User:Fjbfour/NUCoaches

Tim Beck
Tim Beck is the Running backs Coach for the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers football team.

Early life
Tim Beck was born in Youngstown, Ohio on March 14, 1966, and graduated from Cardinal Mooney High School. Both current Nebraska Head Football Coach Bo Pelini, and his brother Carl Pelini who currently serves as Nebraska's Defensive Coordinator, also graduated from Cardinal Mooney.

Playing career
Beck played for two years at Central Florida, in 1984 and 1985, and graduated from UCF in 1988 with a Bachelor's Degree in Liberal Arts.

Coaching career
Beck began his football coaching career as an Assistant Coach in 1988 at Miramar High School in Miramar, Florida. After two seasons, Beck advanced to the college coaching ranks by taking a position as outside linebackers coach and punters coach for the Redbirds of Illinois State. Just one year later, Beck moved to his first position at a Big 12 Conference school when he was brought into the Kansas State program as a graduate assistant by Wildcats head coach Bill Snyder. It was at Kansas State that Beck first worked with future Nebraska colleague Carl Pelini.

Following his two years at Kansas State, Beck assumed his first head coaching position in a return to the high school ranks, when he was appointed to lead the Sabercats of Saguaro High School in Scottsdale, Arizona. The Sabercats had struggled for some time prior to his arrival, its record only 5-43 in the previous five years. In his third year at Saguaro, Beck led the Sabercats football team to the 1995 Arizona divisional state championship title, the first ever in the school's entire 30-year history, while assembling a 23-4 record during his tenure.

With his first head coaching title realized, Beck returned to the college coaching ranks in 1996 by accepting an assistant coaching position at Missouri State, and was promoted to Offensive Coordinator for the 1998 season. In his one year as MSU's offensive coordinator, the Bears amassed 4,542 all-purpose offensive yards, the fourth-highest mark in the university's 91-year history.

The position of head coach called Beck back to the high school ranks in 1999 when he was hired to lead the Turner Lions in Carrollton, Texas, where he led the school to its first consecutive winning seasons and playoff appearances in 25 years, being named the district's coach of the year in 2000. Beck was then appointed to the top position at Mansfield Summit High School in Mansfield, Texas in 2002, where he was named their district coach of the year in his second season. Improving on the 2003 recognition, Beck led the Jaguars to the 2004 Texas state playoff quarterfinals and a 9-4 record, finishing the season with the highest rated defense in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area.

Kansas
In 2005, Beck returned to the college football coaching arena by accepting the position of wide receivers coach at Kansas. The Jayhawks had been struggling for consistency, posting no wins in 2002, losing the bowl game in their 6-7 campaign of 2003, and missing bowl eligibility in the 4-7 season of 2004. Beck's receivers helped the 2005 Kansas team to a 7-5 record and their first bowl win since 1995. In 2006, four different Jayhawks receivers caught 24 or more passes, though the 6-6 team was not extended a bowl invitation. In 2007 Beck was also appointed as the Passing Game Coordinator at Kansas, and the season proved to be a breakthrough year for the Jayhawks. Kansas finished 12-1 with the second-best scoring offense nationally, shared the Big 12 Conference North division title with Missouri, and secured a final #7 ranking in both the AP and Coaches polls with their 24-21 win over #5 Virginia Tech in the 2008 Orange Bowl.

Nebraska
When Bo Pelini was named as Nebraska's 32nd head football coach for the program's turnaround 2008 season, Beck accepted the position of running backs coach for the Cornhuskers. In his first season, the Cornhuskers averaged 169.8 running yards per game, with three of the team's running backs amassing over 450 yards on the year and placing Nebraska as the leading ground yardage team of the conference's north division. 2009 saw the average fall slightly to 147.1 running yards per game, but thanks in part to Nebraska's effective defensive game this was still enough to outgain all but three of the season's opponents on the ground. RB Roy Helu Jr. recorded 1,147 yards on the year, while two Cornhusker true freshman backs secured a pair of touchdowns each for the first time since 1993.

