Bowling Green State University Athletics
Brandon Completes Coaching Staff For 2007 Season
February 27, 2007 | Football
Feb. 27, 2007
Bowling Green, Ohio - Bowling Green State University football coach Gregg Brandon has announced the addition of three new full-time members to his coaching staff effective immediately. The fifth-year head coach has named Stephen Bird as wide receivers coach, Vernon Hargreaves as linebackers coach and Doug Phillips as defensive line coach.
"All three have been affiliated with some of the best programs in college football so our players will certainly benefit from their experiences," said Brandon. "They will bring an energy and enthusiasm to our staff that will be evident immediately."
Bird, Hargreaves, and Phillips will join fellow first year coaches Adam Gonzaga (defensive backs) and Matt Campbell (offensive line) on the Falcon staff. Long time staffers Mick McCall (quarterbacks) and Mike Ward (defensive line) were promoted to offensive and defensive coordinator respectively. Recruiting coordinator/tight ends coach Troy Rothenbuhler is back for his fifth season at BGSU and John Hunter enters his second year as the running backs coach.
Stephen Bird, Wide Receivers
Bird joins the Falcons after spending the last two seasons at his alma mater Eastern Kentucky. A former All-American for the Colonels, he coached wide receivers in 2006 and tight ends in 2005. In 2005, he saw tight end Patrick Bugg earn All-American honors after leading the OVC in TDs.
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From 2001 to 2004, he served as passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach at West Virginia University. He coordinated the passing game for an offense that produced 20,000 yards of offense and 133 TDs from 2002 to 2004. In 2003, he saw one of his players earn Big East Rookie of the Year and during his tenure, his top pupil also averaged 900 yards and scored 22 times in his career. In addition, the team went to three straight bowl games (2002 Continental Tire Bowl and 2004 and 2005 Gator Bowl).
A native of Corbin, Ky., Bird helped EKU win national championships as a player in 1979 and 1982. His collegiate career culminated in 1982, when he was named a Kodak All-American, as well as the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year and Male Athlete of the Year. After graduating from Eastern in 1983, Bird was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the NFL Draft. He enjoyed a four-year stint in the NFL, playing with the Cardinals and San Diego Chargers. Bird returned to EKU in 1987 as a wide receivers coach. He went on to work as a graduate assistant coach at Kentucky (1990-91) and Tennessee (1992), before joining Pittsburgh as a wide receivers coach (1993-95). His road to West Virginia included stops at Kent State, Tulane and Middle Tennessee State. At three of his coaching stops, Bird worked with the school's all-time leading receiver - Pitt, Middle Tennessee and Kent State. Bird's father, Jerry, starred for the Kentucky Wildcats and led UK basketball to a 25-0 record in 1954. Bird received both his bachelor's and master's degrees from EKU. He and his wife, Lisa, have two children, Ryan and Madison.
Quoting Coach Bird on coming to BGSU: "I think the first thing is you look at the people you get to work with. You look at Coach Brandon and Mick McCall and those are two big reasons of why I wanted to come here. When you surround yourself with good people you are going to have a great working environment. Right now I feel with the reputation of this spread offense and the receivers we have here, I look forward to helping this program out."
Vernon Hargreaves, Linebackers
Hargreaves comes to BGSU after spending last season at Florida International University. Prior to that, he had a successful eight-year stint at the University of Miami. At FIU, he coached Lombardi Award nominee Keyonvis Bouie. At Miami, Hargreaves is credited with molding some of the nation's finest linebackers, including 2000 Butkus Award winner Dan Morgan and 2004 first-round draft choices Jonathan Vilma and D.J. Williams, as well developing the UM defense into one of the nation's top units over the last five seasons.
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For six consecutive years at Miami, one of his linebackers led the team in tackles and in 2003, Hargreaves shaped a unit that produced two of the 11 semi-finalists for the Butkus Award. Hargreaves went to UM after 13 seasons on the staff at the University of Connecticut, where he was outside linebackers coach from 1985-89 and inside linebackers coach from 1989-97. While there, he was crucial in the development of linebacker Paul Duckworth who was a sixth-round pick of the Green Bay Packers in 1994.
A native of New Haven, Conn., Hargreaves attended UConn and received a bachelor's of science degree in sociology in 1986. He was a star linebacker for the Huskies from 1980-83, and was recognized as an All-American twice, earning honorable mention accolades in 1982 and third-team honors in 1983. Hargreaves was a two-time All-Yankee Conference first-team selection and tri-captain of the 1983 Connecticut team. He ranks fourth on the UConn career tackles list and holds two of the top-10 single-season tackles marks. One of only six Huskies to register 20 tackles in a single game, he signed a free agent contract with the Cleveland Browns and played professional football in Italy. In 1998, he was named a member of UConn's 100th Anniversary Team commemorating the greatest players in the football program's first century. Hargreaves and his wife, Jackie, are the parents of three children: daughter Carina, son Vernon III and daughter Channelle.
He will be inducted in the inaugural class of New Haven's Hillhouse High School Athletic Hall of Fame this March.
Quoting Coach Hargreaves on coming to BGSU: "Obviously the MAC is a great conference that continues to build a stronger national profile. BGSU has had a number of great coaches come through here and I am excited to be part of the tradition. I'm especially looking forward to coaching in this part of the country. Hopefully, I can bring to Bowling Green is a little bit of an attitude to the linebacker position. I want to get those guys to play with a lot of confidence."
Doug Phillips, Defensive Line
Phillips joins the Falcon staff after spending last season as the defensive quality control coach at Ohio State. He was part of a staff which won the Big Ten championship and played in the BCS title game. Last year, the Buckeyes were fifth in the country in scoring defense. On the field, he assisted with the Buckeye linebackers which included All-American and Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner James Laurinaitis.
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He enters his 20th year in the coaching profession. He worked for 15 years at the high school level, including nine as a head coach. In addition, he spent two years at Youngstown State with Jim Tressel, while earning his masters degree. He coached tight ends, defensive backs and running backs/kickers during his stay. Under Tressel, Phillips has coached in three national championship games including this past season at OSU and in 1992 and 1991 at YSU. The Penguins won the Division IAA title in 1991.
A native of New Middletown, Ohio, and a 1991 graduate of Toledo, Phillips led his high school alma mater, Springfield Local, to back-to-back state playoff appearances. His 1999 team won the first of consecutive league championships and made the first of those two playoff appearances, while his 2000 squad went undefeated in the regular season and returned to the postseason, where it to the state quarterfinals. After four years at Springfield Local (1997-2000) Phillips moved onto Salem High School, where he spent five seasons (2001-05) and guided his teams to better records every season, culminating with a league runner-up finish in 2005. In addition, he guided the school to consecutive winning records in 2004 and 2005, a feat that was accomplished for the first time in 30 years at the school.
While an undergraduate student at Toledo, Phillips got his coaching career started at Toledo St. Francis DeSales and Sylvania Northview. After earning a bachelors degree in education from UT in 1991, he received a master's degree in educational administration from Youngstown State in 1995.
Quoting Coach Phillips on coming to BGSU: "I think you always look at a school that brings great tradition and Bowling Green has shown that it can win championships and be among the best in its league. That makes this an attractive situation. With the new facilities, the outstanding young players and a great coach like Gregg Brandon it is a great opportunity that I am very excited about."
