Bowling Green State University Athletics
Clawson Finalizes Coaching Staff
March 25, 2009 | Football
March 25, 2009
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Bowling Green State University head football coach Dave Clawson has announced the hiring of Mark Carney, Mike Elko and Adam Scheier to complete his coaching staff for the 2009 season.
Carney will coach the wide receivers, while Elko will serve as the team's co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach and Scheier will be the co-special teams coordinator and tight ends coach.
Mark Carney
Wide Receivers
Fordham, 2002
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Carney will begin his first year as the wide receivers coach at Bowling Green.
Carney, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, brings several years of Ohio recruiting experience to the Orange and Brown. The first year Falcon coach also helped mentor a former Richmond quarterback to NFL status and played under Dave Clawson at Fordham, earning all-league honors as a quarterback in 2001.
This past season Carney coached wide receivers at Richmond, where he helped the Spiders to the FCS National Championship. Under Carney's teaching, Kevin Grayson led the team with 61 receptions and 853 yards. It was Carney's first year coaching the wide receiver position. He had spent the previous four years as the Spiders' quarterback coach.
As the coach for the Spider signal callers, Carney oversaw the development of former Spider Stacy Tutt and current quarterback Eric Ward into two of the most productive quarterbacks in school history.
Ward finished his sophomore season with a single-season school record 216 completions for 2,341 passing yards -- the fourth-best single-season mark by a quarterback, surpassing the 2,219 yards thrown by Tutt in 2005.
Tutt was a free-agent signee by the New York Jets in the spring of 2006 and graduated from Richmond as the school's all-time single-season leader in total offense with 3,047 yards (828 rushing, 2,219 passing) and 12 touchdowns.
A standout quarterback who earned All-Patriot League and All-American honors in 2001, Carney spent 2002 and 2003 working with current BGSU head coach Dave Clawson at Carney's alma mater, Fordham. While with the Rams, Carney helped guide Kevin Eakin, a program record-holder, to All-Conference honors his final two seasons. Eakin went on to play professionally in the NFL for the N.Y. Jets and Buffalo Bills and for Hamilton in the CFL.
Mark and his wife, Sarah, have one daughter, Devyn (2)
Mike Elko
Co-Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
Pennsylvania, 1999
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Elko begins his first year as the defensive coordinator with the Falcons after holding the same position at Hofstra for the past three seasons.
Elko brings four years of defensive coordinating experience to the Orange and Brown, as well as experience working with BGSU head coach Dave Clawson at Hofstra and Richmond.
Prior to joining the Falcons, Elko coached the No. 1 passing defense in the Colonial Athletic Association last season with Hofstra, holding teams to just 136.8 yards per game through the air.
Hofstra's defense ranked first in the CAA and 11th in the FCS in rushing defense, second in the conference and 15th in the country in total defense, and fourth in the CAA and 37th in the FCS in scoring defense in 2007.
In 2006 Elko directed the defensive backs in addition to his defensive coordinator duties. The Pride's defense ranked in the top half of the conference in total defense, scoring defense, rushing defense and passing defense.
Elko came to Hofstra after two seasons as linebackers coach and special teams coordinator at the University of Richmond. His first recruiting class at Richmond was a large part of the Spiders' 9-4 record, including a 7-1 slate in the Atlantic 10 in 2005. Richmond defeated Hampton, 38-10, in the first round of the I-AA playoffs before dropping a 24-20 decision at Furman.
The Spiders ranked 12th in the FCS in scoring defense, allowing just 17.7 points per game, and 22nd in rushing defense, allowing just 120.1 yards per contest. Before coaching at Richmond, Elko worked with former Spiders Head Football Coach Dave Clawson at Fordham University as his linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator in 2002 and 2003. While at Fordham, Elko coached a defense that led the Patriot League in scoring defense (14th nationally in 2002) and sacks, as well as ranking third with 25 turnovers caused in 2002. In 2003 the Rams led the league in pass defense.
Elko's coaching experience also includes time at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, where he served as defensive coordinator. He also coached at his alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania, directing the secondary. He began his coaching career at Stony Brook in 1999 where he guided the linebackers in the fall and the defensive backs in the spring.
A member of the Penn football team for four years, Elko helped the Quakers win the Ivy League title in 1998. He received a bachelor's degree in history in 1999.
Mike and his wife Michelle, have three children, Michael (5), Andrew (2) and Kaitlyn, who was born in March.
Adam Scheier
Special Teams/Tight Ends
Dartmouth, 1995
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Scheier begins his first year with Bowling Green State University. He will coach the special teams and tight ends for the Orange and Brown.
Scheier, who spent the last seven seasons overseeing the special teams units at Lehigh, was also responsible for the wide receivers position the last four years, in an offensive system much like Coach Clawson will implement for the Falcons. Scheier also spent three seasons as Lehigh's running backs coach.
This past season Lehigh wide receivers finished with the top two spots on the team's reception list, led by Mike Fitzgerald, who had 51 catches, including 11 touchdowns.
In 2007, the Mountain Hawk receivers helped Lehigh average over 200 receiving yards per game, while seven players hauled in a touchdown reception, and seven different receivers caught at least ten passes. 2005's receiving corps - under the direction of Scheier for the first time - was one of Lehigh's best in recent memory. Four players amassed over 300 receiving yards, and 11 different players caught a touchdown pass.
The special teams units have been consistently productive under the direction of Scheier. In 2008, kicker Jason Leo connected on eight of 13 field goal attempts, while averaging 43.0 yards per punt. Lehigh's punt unit finished both the 2008 and 2007 seasons ranked third in the nation in net punting. During his career, Leo became one of 10 football players in league history to earn four consecutive all-league honors. Leo's recognition marked the ninth straight year as a special teams coordinator that Scheier has mentored a kicker or punter to All-League status, a group that includes three All-American nods. In addition, Lehigh's kickoff return unit has led the league and ranked in the top 15 nationally three times in the last four years and Scheier has coached punt return units to top 15 finishes three times in his years as a coordinator.
Scheier came to Lehigh after spending two years at Princeton as the special teams coordinator and wide receivers coach. Prior to his stint at Princeton, Scheier spent three years as an assistant at Columbia, coaching the strong safeties and outside linebackers. He began his coaching career at Dartmouth, assisting with the secondary in 1996 after earning four varsity letters as a free safety for the Big Green and being awarded the special teams player of the year award as a senior.
Scheier earned a bachelor's degree in psychology at Dartmouth and a masters in education at Columbia. Scheier and his wife Erica have three daughters, Callie (7), Riley (6), and Madeline (4), and one son, Brady (2).