Nebraska's 2010 ground offense has been revitalized further by the emergence of redshirt freshman QB Taylor Martinez, who is on pace after the season's first nine games to be just the third freshman quarterback in NCAA history to record over 1,000 yards on the ground, already accumulating over 900 yards on the year. Overall, Nebraska has surged into the nation's top rushing ranks with an average of 290 ground yards per game through the season's first eight games. The 451 yards accumulated against Kansas State was Nebraska's highest total in 109 games.

Ron Brown
Ron Brown (born November 28, 1956) is the Tight Ends Coach for the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers football team.

Early life and Education
Ron Brown was born in New York City, NY, and was raised in Massachusetts, where he attended Martha's Vineyard Regional High School in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts.

Brown received a Sociology Bachelor's degree from Brown University in 1979, followed by a Health Administration Master's degree from Columbia University in 1982.

Coaching career
After graduating from Columbia in 1982, Brown began his coaching career as the Defensive Coordinator for the New Jersey Rams, a semi-professional football team of the Mid-America Football League. Brown stayed only for the 1982 season.

Just one year later, Brown returned to his first alma mater, Brown University, as the Head Freshman Coach for the Brown Bears football team. The next year, Ron Brown was promoted to Assistant Coach, responsible for the defensive backfield. He also assumed the additional role of Assistant to the Athletic Director during 1986, which was his final season at Brown University.

Ron Brown was subsequently hired by Tom Osborne, Head Coach at the University of Nebraska, as the Wide Receivers Coach and Tight Ends Coach for the 1987 season. Brown then spent the next fifteen years at Nebraska, during the reign of one of the most prolific and successful dynasties in college football history. During that time, the Nebraska Cornhuskers compiled a remarkable 177-37-1 record, won or shared nine conference titles, and won or shared three national titles.

During this time, twenty-seven athletes under Brown's direction at Nebraska were successfully able to move on to the next level and join the National Football League, including 1992 NFL Draft first-round pick Johnny Mitchell, two-time Pro Bowl player Tyrone Hughes, and second-team All-American Sheldon Jackson. Brown also coached two CoSIDA Academic All Americans and thirty-four academic all-conference players.

Nebraska was known for its running and option-based offensive schemes during this time, yet Brown's receivers led the Big XII in touchdown receptions three times between 1987 and 2003.

Despite helping Nebraska with these and other successes, Brown was let go following the 2003 season along with nearly all of the other assistants after the controversial firing of Nebraska Head Coach Frank Solich, who had completed six years as Tom Osborne's hand-picked successor.

While out of coaching, Brown stayed involved in the sport by working for ESPN and Sports Spectrum, covering college and high school football.

When Solich's successor, Bill Callahan, was himself fired after the 2007 season, Brown was invited to come back to his coaching career and rejoin the Cornhuskers by new Head Coach Bo Pelini, who himself was among the assistants let go from Nebraska after 2003. In his first year back, Brown's receivers helped Nebraska finish 12th nationally in total offense.

Personal life
Brown is well-known for his outspoken advocacy on many social issues, and has authored several books. Brown and former Nebraska football player Stan Parker co-founded Mission Nebraska, a Christian radio-based ministry which also oversees various other efforts, and Brown still hosts Truth Vision, a Mission Nebraska weekly cable television show.

During Brown's time out of coaching, he served all four years with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) as the Nebraska State Director. Since restarting his coaching career, Brown still serves as a regular columnist for FCA's monthly magazine Sharing The Victory, and also is the host of FCA's national weekly radio show.

Barney Cotton
Barney Cotton is the Associate Head Coach and Offensive Line Coach for the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers football team.

Early life
Barney Cotton was born in Omaha, Nebraska on September 30, 1956, and graduated from Omaha Burke High School.

