Hood Announces First Staff

Murray State head football coach Dean Hood finalized his staff Monday by hiring eight full-time coaches for the 2020 football season. Collectively the staff bring 69 years of coaching experience totaling 46 years at Division I level including nine years of coordinator-level experience. Together, this staff has developed three NFL draft picks, two All-Americans and 28 all-conference selections.

"I am very excited about this coaching staff which brings with it a wealth of experience at all levels of football," said Hood. "They are a great group of coaches, and an even better group of men who will work hard and treat our players like sons."

Details on roots and experience of the new staff below.

Ben Hodges
Position: Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
Twitter: @CoachBHodges
Hometown: Wapello, Iowa
Alma Mater: Central (IA), 2006

A veteran coach with a tremendous track record coaching all three phases of the game, Hodges assumes the duties as the Racers' offensive coordinator. Under the direction of Coach Hood from 2008-15 at Eastern Kentucky, Hodges contributed to Ohio Valley Conference championship teams coaching both wide receivers and tight ends. In addition to offensive experiences at EKU, Hodges served as the linebackers coach, special teams coordinator and held the recruiting coordinator title. Under his leadership as recruiting coordinator, EKU signed 50 All-OVC players. Notable players coached by Hodges include: 2006 All-American tight end Patrick Bugg, 2010 All-OVC wide receiver Orlandus Harris, 2014 OVC Player of the Year running back Dy'shawn Mobley and Super Bowl Champion tight end Matt Lengel.

Hodges spent the 2019 season as the linebacker coach at The Citadel where he coached Willie Eubanks, 2019 Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Year and consensus first team All-American. Prior to his time in Charleston, he spent the 2018 season as linebackers coach and special teams coordinator at Saginaw Valley State, where he coached first team All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference linebacker Mike Alexander. Preceding his time at Saginaw Valley, he coached at Western Illinois two seasons working with the running backs in 2016 and linebackers in 2017.

Johnson Richardson
Position: Recruiting Coordinator/Offensive Line
Twitter: @CoachJJR87
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Alma Mater: Wofford, 2010

A rising star in the profession, Richardson brings eight years of coaching at the FBS level to the Racer coaching staff. At Charlotte, Richardson rose from graduate assistant to position coach -- leading both tight ends and the offensive line for the 49ers from 2012-18. During his tenure at Charlotte, Richardson coached two All-Conference USA selections in offensive lineman Nate Davis and tight end Chris Phillips with the former being a third-round draft pick for the Tennessee Titans. After his departure from Charlotte, Richardson spent a year at Richmond leading their tight ends. Richardson broke into coaching as an assistant coach at Wingate, mentoring the offensive line and long snappers, in addition to shouldering football operations duties. A four-year letterwinner at Wofford, he participated in two FCS playoff appearances and won the 2007 Southern Conference championship.

Evan McKissack
Position: Tight Ends/Running Backs
Twitter: @EvanMckissack
Hometown: Hoover, Alabama
Alma Mater: Troy, 2014

A vital piece to one of the best rushing attacks in the FB last year, Coach Evan McKissack comes to Murray State by way Kentucky where he served as the assistant offensive line coach. McKissack began working with Kentucky in 2017 and contributed to offensive and team success over the past three years. Over that span, the Wildcats won a record 25 games and appeared in three bowl games, beating Penn State and Virginia Tech to take home the Citrus Bowl and the Belk Bowl championships, respectively. Notable players coached include All-American offensive lineman Bunchy Stallings, Logan Stenberg, and George Asafo-Adjei. McKissack also worked closely with 2018 All-American running back Benny Snell. From 2015-16, McKissack coached at Georgia high school powerhouse, Colquitt County where he helped the Packers win the 2015 Class AAAAAA state title, as well as a national championship. As a student-athlete, McKissack earned All-Sun Belt honors as a center for Troy on their way to winning the 2010 Sun Belt championship and the 2010 New Orleans Bowl.

Frederick Walker
Position: Wide Receivers
Twitter: @ThaSignalCaller
Hometown: Canton, Mississippi
Alma Mater: Mississippi St., 2014

David Cutcliffe, Dan Mullen and Neal Brown are all elite coaches whom Walker served with before bringing his wealth of knowledge to Murray as the wide receivers coach. Walker most recently served as the assistant quarterbacks coach at Duke for the past two seasons, where he mentored quarterback Daniel Jones, the No. 6 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. In 2017, he coached the wide receivers at Tennessee Tech, where he mentored All-American wide receiver Dontez Byrd, the first 1,000-yard receiver in school history. Prior to his time at Tech, Walker coached at Sun Belt power Troy as an assistant quarterbacks coach. Walker entered the coaching profession at Mississippi State, where he worked with the quarterbacks and wide receivers and played a key role in the development of All-SEC quarterback Tyler Russell and All-American quarterback Dak Prescott.

