Ligashesky, June Named To BGSU Coaching Staff, Lewis Promoted to DC

Bowling Green, Ohio – Bowling Green State University head coach Scot Loeffler has hired Bob Ligashesky and Cato June to fill out his staff, and has promoted Eric Lewis to the role of Defensive Coordinator.

Ligashesky returns to BGSU as Special Teams Coordinator after most recently holding the same role at Illinois. He was previously an assistant coach at Bowling Green from 1991-99, and will also coach Bowling Green's safeties. June will be the team's Run Game Coordinator and Outside Linebackers Coach, having served as an assistant coach most recently at UMass, overseeing the outside linebackers in 2020.

Bringing 36 years of coaching experience, Bob Ligashesky adds another veteran presence to an already experienced and knowledgeable staff. He has worked on seven NFL staffs as well as Power Five programs at Pittsburgh and Illinois. He has experience in the MAC, serving as outside linebackers coach and special teams coach at Kent State along with his time at BGSU. Ligashesky was also a graduate assistant at Wake Forest and Arizona State.

Ligashesky most recently coached Blake Hayes to the 2019 Big Ten Punter of the Year award. Kicker Chase McLaughlin was the 2018 Bakken-Anderson Big Ten Kicker of the Year after tying for the FBS lead with nine 40+ field goals made and ranking second in the FBS with four 50+ yard field goals. He ended his career ranked first in Illinois history with five 50+ yard field goals, tied for first with perfect extra point accuracy, fourth in field goals made and fourth in field goal accuracy.

Ligashesky spent the first 19 years of his coaching career in college football before spending the next 12 seasons in the NFL. He won a Super Bowl as Special Teams Coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2008 and led outstanding units in Houston and Tampa Bay, where the Buccaneers led the NFL with four blocked punts.

Following a two-year stop at Kent State as outside linebackers/special teams coach, Ligashesky came to Bowling Green in 1991. He initially served as outside linebackers coach until adding the role of special teams coordinator from 1996-98. He was named assistant head coach in 1999 before moving on to the NFL.

Under first year head coach Gary Blackney, Ligashesky made an immediate impact on the Falcons in 1991. The program improved from 3-5-2 to 11-1 in just one season. The Falcons then went 10-2 in 1992 and were 9-2 in 1994. The program went 58-41-2 in his nine seasons, winning a pair of MAC Championships (1991 and 1992).

The Pittsburgh-area native graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) with a degree in sport management, where he was a defensive back and three-year letterman (1982-84). He and his wife, Shelley, have on daughter, Sydney, who was born in 2009.

LIGASHESKY'S COACHING CAREER
2021-pr: Bowling Green (Special Teams Coordinator)
2018-20: Illinois (Special Teams Coodinator)
2016-17: Illinois (Special Teams Coordinator/Tight Ends)
2014-15: Houston Texans (Special Teams Coordinator)
2013: Houston Texans (Interim Special Teams Coordinator/Special Teams Assistant)
2012: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Special Teams Coordinator/Safeties)
2011: Oakland Raiders (Special Teams Assistant)
2010: Denver Broncos (Tight Ends)
2007-09: Pittsburgh Steelers (Special Teams Coordinator)
2005-06: St. Louis Rams (Special Teams Coordinator)
2004: Jacksonville Jaguars (Assistant Special Teams Coach)
2000-03: Pittsburgh (Tight Ends/Special Teams Coordinator)
1999: Bowling Green (Assistant Head Coach/Linebackers/Special Teams)
1991-98: Bowling Green (Linebackers/Special Teams Coordinator)
1989-90: Kent State (Outside Linebackers/Special Teams Coach)
1986-88: Arizona State (Graduate Assistant)
1985: Wake Forest (Graduate Assistant)

Cato June joins the BGSU staff with 10 years of coaching experience, including five at the college level. His NFL career included an All-Pro selected in 2006, propelling the Indianapolis Colts to the Super Bowl.

Cato spent the 2016-19 seasons at Howard University before moving on to UMass in 2020. At Howard, he began as the team's Running Backs Coach and added the title of Recruiting Coordinator for 2017. He remained in that role, while overseeing the safeties and the linebackers over the next three years.

Hired at UMass in March of 2020, June oversaw the outside linebackers in 2020 and was slated to work with the defensive ends in 2021.

In the NFL, June racked up 504 tackles, 20.0 tackles for loss, 26 passes defended and 12 interceptions during an 89-game NFL career with the Indianapolis Colts (2003-06), the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2007-08) and the Chicago Bears (2009). He tallied more than 100 tackles in three consecutive seasons, peaking with 142 over the 16-game regular season in 2006.

June had 26 tackles over four playoff games in 2006, culminating with a seven-tackle outing when Indianapolis defeated Chicago 29-17 in Super Bowl XLI on Feb. 4, 2007.

June played his college football at Michigan and was a sixth-round pick in the 2003 NFL Draft. While playing at Michigan from 1998-02, June established himself as a lockdown defender in the secondary, recording 138 career tackles, 10.0 tackles for loss, 6.0 sacks, eight pass breakups, three interceptions, four forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries. Michigan won 47 games, appearing in three Citrus Bowls, the 1999 Orange Bowl, and the 2002 Outback Bowl.

Following his playing career, June joined the coaching staff at Anacostia High School (D.C.) in 2001. He was promoted to head coach the following year, holding that position until accepting the head coaching job at nearby Charles Herbert Flowers High School before the 2015 season.

JUNE'S COACHING CAREER
2021-pr: Bowling Green (Run Game Coordinator/Outside Linebackers)
2020: UMass (Outside Linebackers)
2019: Howard (Recruiting Coordinator/Linebackers)
2017-18: Howard (Recruiting Coordinator/Safeties)
2016: Howard (Running Backs)
2015: Charles Herbert Flowers High School (Head Coach)
2012-14: Anacostia High School (Head Coach)
2011: Anacostia High School (Defensive Coordinator)

Eric Lewis has been promoted to Defensive Coordinator for the Falcons. Hired by Head Coach Scot Loeffler in Feb. of 2020 to coach the cornerbacks, Lewis has a wealth of experience as a Defensive Coordinator.

Lewis previously served as Defensive Coordinator at both Eastern Michigan (2009) and Weber State (2012-13). He also served a one game stint as Defensive Coordinator for the Falcons during the 2020 season when a handful of the coaching staff was unavailable due to COVID-19 testing and contact tracing.

An 18-year coaching veteran, Lewis has served on staffs at Boston College, Colorado State, Tennessee, Georgia State, Buffalo, Weber State, Eastern Michigan, Louisville, Ball State, Bucknell and Michigan State. Lewis also spent 2006-07 as a Defensive Quality Control Coach with the Green Bay Packers.

He was a four-year starter at San Diego State and finished his career as the Aztecs' all-time leader in career pass breakups. He is the son of long-time college and NFL coach Sherman Lewis and is married to Elizabeth. The couple has three children – Taylor, Harper and Emerson.

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