Playing career
Cotton's college playing career began in 1975 at University of Nebraska after the conclusion of his high school career at Omaha Burke. He played his first two seasons as an Offensive Lineman, then spent the next season on the other side of the ball, playing Defensive Tackle. In his senior season, he returned to the offensive line, earning All-Big-Eight honors while helping Tom Osborne's 1978 team to a league championship. .

Cotton was a third-round pick in the 1979 NFL Draft and played for one season with the Cincinnati Bengals before moving to the St Louis Cardinals. In 1982, after three seasons with St. Louis, a knee injury forced his retirement. Cotton then returned to Nebraska, completing a bachelor’s degree in 1983.

Coaching career
Cotton began his football coaching career in 1989 when he joined the staff at St. Cloud State as the Offensive Coordinator and Offensive Line Coach, helping St. Cloud State to a North Central Conference championship that same year. Cotton was also a student of St. Cloud State during his coaching career there, completing his Master's Degree in Athletic Administration during his last year as their coach in 1994.

In 1995, Cotton was appointed as Head Coach for the first time in his career, back in his home state of Nebraska, at Hastings College. In 1995, Hastings College won the Nebraska-Iowa Athletic Conference (NIAC) championship and made an appearance in the NAIA playoffs, and Cotton was named NIAC Coach of the Year.

In 1997, former Nebraska Cornhuskers player and New Mexico State Head Coach Tony Samuel hired Cotton to the same position he had held at St. Cloud State; Offensive Coordinator and Offensive Line Coach. Although championships eluded New Mexico State during Cotton's six years with the program, the production of his offensive players generated impressive statistics. New Mexico State ranked nationally in the top 25 in overall offense in 1998, 2000 and 2002, and was ranked nationally in the top 25 in rushing offense for all six years. In his final season, New Mexico State led the Sun Belt Conference in passing efficiency, rushing offense and total offense. Six New Mexico State linemen earned All-Sunbelt Conference Honors during Cotton's tenure.

Cotton embraced an opportunity to return once again to his home state when he was hired by Nebraska Head Coach Frank Solich, once again to serve as Offensive Coordinator and Offensive Line Coach, and helping Nebraska finish with a 10-3 record in 2003. Despite helping Nebraska to a national top ten rushing offense and mentoring four linemen to earn All-Big 12 Conference honors, Cotton was let go along with nearly all of the other assistants after the firing of Solich following the 2003 season.

Iowa State promptly hired Cotton in 2004, once again as Offensive Coordinator and Offensive Line Coach. In his first season, Iowa State overcame a soft start by finishing strong and defeating Miami (OH) in the 2004 Independence Bowl. Over the following two years, Cotton guided several Iowa State players to Big 12 Conference honors before he found himself once again let go after another coaching change. He spent the following year remaining in Ames Iowa, as a volunteer coaching assistant at Ames High School, while awaiting the right opportunity to present itself.

That opportunity did not wait long, as once again a coaching change would influence Cotton's future. This time, it was back at Nebraska, where Frank Solich's successor, Bill Callahan was fired after four seasons. Former Nebraska Defensive Coordinator Bo Pelini, who had also been let go along with Cotton following Solich's dismissal, was named Callahan's successor as Head Coach at Nebraska. Cotton accepted Pelini's offer to return as Offensive Line Coach and also to take on the title of Assistant Head Coach, to draw upon his prior head coaching experience and assist Pelini with some of the administrative responsibilities of the head coaching position. Cotton was one of several other familiar names formerly associated with the Nebraska program that were brought back by Pelini.

Mike Ekeler
Mike Ekeler (born October 4, 1971) is the Linebackers Coach for the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers football team.

Early life
Mike Ekeler was born in David City, Nebraska, a small city in east central Nebraska and graduated from Blair High School in Blair, Nebraska in 1990.

Playing career
Ekeler played both sides of the ball at Blair High School, as a wide receiver and linebacker. The Blair High School team won the Class B Nebraska State Championship in 1988, his junior year.

