Former University of Tennessee coach Larry Slade, former Utah State
head coach Brent Guy have joined the staff as defensive assistants,
while former Southern Mississippi offensive coordinator Jay Johnson has
joined the Cardinals as an offensive assistant.
Kragthorpe also announced that special teams coordinator Mark Nelson
has resigned from his position to pursue other opportunities.
Brent Guy |
*I*m very excited to add the caliber of coaches like Larry Slade,
Brent Guy and Jay Johnson to our staff,* said Kragthorpe. *All three
of these coaches have a tremendous amount of experience and will be
great additions to our football staff."
"Larry is one of the most-respected defensive back coaches in the
nation," said Kragthorpe. "I worked with Larry at Texas A&M and he
is one of the best I*ve ever been around. I*m excited that he has
decided to join our staff"
Added Kragthorpe, "Brent has a proven track record playing great
defense wherever he has coached. I'm excited to add a coach with the
expertise to our staff. He had great success at Arizona State as a
defensive coordinator and can add a lot of expertise to that side of the
football."
"I've known Jay for a long time and he has an excellent offensive
mind,* said Kragthorpe. "His teams at Southern Miss where very
successful and explosive, and we*re fortunate to add Jay to our
offensive staff."
Slade joins the Cardinals* defensive staff after 10 seasons with Phil
Fulmer at the University of Tennessee in the defensive backfield and is
known for turning out some of the nation*s best secondary units.
Despite a 5-7 record by the Volunteers in 2008, Slade was instrumental
in leading one of the nation*s top defensive units. The Volunteers
were ranked fourth in the country in pass defense and tied for the third
in the country in total defense.
Slade coached All-America defensive back Eric Berry, who was recognized
by five All-America outlets -- American Football Coaches Association,
Walter Camp Football Foundation, Football Writers Association of
America, Associated Press and Sporting News -- becoming the first
Tennessee player to claim unanimous mention since offensive lineman
Antone Davis in 1990.
Before coming to Tennessee, Slade spent five seasons at Texas A&M from
1994-98. His 1997 unit allowed a nation*s best three passing
touchdowns.
Prior to joining the staff at A&M, Slade spent two seasons at Maryland
as the defensive coordinator from 1992-93. Slade also spent six seasons
at Washington from 1986-91, which was highlighted by a national
championship in 1991, during which the Huskies ranked first in NCAA
statistics for pass efficiency defense.
Slade also enjoyed stops at Southern Illinois (1984-85), Howard (1983),
Richmond (1982) and his alma mater Shepherd (1973-81).
Slade, a native of Pelham, N.C., who twice was named All-West Virginia
while playing guard at Shepherd in the early 1970s. He was named Little
All-America honorable mention in 1971 and later inducted into the
Shepherd College Hall of Fame. He received his degree in biology with a
minor in English.
Larry Slade |
Guy joins the Cardinals after spending four seasons as head coach at
Utah State. Under his guidance, Guy had a total of 14 players (four in
`05, three in `06, four in `07, three in *08) earn first or
second-team all-WAC honors, including WAC Freshman of the Year Award in
2006 in linebacker Paul Igboeli.
Guy came to Utah State from Arizona State where he was the defensive
coordinator for four years. In 2004, ASU went 9-3 and defeated Purdue in
the Sun Bowl.
That marked the Sun Devils* second bowl appearance in
three years. ASU*s defense finished 2004 ranked 28th nationally in
rushing defense, 32nd in pass efficiency defense and 48th in both total
and scoring defense.
In 2002, Guy*s defense forced 40 turnovers, including 22
interceptions. Those totals ranked third and fourth in the country,
respectively. In addition, ASU recorded an incredible 123,tackles for
loss, including 52 sacks that season. He coached Terrell Suggs, who set
the NCAA record for sacks that season with 24 and was recipient of the
Bronko Nagurski Award (nation*s top defensive player), Lombardi Trophy
(nation*s top lineman) and Morris Trophy (Pac-10*s top lineman).
