After naming Danny Freund the new offensive coordinator, UND now turns its attention to hiring a wide receivers coach and offensive line coach. We have to think Coach Freund is going to be able to go out and hand pick his own guys to hire, with the head coach signing off obviously. Freund is a well-known and respected commodity in the coaching ranks of the upper midwest so we are really interested to see who will and has already contacted him about interest in both jobs.
Having said that, we came up with a list of our own regarding potential candidates for both positions. Some of these are guys that we extensively researched and dug up ourselves with no corroboration. So please take this list at face value.
Feel free to comment below on the potential candidates.
In no particular order…
OFFENSIVE LINE
Joe Pawlak (Iowa) – Currently an assistant OL coach and GA for former NDSU offensive coordinator and current Iowa OL coach Tim Polasek, Pawlak served as a GA at Northern Illinois for 2 seasons alongside Jake Landry and is now finishing up his 3rd season for the Hawkeyes.
Jason Emerich (Minnesota) – An offensive quality control assistant for the gophers that has held similar positions at Western Michigan and Syracuse. Played center for Syracuse from 2012-2016.
CJ Irvin (Wisconsin) – Played college ball at Illinois State as an offensive lineman and later served as a student assistant for the Redbirds. GA’d at Houston in 2016 and Texas in 2017 before arriving in Madison this season as a quality control coach on the offensive line for the Badgers.
Hayden Mace (Eastern Washington) – Currently listed as “offensive analyst” and helping out with the offensive line in Cheney. Played college ball as a center at D3 power Linfield College in Oregon.
Jake Claborn (Wyoming) – Offensive GA on the Cowboys staff for the last 3 years working with OL and TE. Has had stops at Central Washington and St. Cloud State in his earlier coaching years.
Matt Battaglia (Kent State) – Played college ball at Northern Illinois and currently works as a GA with the Flashers offensive line coach Bill O’Boyle, whom some of the UND staff has worked with at Southern Illinois. O’Boyle is highly respected by the coaching staff at Memorial Stadium.
Ben Blake (Southeast Missouri State) – In his 3rd season at SEMO, the Redhawks find themselves prepping for a 2nd round FCS playoff game this weekend at Weber State. Blake previously was at The University of Sioux Falls as the OL coach for 2 seasons.
Tim Prinsen (Edmonton Eskimos) – Currently serves as RB coach for the Eskimos and previously also coach offensive line. The Edmonton native was a standout OL at UND in the mid-90’s and was eventually drafted #4 overall in the 1997 CFL Draft. “Bossman” played 8 seasons and won 2 Grey Cups.
Chris Fisk (Central Washington) – Fisk is currently the offensive line coach and co-offensive coordinator for CWU. Prior to that he pit-stopped at Southern Oregon after coaching at the University of Mary for 8 seasons as a longtime OL coach and OC. The Pocatello, Idaho native played college ball at Jamestown.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Jake Landry (Northern Illinois) – The former UND QB is currently in his 2nd stint with former UND OL coach Rod Carey at Northern Illinois. His 1st stop at NIU was as a GA before leaving for D3 Wisconsin-LaCrosse to be the OC for 2 successful seasons, then returning back to NIU as the current RB coach. Admittedly, would be a tough one to pull.
Noah Pauley (Minnesota-Duluth) – The former UMD wide receiver played for Bubba Schweigert at Duluth as a freshman prior to Schweigert’s departure. Since his playing days ended in 2011, Pauley has worked with wide receivers and is currently the OC for the high-powered Bulldog offense that is statistically one of the best in the country in D2. He has called plays there for the last 3 seasons.
Sam King (Minnesota-Duluth) – Started coaching at UND as Offensive Quality Control for 2 seasons before leaving for Duluth as a GA and wide receivers coach. King is highly thought of in the circles of UND’s current staff and is the type of positive, likable, hard working personality that Danny Freund loves. The Grand Forks native played college ball as a QB at Bemidji State.
Greg Hardin (Robert Morris) – The record-setting UND wideout got his coaching start with former UND offensive coordinator Greg Breitbach at D2 Millersville in Pennsylvania for 2 years as wide receivers coach. Hardin just finished his 1st season in the same position at FCS school Robert Morris from the Northeast Conference.
Luke Schleusner (SDSU) – The former UND wideout is a total longshot here given his current position at SDSU but there could be mutual interest for the right price. Schleusner called plays one season at UND in 2013 before the staff was replaced. Since then, has been at SDSU coaching tight ends and special teams on SDSU’s explosive offenses. His recruiting prowess is and has been a huge asset (both at UND and SDSU), specifically in the state of Illinois where he pulled some of UND’s best recruits during his time here.
Matt Johnson (Kent State) – Johnson played college ball at Bowling Green as a QB in Dino Babers offense before Babers left to take the Syracuse job. Babers of course tutored Jimmy Garroppolo at Eastern Illinois before heading to Bowling Green in yet another high-flying, up tempo offensive system. Johnson was quality control at Syracuse before his current quality control job at Kent State where he works closely with QBs.
Drew Moulton (Minnesota) – Offensive graduate assistant for PJ Fleck in his 2nd season in Dinkytown. Held a quality control position at Eastern Michigan prior to arriving in Minneapolis. Coached wide receivers at Southwest Minnesota State after a B1G playing career at Northwestern.
Brandon Gibson (Central Washington) – Played in the NFL for 4 teams over 6 seasons and competed collegiately at Washington State, Gibson is now in his 2nd season as WR coach at D2 Central Washington.
Shane Ros (Washington State) – Played WR for the Houston Cougars and currently is finishing his 2nd season at Washington State as an offensive GA for Mike Leach. Also handled some GA duties at Houston and Mississippi State for one season each prior to his start in Pullman.
Weston Dressler (Winnipeg Blue Bombers) – This name has been brought up but we aren’t sure where Weston is at in his playing career relative to retirement. “Mr. Electricity” played with Freund at UND and has since been having a stellar career in the CFL where he currently plays for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Seems like he could still play for a few more years if he chooses. Dressler and Freund have a longstanding friendship.
Joel Osborn (Northwest Missouri State) – The Iowa native and former Northwest Missouri State QB is now Co-Offensive Coordinator and has worked with WR and TE for the last 8 seasons at his alma mater in Maryville for the D2 powerhouse.
Kole Heckendorf (St. John’s) – Finishing up his 1st season as OC in Collegeville, Heckendorf is in his 6th season as a Johnnie offensive assistant. The Mosinee, WI native played his college ball at North Dakota State.
