By ISU Sports Information
NORMAL – Illinois State head football coach Brock Spack made a decision on his vacant offensive coordinator position Tuesday, and announced the assistant coaches Billy Dicken and Dan Clark will share the duties for the upcoming season. Offensive assistant coach Kane Keirnan has also been elevated to work with the wide receivers.
“I don’t see things changing much at all with Billy and Dan as co-coordinators,” Spack stated. “The reason I decided to go that way instead of looking for somebody outside is partly due to timing, but I also don’t want to upset the dynamic of this team with so many players returning on offense. They will both have input on the installation of our packages and will work closely together throughout the week and on game day. I want to keep the scheme as similar as possible and these two have been great for our staff and will do a great job calling plays.”
Dicken is in his third season with the Redbirds and will work with the quarterbacks, after serving as the wide receivers coach in his previous two years at ISU. Dicken was instrumental in the success of All-American wide receiver Anthony Warrum’s record-setting 2015 season, and in his first season in 2014, he mentored senior wideouts Cameron Meredith and Lechein Neblett, who became the first teammates in school history to both haul in over 1,000 receiving yards in a season.
Prior to starting at Illinois State, Dicken spent four seasons across town as a full-time assistant coach at Illinois Wesleyan, working under head coach Norm Eash, and was a member of the staff in some capacity for 12 seasons. As the team’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2013, Dicken helped the Titans advance to the NCAA Division III playoffs for the third time in five seasons and a No. 14 national ranking.
Clark begins his fourth season on the Illinois State coaching staff and his third as the offensive line coach, after previously assisting with the offensive line in 2013. All five starting offensive linemen return in 2015, which bodes well for the Redbird offense in 2016. The unit, anchored by All-MVFC First-Team selection Mark Spelman, led the way for First-Team All-American and two-time MVFC Offensive Player of the Year Marshaun Coprich, who led the MVFC in rushing yards (1,967), touchdowns (23), yards per game (151.3), all-purpose yards per game (166.4) and scoring (11.2) last season.
The Redbird offensive line was a key factor in ISU’s historic success in 2014 and helped in setting 15 school single-season records. ISU also finished the season ranked in the top 10 nationally in rushing yards per game, with 241.3, and No. 9 in scoring offense with 38.3 points per game.
“All of our coaches on the offensive side are very capable of being coordinators, however two of them already have titles,” Spack said. “Lamar (Conard) has a lot on his plate as the recruiting coordinator and Greg (McLain) has to help me with several things as the associate head coach. That is a very cohesive room and I think this setup will work the best to keep things going in the right direction without overextending our coaches.”
Keirnan begins his third season as an assistant coach with the Illinois State football program, after previously playing for the Redbirds and working with the staff as a student assistant. Keirnan has assisted members of the offensive coaching staff with day-to-day coaching and preparation and worked closely with Clark and the offensive line over the past two seasons.
“Kane is an extremely hard worker and has been an invaluable part of our staff over the past few years,” Spack said. “He came back to us highly recommended by the coaches at New Mexico and has done a tremendous job since coming back. I think it will be a seamless transition for us to move Kane into working with the receivers and we will work quickly to replace his open position.”
The Redbirds begin fall workouts on Sunday, Aug. 7, in preparation for the season opener against Valparaiso at Hancock Stadium Sept. 3.