Dillon Sanders
Position: Defensive Coordinator/Inside Linebackers
Twitter: @CoachDSanders
Hometown: Lafayette, Colorado
Alma Mater: Northern Colorado, 2010

Another coach with SEC roots, Sanders arrives in Murray after leading the New Mexico linebacker corps during the 2019 season. While at New Mexico, Sanders coached second-team All-Mountain West linebacker Jacobi Hearn. Preceding his time in Albuquerque, Sanders spent three seasons Kentucky as a defensive quality control coach and assistant linebacker coach. At Kentucky, Sanders assisted the development of an elite linebacker corps led by seventh overall draft pick Josh Allen, who won the 2018 Chuck Bednarik Award as the nation's top defensive player. Sanders broke into FBS football working at Utah State as the assistant linebackers coach. While there, Sanders coached two third-round draft picks in Kyler Fackrell and Nick Vigil. He spent five seasons as the offensive coordinator for the Colorado Ice of the Indoor Football League. Sanders began his career as a student assistant coach for his alma mater, Northern Colorado.

Chris Cunningham
Position: Special Teams Coordinator/Outside Linebackers
Twitter: @CoachC_Ham
Hometown: Miami, Florida
Alma Mater: Eastern Kentucky, 2012

Ties between Cunningham and Hood run deep, with Cunningham having both played and coached under Hood at Eastern Kentucky. Prior to arriving in Murray, Cunningham spent two years at Virginia-Wise as the linebackers coach in 2018, before being promoted to defensive coordinator in 2019. At Virginia-Wise, he mentored a trio of all-conference players in linebacker Austin Hicks, defensive back Marcus Tarrer and linebacker Donavan Montague. From 2015-17, Cunningham served as the special teams coordinator and defensive line coach at Lawrence where he coached three all-conference selections in specialist and defensive lineman Jake Gostisha, specialist Alic Riedel and defensive lineman John Koeneman. Cunningham received his first full-time coaching position in the Bluegrass state at the University of Pikeville, leading the linebackers corps for the 2014 season, after previously serving as a graduate assistant at Eastern Kentucky in 2012. At Pikeville, he mentored All-Mid-South conference linebacker John-Dudley Hilton and at Eastern Kentucky a pair of All-OVC defensive backs in Brandon Stanley and Brooklyn Fox.

Yon Boone
Position: Defensive Backs
Twitter: @CoachYonBoone
Hometown: Naples, Florida
Alma Mater: Hamline, 2008

Boone arrives from Colorado Mines having served as the Orediggers defensive backs coach for the 2018-19 seasons. He coached CoSIDA Academic All American Geoff Keating, developed five all-conference selections and won back-to-back Rocky Mountain Athletic conference titles. From 2013-15, Boone led Lawrence University as its defensive coordinator, with seven players earning all-conference selections during his tenure. From 2012-15, Boone served as the defensive associate head coach and special teams coordinator at Saint Anselm. At Saint Anselm, he coached four all-conference selections, two Rookie of the Year selections, as well as first-team All-NEC kicker Shane Grayson. Boone and Hood share a decade-long relationship with Boone having coached linebackers under Hood from 2010-12 at Eastern Kentucky. At EKU, he coached All-American and first-team All-OVC selection, Jeremy Caldwell. Boone began his career at Hamline as a recruiting assistant from 2006-08, followed by a three-year stint at Wofford from 2008-2010 where he was defensive quality control assistant working with the defensive backs.

Darius Hart
Position: Defensive Line
Twitter: @Coach_DHart
Hometown: Poplarville, Mississippi
Alma Mater: Oklahoma State, 2010

Hart comes to Murray after registering back-to-back championship seasons as the defensive line coach for Alcorn State. The Braves' defensive ends under his tutelage played a key role in both championship runs as they led the FCS in both sacks and tackles-for-loss in 2018. A key player on both of those teams that Coach Hart mentored is first team All-SWAC and All-American defensive end Terry Whittington. Moving up quickly through the ranks, Hart has spent time at the junior college level at both Trinity Valley and Pearl River community colleges. Between those stints, Hart led the Missouri Southern State defensive line for two seasons and began his career as the assistant defensive line coach at West Alabama. An outstanding student-athlete in his own right, Hart earned a starting linebacker role under head coach Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State after a successful junior college career.

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