After the conclusion of his high school playing career, Ekeler played for Kansas State as a linebacker under Bill Snyder from 1991 to 1994, lettering in three of his four years there. Ekeler was appointed as a team captain by Snyder in 1994, and was the only player ever appointed captain by Snyder during the coach's entire seventeen-year head coaching career at Kansas State. Coincidentally, during Ekeler's first year playing at Kansas State, future fellow Nebraska Assistant Carl Pelini was early into his coaching career, putting in his third and final year on the Kansas State coaching staff.

Ekeler concluded his time at Kansas State by obtaining his Bachelor's degree in Social sciences in 1995

Coaching career
After seven years in private business for himself, Ekeler returned to the game when he began volunteer coaching for V. J. and Angela Skutt Catholic High School in Omaha, Nebraska from 1999 to 2001, and as an assistant coach at Manhattan High School in Manhattan, Kansas in 2002, back in the town where he had played for Kansas State almost a decade before.

In 2003, Ekeler's first opportunity to rise to the college ranks presented itself when he was invited by Oklahoma Head Coach Bob Stoops to join the staff as a Graduate Assistant, working under Co-Defensive Coordinator Bo Pelini. Oklahoma played for the BCS Championship in both of Ekeler's seasons at Oklahoma, while posting a two-year record of 24-3.

When Bo Pelini moved to LSU to work under Les Miles beginning in 2005, Ekeler followed and continued working under Pelini as a Graduate Assistant, and success followed. In their first year, LSU finished with national top ten rankings in all defensive categories. In 2006, the LSU squad bested defensive records set in 1976 as LSU led their conference in six defensive categories and ranked nationally in four. 2007 brought even greater success, as Ekeler moved into a position as a coaching intern, and LSU rolled to a 12-2 record and won the BCS Championship, marking the third time in five years that Ekeler had been part of a team playing for the BCS title.

At the conclusion of the 2007 season, Pelini was hired to replace Head Coach Bill Callahan at Nebraska. Many former Nebraska assistants who were let go upon Callahan's hire four years prior were brought back into the program, and being a Nebraska native and also a valued team member at LSU, Pelini brought Ekeler back to his home state of Nebraska, along with a promotion to Linebackers Coach, for the 2008 season.

Ted Gilmore
Ted Gilmore is the Assistant Head Coach, Wide Receivers Coach and Recruiting Coordinator for the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers football team.

Early life
Ted Gilmore was born in Wichita, Kansas on March 21, 1967, and graduated from Wichita South High School, where he lettered in football, basketball and track.

Playing career
Gilmore's college playing career began in 1986 at the Butler Community College, where he played Wide receiver, after the conclusion of his high school career at Wichita South. He transferred to Wyoming after two years, earning second-team All-Western Athletic Conference honors in his senior year. Two years later, in 1991, he completed his bachelor’s degree in Sociology at Wyoming.

Coaching career
Gilmore began his football coaching career in 1994 at his alma mater Wyoming, as a Graduate Assistant coach under Joe Tiller. He worked with the tight ends and Wide receivers, including two-time All-American and Biletnikoff Award winner Marcus Harris. In 1997, Gilmore was promoted to Wide Receivers Coach, and served another two years at Wyoming.

Gilmore spent 1999 as the Tight Ends Coach at Kansas, and the following year served as Tight Ends Coach at Houston, before rejoining Tiller at Purdue as Wide Receivers Coach in 2001. Gilmore coached all-time NCAA reception leader Taylor Stubblefield as well as Big Ten all-time career receptions leader John Standeford.

In 2003, Gilmore was hired by Colorado, again as Wide Receivers Coach, and worked alongside Shawn Watson, with whom he would later work with at Nebraska. While at Colorado, Gilmore coached all-Big 12 and future Seattle Seahawks receiver D. J. Hackett to a school record 78 receptions as a senior.