Before joining the ASU staff, Guy was the defensive coordinator at
Boise State from 1998-2000, helping the Broncos become the cream of the
league as BSU won the 1999 and 2000 Big West Championships posting a
10-1 combined conference record in those two years. Under his guidance,
Boise State led the Big West in total defense, rushing defense and
scoring defense in both 1999 and 2000.
During his first stint at Utah State from 1992-94, working with the
linebackers, the Aggies won a Big West Conference Championship and
posted the only bowl victory in school history, winning the 1993 Las
Vegas Bowl, 42-33, against Ball State.
Guy, who has been a part of nine bowl teams in his playing and coaching
career, had two stints coaching at his alma mater of Oklahoma State.
After serving as a graduate assistant (1986-87) and recruiting
coordinator (1988) there, Guy coached the Cowboy linebackers from
1989-91 and then again from 1995-97.
Guy began his playing career at Oklahoma State as a walk-on and became
a starter at both defensive end and linebacker. As a senior in 1982 he
started at linebacker and recorded 106 tackles to rank third on the
team. He also had three tackles for loss, recovered one fumble, had one
interception and broke up seven passes. Guy graduated from Oklahoma
State with a degree in hotel and restaurant administration in 1983.
Johnson spent last season as an administrative assistant with the
Cardinals after spending five years at Southern Mississippi, including
three as the offensive coordinator, where he helped lead the Golden
Eagles to five straight bowl appearances.
Under Johnson*s guidance, the Golden Eagles established a school
record for total offense in 2007 with 5,066, eclipsing the 5,000-yard
plateau for the first time in school history. The Golden Eagles also
finished in the top 25 in rushing offense in 2006 and 2007, rushing for
over 2,000 yards in both seasons for the first time since 1987. The
Golden Eagles averaged 27.8 points per game in *07 and 29.6 in *05,
the highest totals since 1998.
Under Johnson*s tutelage in 2005, Dustin Almond, had one of the best
seasons ever by a Golden Eagle signal caller in 2005, as he set the
single-season record for passing completions (216), passing attempts
(392), and total offense (2,762), while throwing 23 touchdowns, the
second most in school history.
Jay Johnson |
In 2004, Johnson guided a solid stable of running backs, which averaged
144.9 yards per game, 22.8 more yards per game and six more rushing
touchdowns than in 2003. Anthony Harris, Sherron Moore and Larry Thomas
carried the majority of the load for the season.
He has extensive coaching experience and knowledge of several
positions, including quarterbacks, receivers, defensive backs, running
backs and tight ends.
Johnson has honed his coaching skills at a variety of levels and
schools. He started his coaching career at Columbia-Hickman High School
in 1993, serving as the quarterbacks, receivers and defensive backs
coach.
In 1994, he moved to Missouri as a graduate assistant coach, later
moving to Augsburg College, serving a
s the school's offensive
coordinator and recruitment coordinator from 1994-95, before moving to
that same position at Truman State from 1995-97.
He directed Truman State's offense to an average of over 30 points and
400 yards a game during the 1995 and 1996 seasons.
Johnson, a three-time All-Gateway Conference quarterback and four-time
conference player of the week in his playing days at Northern Iowa, led
his teams to a 31-8 record, and won three conference championships,
while appearing in three national playoffs. He finished his career with
almost 500 completions and threw for over 8,000 yards and 58 touchdowns.
He was elected team captain in both the 1991 and 1992 seasons. He
quarterbacked the '92 team to a 12-2 record, a conference championship
and the No. 3 ranking in the final NCAA Div. 1-AA poll.
Johnson also holds a variety of academic honors to go with his on-field
prowess. He earned President's Academic Excellence honors in the Gateway
Conference and held a perfect 4.0 grade point average while completing
his master's degree at Missouri. That earned him a Superior Graduate
Achievement Award from the Department of Health and Exercise Science,
and he was a Dean's List scholar at Northern Iowa where he compiled a
3.47 GPA. He also taught several courses while at Truman State and
Missouri.