UAB Assistant Coach List

Head Coach

Garrick McGee

Hometown:     Tulsa, OK

Coaching Experience:

            1991-1992       QB                                          Arizona State

            1993                QB                                          Northeastern Oklahoma A&M

            1994-1995       QB                                          Oklahoma

            1996                DB Coach                               Langston (OK)

            1997-1998       QB/WR Coach/STC               Langston (OK)

            1999                WR Coach                              Northern Iowa

            2000-2001       Off. QC                                  Jacksonville Jaguars

            2002                WR Coach                              Toledo

            2003                WR Coach                              UNLV

            2004-2005       WR Coach                              Northwestern

            2006-2007       OC/QB Coach                         Northwestern

            2008-2009       QB Coach                               Arkansas

            2010-2011       OC/QB Coach                         Arkansas

            2012-               Head Coach                            UAB

Garrick McGee was named UAB’s next head coach yesterday.  McGee has little ties to the state of Alabama, but has worked for Bobby Petrino for four seasons who knows how to recruit the state.  McGee didn’t call the plays for Arkansas the past couple seasons but did so while OC at Northwestern.  He has experience running a spread offense (like they used at Northwestern) and has been fantastic bringing along Arkansas QB Tyler Wilson this season in a pro offense.  He has recruited Oklahoma very well the past few seasons while at Arkansas so expect him to hit that state very hard this year while trying to pull out a respectable recruiting class.  He is an excellent offensive mind who will most likely hire a veteran defensive coordinator who has the ability to control that side of the ball completely.  McGee has been mentioned in the head coaching search at Florida Atlantic and at one point was considered the favorite to land that job.  I like this hire; however, UAB is really limited by being associated with the University of Alabama and it is an uphill battle for McGee.

Chris Hedden, former OC/WR Coach Toledo and Akron assistant

·         Coached RB’s for Northern Iowa in 1998 and 1999 when Garrick McGee was WR Coach

·         Coached TE’s at Toledo while McGee was WR coach in 2002

·         Ohio native who has spent entire coaching career in Ohio

Jay Niemann, DC/S Coach Northern Illinois

·         Coached with McGee at Northern Iowa in 1999

·         Spent seven seasons as head coach at D-III Iowa school Simpson

·         Has been DC at Drake, Northern Iowa, and now Northern Illinois

Paul Haynes, Co-DC/S Coach Ohio State

·         Coached with McGee on the 2001 Jacksonville Jaguars coaching staff when they were both quality control assistants

·         He also coached at Northern Iowa under Mike Dunbar

·         Doesn’t seem to be a part of Urban Meyer’s new staff at Ohio State

·         Columbus, OH native who will probably end up on a Big 10 coaching staff

Doug Downing, RB Coach/RC Eastern Michigan

·         Worked with McGee at Toledo where he served as RB Coach for eight seasons under Tom Amstutz

·         Ohio native who has coached at Western Illinois, Purdue, and Missouri State

Joe Gilbert, OL Coach Illinois

·         Veteran OL coach who was at Toledo when McGee was

·         Has worked under Paul Petrino at Illinois the past two seasons

·         Also coached at Maine, Central Florida, Illinois, and Houston

Rob Spence, OC/QB Coach Bethune-Cookman

·         Former Syracuse, Clemson, and Toledo OC who worked with McGee at Toledo

·         Ran some high powered offenses at Toledo and Clemson

·         Bethune-Cookman went 8-3 this year averaging 34 points a game, FWIW

Paul Randolph, Assoc. HC/Co-DC/DL Coach Pittsburgh

·         Former assistant at Toledo under Amstutz even though didn’t work with McGee directly

·         Top recruiter who spent time at Alabama where he was named to the Rivals top 25 recruiters list

·         Georgia native has spent time at Tulsa, Alabama, Rice, and West Virginia

Randall McCray, S Coach Pittsburgh

·         North Carolina native who spent time at Toledo under Amstutz

·         Has worked at Wisconsin and Middle Tennesse State (DC), he is in his first year at Pittsburgh

David Walkosky, LB Coach Calgary Stampeders

·         Former Toledo assistant working with McGee

·         Close friend to Paul Randolph from their time at Tennessee-Martin

·         Has also worked at Washington State

Dennis Winston, LB Coach Arkansas Pine-Bluff

·         Former Toledo assistant who is from Arkansas and currently coaches linebackers for Arkansas Pine Bluff

·         Excellent LB who had solid career in NFL

Steve Johns, ILB Coach/STC Navy

·         Worked with McGee at UNLV in 2003

·         Spent most of his coaching career on the west coast but has been on the Navy staff for four seasons

Greg Colby, Head Coach Millersville (PA)

·         Was DC at Northwestern while McGee worked as OC.

·         Longtime Big 10 assistant coach

Chip Long, TE Coach Illinois

·         Alabama native who played at North Alabama

·         Spent two seasons as GA at Louisville under Petrino before following him to Arkansas

·         Has spent the last two seasons as TE Coach at Illinois under Paul Petrino

Jeff Brohm, QB Coach Illinois

·         Longtime Louisville assistant who worked under Petrino at Louisville

·         Has excellent recruiting ties to the state of Florida and is highly regarded as excellent offensive mind

Richard Owens, Offensive Graduate Assistant (TE) Arkansas

·         Florida native who played TE for Petrino at Louisville

·         Played for Rams, Vikings, and Jets before spending the last two seasons as graduate assistant working with TE’s at Arkansas

Brandon Sharp, Defensive Graduate Assistant (DB) Arkansas

·         Jacksonville native who played for Petrino at Louisville and spent this last season as GA at Arkansas

Marty Biagi, Assistant Coach Arkansas Pine Bluff

·         Former offensive and defensive graduate assistant at Arkansas working mainly with special teams

·         Former punter at Marshall (2005-2007)

Courtney Sanders, DL Coach Missouri State

·         Former defensive graduate assistant at Arkansas in 2008 working under Petrino

Kevin Wolthausen, DL Coach Las Vegas Locomotives (UFL)

·         Veteran assistant who was coach at Oklahoma while McGee played there in 1994

·         Worked under Bobby Petrino at Louisville from 2003-2006 and with the Atlanta Falcons in 2007

·         Has also worked at Arizona State, Arizona, Oklahoma, and Eastern Michigan

Mike Cassity, DB Coach Marshall

·         Worked as Bobby Petrino’s defensive coordinator at Louisville from 2004-2006

·         Was named Rivals top 25 recruiters while at Louisville

·         Veteran DC and defensive coach who has worked at Oklahoma State, Baylor, Wisconsin, Illinois, Cincinnati, Georgia Tech, East Carolina and Kentucky (alma mater)

Mike Gillhamer, DB Coach Illinois

·         Another Petrino disciple who was his DC in 2003 at Louisville

·         He worked with the plethora of other Illinois coaches on the staff this season after spending the previous seven seasons working for the Carolina Panthers

·         Veteran defensive guy who is most likely the type of coach McGee will look to when he decides on a defensive coordinator in the next couple weeks