching together. They coached together at the University of Sioux Falls – DeBoer as offensive coordinator and head coach and Morrell as defensive coordinator. The pair led the Cougars to three NAIA national championships.
Schmidt, the defensive coordinator at the University of North Dakota, is joining the Bulldogs, likely as a defensive position coach. He coached alongside DeBoer at Southern Illinois.
Marks joins the Bulldogs from Mountain West rival Boise State, where he was the running backs coach and special teams coordinator. Marks played running back for the Broncos from 2001-2005, and he coached a 1,000 yard rusher every year since he was named the running backs coach in 2015.
From the Valley to Vegas
Former Fresno State QB coach Danny Langsdorf is headed to UNLV to serve in the same capacity, the university announced Thursday. He spent one season with the Bulldogs.
Kenwick Thompson is joining the Rebels after serving as the Bulldogs’ linebackers coach and defensive run game coordinator last season.
Cameron Norcross, a former Fresno State assistant during the Tim DeRuyter era, is joining UNLV as the offensive line coach and run game coordinator.
Filling out the rest
Fresno State offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Ryan Grubb and defensive backs coach JD Williams are returning, but outside of them, no other assistants are confirmed to be back.
In addition to the coaches headed to UNLV, running backs coach and special teams coordinator Jamie Christian, tight ends coach Scott Thompson and defensive coordinator Bert Watts are out.
Defensive line coach Will Plemons is likely out too, considering the number of assistants DeBoer is bringing in on defense.
That leaves assistant offensive line coach Roman Sapolu and wide receivers coach Kirby Moore as the two remaining position coaches unaccounted for.
Sapolu only has one season with the ‘Dogs, but since Grubb is returning, he should have the opportunity to stay.
The same goes for Moore, and he should be even more likely to return since he coached with DeBoer from 2017-2018.
Photo: Fresno State Athletics