Since being hired by then-Head Coach Bill Callahan in 2005, Gilmore has served as Wide Receivers Coach at Nebraska, while also serving as the coaching staff's Recruiting Coordinator. Since joining Nebraska, receivers Terrance Nunn and Maurice Purify finished ranked as the #2 and #5 career receivers at the University, with Nunn finishing just seven yards short of the all-time school record held by Johnny Rodgers and Purify finishing just short of the school's all-time receptions record. In 2007, the Nebraska receivers helped the team to a #8 national ranking in passing offense and a #11 ranking in total offense. At the conclusion of the 2007 season, Gilmore was retained in his previous duties by new Nebraska Head Coach Bo Pelini while also being promoted to Assistant Head Coach.

John Papuchis
John Papuchis (born April 23, 1978) is the Defensive Ends coach for the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers football team.

Early life and Education
John Papuchis was born in Gaithersburg, Maryland. He graduated from Quince Orchard High School in 1996, where he was a three-sport athlete, including three years on the Varsity baseball team where he earned All-Montgomery County honors as a junior and senior. He also was the starting quarterback his senior year on the QO football team.

Papuchis received a Business Management Bachelor's degree from Virginia Tech in 2001, followed by a Sports Administration Master's degree from the University of Kansas in 2003.

Coaching career
Following his graduation from Virginia Tech in 2001, Papuchis began his coaching career at the University of Kansas under Head Coach Terry Allen as a Graduate Assistant, working with the Kansas Jayhawks defensive unit, while continuing his studies towards his Master's degree. In his final year at Kansas, he helped the Jayhawks reach the 2003 Tangerine Bowl, which ended Kansas' seven-year drought of bowl appearances.

In 2004, Papuchis accepted a similar position at Louisiana State University, as a Defensive Intern and Graduate Assistant under Head Coach Nick Saban, with additional duties coaching the punters. The following year, with Les Miles taking over for the departed Nick Saban, Bo Pelini joined LSU as Defensive Coordinator. Papuchis remained on the LSU staff under Pelini, and the LSU defense helped the Tigers to a final #6 ranking in both major polls. 2006 saw further improvement, as the LSU defensive unit finished in the top ten nationally in four major defensive categories, and a final #3 ranking on both polls. 2007 was a pinnacle year for LSU as the defense helped the Tigers to win the 2008 BCS National Championship Game. In all, the Pelini years at LSU resulted in the Tigers defense being ranked third nationally from 2005-2007.

Just prior to LSU's 2007 season national championship, Pelini was hired as the new Head Coach for the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers football team. Pelini stayed on at LSU through the championship game with the permission of Nebraska's Athletic Director, Tom Osborne, and then took several of his defensive staff members with him to Nebraska, including Papuchis.

The 2008 season saw a dramatic turnaround in Nebraska's fortunes, particularly on the defensive side of the ball, as Nebraska climbed from the bottom ten defensive teams nationally and a dismal 5-7 record, to a resurgence of the Nebraska Blackshirt tradition as a surprisingly stingy Nebraska defense helped the Cornhuskers to a 9-4 2008 season, a tie for the Big 12 Conference northern division championship, and a post-January 1 bowl victory against Clemson at the 2009 Gator Bowl.

He is in his third season on the Nebraska coaching staff in 2010. Papuchis tutors the Nebraska defensive ends and also serves as special teams coordinator while working with all of the Huskers' special teams units.

In 2009, his defensive ends combined for 127 tackles, including 33 tackles for loss and 12 sacks. With 16 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks, senior Barry Turner was an honorable-mention All-Big 12 selection in 2009, while junior Pierre Allen racked up five sacks and 12 tackles for loss.

