First-year McNeese head coach not finished with staff

The McNeese State football team on Thursday confirmed four of Sterlin Gilbert’s new hires for his coaching staff.

The team’s Twitter account sent out tweets welcoming offensive coordinator Matt Mattox, defensive coordinator Jim Gush, linebackers coach Brody Trahan and defensive backs coach Nick Graham.

{{tncms-inline account=”McNeeseFootball” html=”<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Cowboy Country welcomes Offensive Coordinator, Matt Mattox! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GeauxPokes?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GeauxPokes</a> <a href="https://t.co/Nxa16cVlAu">pic.twitter.com/Nxa16cVlAu</a></p>— McNeese Football (@McNeeseFootball) <a href="https://twitter.com/McNeeseFootball/status/1080871441342623753?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2019</a></blockquote>” id=”1080871441342623753″ type=”twitter”}}

{{tncms-inline account=”McNeeseFootball” html=”<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Cowboy Country welcomes Defensive Coordinator, Jim Gush!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GeauxPokes?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GeauxPokes</a> <a href="https://t.co/YCe6QpFLwi">pic.twitter.com/YCe6QpFLwi</a></p>— McNeese Football (@McNeeseFootball) <a href="https://twitter.com/McNeeseFootball/status/1080878981866496002?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2019</a></blockquote>” id=”1080878981866496002″ type=”twitter”}}

Two of the coaches who were announced, Mattox and Graham, had already announced that they were accepting positions on McNeese’s staff prior to the school making the confirmation. Three coaches who were on the Cowboys’ staff from last season are reported to be retained: Landon Hoefer, Alec Osborne, and Tyler Bolfing. None of the retained coaches have been confirmed by the school. Coaching roles have not been made public.

{{tncms-inline account=”McNeeseFootball” html=”<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Cowboy Country welcomes Linebackers Coach, Brody Trahan!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GeauxPokes?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GeauxPokes</a> <a href="https://t.co/PGLNsVQ6uA">pic.twitter.com/PGLNsVQ6uA</a></p>— McNeese Football (@McNeeseFootball) <a href="https://twitter.com/McNeeseFootball/status/1080894100302454786?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2019</a></blockquote>” id=”1080894100302454786″ type=”twitter”}}

{{tncms-inline account=”McNeeseFootball” html=”<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Cowboy Country welcomes Defensive Backs Coach, Nick Graham!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GeauxPokes?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GeauxPokes</a> <a href="https://t.co/uAjVrGVHyk">pic.twitter.com/uAjVrGVHyk</a></p>— McNeese Football (@McNeeseFootball) <a href="https://twitter.com/McNeeseFootball/status/1080886540132323328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2019</a></blockquote>” id=”1080886540132323328″ type=”twitter”}}

Mattox comes to McNeese from South Florida, where he had coached with Gilbert for the last two seasons and served as the offensive line coach and run-game coordinator. He also coached with Gilbert at Texas, Bowling Green, and Eastern Illinois. During the 2018 season, USF ran for 208.2 rushing yards and 448.6 yards of total offense per game, but the Bulls also allowed 33 sacks.

Gush comes to McNeese after serving one season as the head coach at Navarro College, a junior college. The Bulldogs finished 6-5 last season. Prior to that Gush spent the 2017 season as NC’s defensive coordinator and the Bulldogs led the Southwest Junior College Football Conference in total defense. Before Navarro, Gush worked at Baylor as linebackers coach.

Trahan comes to McNeese after coaching at Division III Ithaca College, where he worked with linebackers. In 2018, Ithaca finished 8-3 and the defense finished 19th in the country in total defense (259.5 ypg) and eighth in rushing yards allowed (65.8 ypg). Trahan has a connection to Gush, who coached him when he played linebacker at Baylor from 2010-13.

Graham comes from Division II Central Oklahoma, where he spent three years as defensive backs coach. In 2018, the Bronchos finished 8-4. The pass defense allowed 196.2 points per game, intercepted 10 passes and allowed a 59.3 completion percentage (38th in Division II).

There are uncertainties about the staff. For instance, while Gilbert has made it known that he will handle the offensive play-calling duties, it is not clear if Mattox will be the offensive line coach or if that will be another coach’s job.

Because Bolfing, Hoefer, and Osborne’s positions have not been officially announced, the other unknown coaching spots are quarterbacks, running backs, tight ends, defensive line and special teams.

With seven coaches having spots and 10 as the maximum on-field assistant coaches allowed by the NCAA, that leaves three spots left and five positions unfilled. It is likely that a few coaches already named will pull double duty, with one coach probably taking the role of special teams coordinator.

It is not known when Gilbert will introduce the coaching staff.cowboy country graphicAmerican Press