A trio of record-setting quarterbacks graduated from Carroll , Illinois College and St. Norbert following the 2007 season, shifting all eyes to an impressive crop of signal-callers on the defensive side of the football in 2008. Eight of the 10 ten schools in the Midwest Conference will have an All-Conference linebacker on their roster this season, including two-time defending league champ St. Norbert. The league coaches tabbed the Green Knights as the favorite for a third consecutive championship in the 2008 MWC Football Preseason Coaches Poll. Several of the Green Knights’ top offensive players from a year ago are gone, but All-MWC linebackers Alex Noskowiak and Scott Wuensch return to anchor the middle of Jim Purtill’s (right) 4-2-5 scheme.

Monmouth finished second in the poll, receiving the three first-place votes that did not go to St. Norbert. Ripon was the clear-cut choice for third, as the Red Hawks were ranked third or better on every coaches ballot. Lake Forest edged Carroll by a single vote for fourth-place, while Illinois College and Lawrence followed in sixth and seventh, respectively. Beloit, Knox and Grinnell rounded out the poll in order.

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New Grinnell head coach Max Hawsey will be joined by three new assistant coaches when the Pioneers take the field this fall.

Among those are alumnus Jeff Pedersen, who takes over as defensive coordinator as well as coaching the team’s linebackers. Pedersen replaces Zach Fletcher and will also serve as director of the College’s Fitness Center. Other new assistants are Nick Merklin, Nolan Swett and Cody Robertson.

Pedersen returns to Grinnell after serving on the Pioneers’ staff from 2003-2006. He earned a degree in history in 2002 after which he earned his master's degree in sports management from the United States Sports Academy.

Pedersen most recently served as offensive coordinator and head strength and conditioning coach at The Catholic University of America. He also served as tight ends and wide receivers coach at the school from 2006-2007. Prior to that while at Grinnell, Pedersen served as the Pioneers' offensive coordinator, head strength and conditioning coach and Fitness Center director. Before that, Pedersen was an assistant coach at the University of Chicago for the 2002 season.

Swett and Robertson both were at Colorado College while Hawsey served as a coach there. Swett will coach Grinnell’s wide receivers, Robertson the offensive line, and Merklin the Pioneers’ defensive backs.

Merklin wrapped up a stellar career with the Pioneer football team last fall in which he earned All-Midwest Conference honors at two positions, first-team on special teams and second-team at receiver. He started 38 games in his career and three times earned academic all-conference recognition.

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Four new Illinois College assistant coaches will fill a variety of sideline roles for the Blueboys when the 2008 football season gets under way in September.

Richard Worsell, who formerly coached quarterbacks and receivers at Millikin, joins new head coach Garrett Campbell’s coaching staff as offensive coordinator. The other new assistants include Jason Martinez, Ronald Patron II and Caleb Barnes. 

Worsell, a native of Great Britain, spent three seasons at Millikin following a two-year stint as assistant coach at Lakeland where he also coached track. He graduated from Aberystwyth University near London in 2003 and was head football coach at the school for three years. In addition to coaching football at IC, Worsell will coach men’s and women’s swimming.

Martinez will coach the Blueboys’ defensive line and serve as head coach of the Illinois College men’s tennis team. He graduated from Albion College in 2004 and holds a master’s degree in sports studies from Bemidiji State University.

Patron spent the 2007 season as an assistant football coach at Doane College in Nebraska. He graduated from Doane in 2007 and spent several months as a player and coach with an American football team in Paris, France. He will coach the Blueboys’ offensive line.

Barnes was a standout football player at Alma College and started for the 2004 squad that qualified for the NCAA Division III playoffs. As a college freshman, he attended Grand Valley State University and played on the team that won the 2002 NCAA Division II national championship. He also spent a season as an assistant football coach at the high school level in his native Michigan.

Campbell, who was named head football coach at Illinois College in May, also announced that assistant coach Ray DeFrisco has been promoted to defensive coordinator. DeFrisco will also coach the Blueboys’ golf team.