Nebraska also owned one of the nation's top special teams units in 2009. The Huskers' kickoff and punt return units both ranked in the top 30 nationally, while All-Big 12 punter and place-kicker Alex Henery had an NU record 24 field goals, while also placing a Big 12-leading 30 punts inside the opponent 20-yard line. The Huskers also ranked in the top 15 nationally in kickoff return defense and third in touchbacks. Henery enters his senior season in 2010 in a position to challenge NU's career records for scoring, field goals and field-goal accuracy.

Along with Henery, Papuchis had another weapon to utilize on special teams in Adi Kunalic. One of the nation's elite kickoff specialists the past three years, Kunalic has ranked among the national leaders in touchbacks for each season, posting 86 career touchbacks including 29 in 2009. Kunalic's performance last year helped Nebraska rank 15th nationally in kickoff return defense, the top average in the Big 12.

In his first year in Lincoln, Papuchis saw starting defensive ends Zach Potter and Allen combine for 26 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks in 2008, with Potter earning honorable-mention All-Big 12 accolades. The defensive ends helped a Nebraska defense that finished second in the Big 12 in total defense.

The special teams unit had a banner year under Papuchis in 2008, headlined by Henery's school-record 57-yard game-winning field goal against Colorado. Henery finished the year 18-of-21 on field goals and missed just one extra point. Henery was a second-team All-Big 12 pick. The Huskers also ranked in the top 25 nationally in punt returns, and returned both a kickoff and punt for a touchdown in the same season for the first time since 1998.

Carl Pelini
Carl Pelini (born July 15, 1965) is the Defensive Coordinator and Defensive line Coach for the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers football team. He is also the older brother of Nebraska Head Coach Bo Pelini.

Early life
Carl Pelini was born in Youngstown, Ohio, a former center of steel production with a strong athletic tradition, and graduated from Youngstown Cardinal Mooney High School (the same high school as Oklahoma Sooners Head Coach Bob Stoops).

Playing career
Pelini had a relatively short playing career, putting in just two seasons at Columbia University in New York City in 1983 and 1984 as a middle linebacker before returning home to finish his degree.

Coaching career
Prior to finishing his first degree, Pelini began his coaching career with a two year stint beginning in 1987 as an assistant at his alma mater, Cardinal Mooney High School in Youngstown.

The following year, 1989, Pelini completed his bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Youngstown State University, and later in the same year was brought aboard the staff at Kansas State University by Bill Snyder as a Graduate Assistant. Two years later he moved up from Graduate Assistant to a position on staff as a Restricted Earnings Coach, while he simultaneously completed his Master's Degree in Journalism at Kansas State. Coincidentally, Pelini's last year on the Kansas State coaching staff was also the first year future fellow Nebraska Assistant Mike Ekeler played for the same team.

Pelini then spent two years out of coaching while finishing his third degree, a Master's in Education, from the Ohio State University in 1993, and then promptly returned to the coaching ranks as the Defensive Coordinator for Blue Valley High School in Overland Park, Kansas for the 1993 and 1994 seasons.

In 1995, Pelini was appointed Head Coach for the first time, while also assuming the role of Athletic Director, at Winnetonka High School in Kansas City, Missouri. During his four year tenure at Winnetonka, he orchestrated a remarkable turnaround for a program that had achieved a winning season only once in the previous 25 years, and his 1997 squad finished 8-2 and led to Pelini being named Suburban Conference Coach of the Year.

In 2000, Pelini was once again tapped to revitalize a suffering high school program and welcomed the opportunity to return to his roots for a short time when he was hired as Head Coach at Austintown-Fitch High School in Austintown, Ohio, Ohio, a suburb of his hometown of Youngstown. Again, Pelini started the resurrection of an unsuccessful program that had gone without a winning season in the previous eight years. Today, Austintown-Fitch High School boasts one of the top high school programs in Northeast Ohio.

