WKU football announces 2015 coaching staff
A few weeks ago, we published an article about the early off-season WKU football coaching carousel that dealt with the threat of losing coaches and having to fill their positions. While only one of the rumored coaches left, on Monday morning head coach Jeff Brohm announced the promotion of two current Hilltopper coaches and tacked on an extra set of duties to another coach.
WKU had to fill the running back coaches position, as Greg Nord left for Florida. With Leon Allen returning to the lineup, the running backs could be an engaging group to coach. Brohm promoted ex-offensive quality control coach Bryan Ellis to handle the group. Ellis is a UAB graduate and played quarterback for the Blazers in 2010. While quarterbacking at UAB, Ellis raced up close to 3,000 yards in 11 games throwing for 25 TDs. Ellis will take over as position coach for a top rusher in C-USA, who amassed 1500 yards in his junior campaign. Graduate assistant Zach Lankford will fill the open position left by Ellis.
Football is a team game, and no one will find this statement more true than Ricky Brumfield and Jamarcus Shepherd. Brumfield, the secondary coach, and Shepherd, the wide receivers coach, will team up and handle special teams duties for the 2015 season. The task is in Shepherd’s wheel house as a record-holding kick return man at DePauw University. Shepherd, in his time with the Tigers, tied an NCAA record for return touchdowns in a game with two returns. At the end of his time at DePauw, he held the school record for kick off return yards and kick off return average.
Brohm believes that all three gentleman, Ellis, Lankford, and Shepherd, will thrive in their new roles and expanded duties. After a year where WKU football appeared in their second bowl game in school history and won their first ever bowl game, the Tops are set to take on an even bigger task in climbing the Conference USA ladder. While WKU still isn’t the cream of the crop, they are certainly in prime position to take C-USA by storm.