Idaho football starts to take shape ahead of ’24 season

Jan. 24—Idaho football coach Jason Eck continued to bolster his staff and roster over the last couple of days.

The Vandals signed two new position coaches on Tuesday: Deontae Cooper (running backs) and Hunter Hughes will lead the Sams (outside linebackers) and Nickels (cornerbacks).

Idaho also promoted several members from within its staff, including tight ends coach Tyler Sutton, who will now also coordinate the special teams unit.

Receivers coach Matt Linehan and defensive line coach David Lose added recruiting coordinator and edge coach, respectively, to their resumes.

And last Friday, the Vandals signed nine new players, seven of whom were transfers.

Here’s a look at UI’s additions over the last couple of days:

Hughes brings much experience

Hughes comes to Moscow after spending one season as the defensive backs and quality control coach for the New Orleans Breakers of the USFL.

The Nashville native helped lead the Breakers to a 7-3 overall record, good enough for a second-place finish in the South division.

Before New Orleans, Hughes spent six seasons as the headman at West Texas A&M (DII), where he compiled a 32-29 record.

His best finish as a head coach came in 2021, when the Buffs finished 7-4 overall and 5-2 in Lone Star Conference play.

16 players earned all-conference honors for West Texas A&M in 2021, and freshman linebacker JT Cavender was labeled the conference’s linebacker and freshman of the year.

Before leading the Buffs, Hughes spent a decade coordinating the Colorado State-Pueblo defense.

While leading the Thunderwolves, he was named defensive coordinator of the year from within the Division II ranks by FootballScoop in 2011.

In 2011, Colorado State-Pueblo led all of Division II in scoring defense (12.8 points per game), passes intercepted (29), defensive touchdowns (7), and turnovers (43).

He also led CSUP to…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/idaho-football-starts-shape-ahead-131600422.html

Author : Lewiston Tribune, Idaho

Publish date : 2024-01-24 13:16:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.