Pelini moved back into the college ranks, again as a Graduate Assistant, when hired by Frank Solich at Nebraska, where he worked side by side with younger brother Bo Pelini who had also just been hired by Solich as Defensive Coordinator. At the conclusion of the regular season, despite posting a 9-3 record, Solich was fired by new Nebraska athletic director Steve Pederson. Bo Pelini was named the interim head coach and with the rest of the coaching staff still on board led the Cornhuskers to a 17-3 win over the Michigan State Spartans in the 2003 Alamo Bowl. Bo Pelini interviewed for the Nebraska head coach position, but Pederson instead decided after a 41-day search to hire Bill Callahan, who had just been fired by the Oakland Raiders after a disappointing 4-12 season. Both Pelini brothers departed Nebraska.

Jeff Jamrog, another Nebraska assistant let go following the dismissal of Frank Solich, was hired as Head Coach at Minnesota-Mankato for the 2004 season. Jamrog brought Carl Pelini over as well, hiring him as Defensive Coordinator and Secondaries Coach. Minnesota-Mankato finished 6-5 that year, a major improvement over their winless season the year prior.

The following year, in 2005, after taking a year off to study the game, Frank Solich rejoined the ranks of head coaches when he was hired at Ohio to turn the Bobcat program around, and Pelini accepted a position under his former boss at Ohio, as Defensive Line Coach. 2006 was the year of resurgence for the long-suffering Ohio program, as they finished with nine wins and won the East Division Mid-American Conference title. The 2006 Bobcats also played in the GMAC Bowl against Southern Miss, Ohio's first bowl appearance since 1968.

At the conclusion of the 2007 season, a coaching change again influenced Pelini's career. Bill Callahan, Frank Solich's successor at Nebraska, was fired after four seasons. Carl Pelini's brother Bo was named Callahan's successor and brought Carl with him upon his return. Carl returned to Nebraska, this time in the role of Defensive Coordinator and Defensive Line Coach.

Marvin Sanders
Marvin Sanders (born October 2, 1967) is the Secondary Coach for the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers football team.

Playing career
Sanders played as a defensive back for the University of Nebraska–Lincoln from 1985 through 1989, earning a letter in each of his last three years. He graduated in 1990 with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration.

Coaching career
Beck began his football coaching career as an assistant coach for Nebraska Wesleyan University just two years after he graduated from Nebraska, putting in two years as the Secondary Coach for the Prairie Wolves football team. He was appointed to continue as a Secondary Coach as well as Sports Information Director for the University of Minnesota Morris in Morris, Minnesota for the 1994 season, and then returned to the State of Nebraska as the Secondary Coach for the Mavericks at the University of Nebraska at Omaha for 1995. UNO promoted Sanders to Defensive Coordinator in 1997. During his five-year tenure with the Mavericks, the team won two North Central Conference championships, and made two appearances in the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs.

Sanders was hired into his first Division I-A football coaching position in 2000, when he was named by New Mexico State University Head Football Coach and fellow Nebraska alum Tony Samuel as the Defensive Ends and Outside Linebackers Coach for the Aggies. The following season, Colorado State University Head Football Coach Sonny Lubick named Sanders as the Secondary Coach for the Rams. The Rams went 7-5 in 2001, and defeated North Texas in the 2001 New Orleans Bowl. The 2002 season saw an improvement to 10-4 and a Mountain West Conference championship, though the Rams ended the season with a 3-17 loss to in the.

Nebraska under Frank Solich
Nebraska Head Football Coach Frank Solich brought Sanders back to Lincoln in 2003 amidst a staff shakeup following the Cornhuskers' first non-winning season since 1961. Sanders was now in charge of the defensive backs at Nebraska, where 47 takeaways on the season set a new school record, and the Nebraska Blackshirts set new school and league records with 32 interceptions, the nation's highest-ranked pass efficiency defense, and the nation's second-best scoring defense. Despite the turnaround, Solich was fired after finishing the regular season 9-3. Nebraska Defensive Coordinator Bo Pelini subsequently led the team to a 17-3 victory over Michigan State in the 2003 Alamo Bowl to finish the team's season at 10-3, but he and Sanders, along with nearly all of the remaining staff, were let go after Bill Callahan was appointed as Nebraska's 31st Head Football Coach.