Matt Buenning will join the Carroll football coaching staff in 2008, head coach Henny Hiemenz announced on July 14.

Buenning will take over responsibilities related to the offensive line, replacing Jeff McNamara, who stepped down as the offensive coordinator/offensive line coach in June to become Carroll's new Director of Student Success.

Buenning, a former all-conference and all-region performer at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, comes to Carroll after a year at Manchester College in Indiana, where he was the run game coordinator and offensive line coach. He has also been on the coaching staffs at the University of West Georgia and UW-Whitewater.

In other coaching-related matters, Hiemenz, who will take over offensive coordinator responsibilities, has promoted defensive coordinator Mark Krzykowski to assistant head coach.

Ripon has announced that Bill Kinziger will be joining the football coaching staff for the 2008 season, which will be his first as a collegiate coach. He will be in charge of coaching the Red Hawk linebackers. Prior to coming to Ripon College, Kinziger served as the defensive coordinator at Ripon High School, where he helped the Tigers win two state championships.

After a successful apprenticeship as a top assistant, Garrett Campbell (right) will fill a new role this fall as head football coach at Illinois College.

Campbell, the offensive coordinator at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the past four years, will fill the position left vacant in March when Aaron Keen accepted a coaching position at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

A California native, Campbell earned his bachelor’s degree at California State University at Fuller ton in 1998 and the M.S. in education from Northern State University in 2002. He was an assistant coach at Fuller ton College from 1997-99, Northern State U. in 2000 and Willamette University in 2001 before accepting the offensive coordinator job at Menlo College in 2002. At Menlo, Campbell was instrumental in developing that program in to a consistent leader among the nation’s top Division III offensive teams.

He moved to Carthage in the CCIW in 2004 and was a key member of a coaching staff that posted 31 wins over the past four seasons. The 2004 Carthage team finished 11-2, won the CCIW title and reached the national quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II Playoffs.

The new IC skipper was ranked as one of the nation’s top prospects for a head coaching position by American Football Monthly prior to the 2004 season. Under his direction, Carthage set school records for rushing,, passing and scoring, and moved in to the upper tier of DIII football programs in the Midwest.

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Carroll head coach Henny Hiemenz has announced the appointment of three assistant football coaches for the 2008 season.

Bob Latterman and Steve Koepsel have been tabbed to coach defensive tackles and tight ends, respectively, while Kevin McCoy will be an assistant defensive backs coach.

Latterman joins the Pioneers staff after an impressive playing career at MWC foe, St. Norbert. While a member of the Green Knight football program from 2001-2004, Latterman was part of four MWC Championship football teams and participated in the NCAA playoffs in 2003 and 2004.

Koepsel played as a wide receiver at UW-Oshkosh (1996-1997) and the UW-Platteville (1998) before signing with the Racine Raiders semi-professional football team in 1999. He most recently worked as a strength and conditioning intern at Marquette University and has been on the coaching staffs at two Milwaukee-area high school football programs.

McCoy played safety for four years at the University of Dayton in Ohio. His senior season was named AJ Cohen Flyer of the Year, an award presented to the player who best embodies the team concept. McCoy most recently coached, and taught, at Mason High School in Mason, Ohio. He coached the safeties for the football team.

Carroll senior football player Tyler Vogds (right) closed his career in the Midwest Conference in November, but the 6-6, 247-pounder will now look to continue his career on the gridiron in the NFL. Vogds was invited to the Minnesota Vikings mini-camp as a longsnapper, a position he excelled at while also playing wide receiver for the Pioneers during the past four seasons.

Vogds recently showcased his skills at an invitation-only long snappers camp in Elmhurst, Illinois. Tapes from the workout were distributed to several NFL teams, including the Green Bay Packers, Atlanta Falcons and Vikings.

Vogds’ career collegiate numbers include 54 receptions for 541 yards and three touchdowns.