North Carolina
Sanders was named as co-Defensive Coordinator and Defensive Backs Coach at the struggling North Carolina for 2004. After finishing just 2-10 in 2003 before his arrival, Sanders helped the Tar Heels improve to a 6-6 (5-3 ACC) record and posting the lowest yards allowed by a UNC defense in three years. Significant defensive improvement at UNC was not to be found going forward, as the squad finished 14-21 (11-13 ACC) over the three years that Sanders ran the Tar Heels defense. UNC Head Football Coach John Bunting was fired halfway through the 2006 season, and replaced by Butch Davis for 2007. Davis did not retain Sanders in his new staff.

Nebraska under Bo Pelini
After a one-year absence from coaching, Sanders was again brought back to Nebraska following the firing of Bill Callahan after a four year record of 27-22. Callahan's replacement was former Nebraska Defensive Coordinator Bo Pelini, who had also been let go along with most of Frank Solich's staff after 2003. Pelini installed Sanders as the Secondary Coach for the Cornhuskers as part of his effort to turn around a program that had struggled under Callahan. Nebraska's Blackshirts defense improved to rank as the second best in the Big 12 Conference in 2008 after languishing near the bottom of the pack nationally in the years prior. In 2009, two of Sanders' players were named to the All-Big 12 first team, and the Nebraska secondary was among the highest ranked in the nation with the highest-rated pass defense and highest-rated scoring defense, and among the top ten nationally in rushing defense, sacks, and total defense. The 2009 Nebraska secondary intercepted 18 times while only allowing seven touchdown passes all season.

Shawn Watson
Shawn Watson is the Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach for the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers football team.

Early life
Shawn Watson was born in Carbondale, IL on September 21, 1959, and graduated from Carterville High School in Carterville, Illinois.

Coaching career
Watson began his football coaching career as a graduate assistant in 1982 at Southern Illinois; the same school where he had completed his playing career.

His first full time position was at Illinois, where he started as a graduate assistant for two years beginning in 1983 before promotions to Offensive Tackles Coach, Tight Ends Coach and Wide Receivers Coach by 1986. Illinois participated in two bowl games during Watson's time there, including the Rose Bowl following the 1983 season.

Beginning in 1987, Watson coached in various positions at Miami (OH) University across seven years, starting as Wide Receivers Coach, and moving through positions as Tight Ends Coach, Wide Receivers Coach and completing his career at Miami in 1993 as Quarterbacks Coach and Recruiting Coordinator.

In 1994, Watson obtained his first appointment as Head Coach when he was hired to take control of the program where he started his playing and coaching careers; Southern Illinois. SIU had gone 15-29 in the four years prior to Watson's arrival, and his first year was a rough start to his head coaching career as SIU finished 1-10. SIU finished the next two seasons with repeat 5-6 records before Watson moved on, finishing with an overall head coaching record to date of 11-22. During Watson's three year tenure at SIU he produced 20 all-conference players and an NFL-drafted Tight End in Damon Jones.

In 1997, Watson was hired by Head Coach Gary Barnett at Northwestern University as Quarterbacks Coach. When Barnett was later hired as Head Coach by the University of Colorado in 1999, Watson also followed and continued for a year as Quarterbacks Coach. In 2000, Watson was promoted to Offensive Coordinator at Colorado while maintaining his role with the quarterbacks, and remained in that role until Barnett's firing at the conclusion of the 2005 season.

In 2006, Head Coach Bill Callahan hired Watson to the position of Tight Ends Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at the University of Nebraska, and he was subsequently promoted the following year to the same position he had held at Colorado; Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach. When Callahan was fired at the conclusion of the 2007 season, Watson was one of two members of Callahan's staff that were retained under new Nebraska Head Coach Bo Pelini.