Jan. 4, 2006
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - (Wednesday, January 04, 2006) Newly named Southeast Missouri State University football coach Tony Samuel has announced his coaching staff for the 2006 season.
Joining Samuel at Southeast will be offensive coordinator and assistant head coach Vincent White, defensive coordinator Tim McGuire, wide receiver coach Lorenzo Brinkley, tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator Eric Ravellette, cornerback coach Kenny Wilhite and running backs and special teams coach Chris Norris.
The new coaches will join offensive line coach Mike Chavez who was retained from the prior staff. Another holdover, Damon Bradford, has resigned to accept a job at Cumberland.
White, running backs coach at Delaware State last season, is a former head coach at St. Mary's College in California and has served as an assistant coach at Mansfield, Utah, Arizona State, Southern Methodist, Maryland, Pacific, Tennessee-Martin and Stanford. White is a graduate of Stanford where he was an honorable mention All-American wide receiver in 1982 when he led the nation in receptions.
McGuire was defensive coordinator at St. Norbert last season after serving as head coach at Indiana State from 1998-2004. He also served as a collegiate head coach at Morningside College in Iowa from 1981-1982 and has served as an assistant coach at Navy, Northern Illinois, Kansas State and Nebraska-Omaha. McGuire, who will also coach the linebackers, is a graduate of the University of Nebraska.
Brinkley was a standout player at Nebraska where he played on two national championship teams. He has served the past three seasons as head football coach at Beaumont High School in St. Louis. Brinkley appeared in three state championships while playing for Hazelwood Central High School.
Ravellette comes to Southeast from Western Kentucky University where he served as tight ends coach last season. He has also served as an assistant at New Mexico State where he coached under Samuel. Ravellette was an offensive lineman at Western Kentucky and played on the 2000 Ohio Valley Conference champions, 2002 Gateway Conference champions and 2002 I-AA National champions.
Wilhite served as an assistant coach at Kentucky State last season and is a former assistant at Emporia State, Dodge City Community College and New Mexico State where he coached under Samuel. He is a graduate of Nebraska and played five seasons in the Canadian Football League.
Norris served last season as running backs coach at Jacksonville (Fla.) University after serving the prior three seasons as special teams coordinator and running backs coach at Tennessee State. He also served as an assistant at Northern State in South Dakota. Norris played fullback on two national championship teams at Nebraska.
Chavez joined the Southeast Missouri staff in 2000 after previous coaching stints at Black Hills State, Whittier College and Riverside Community College. He is a graduate of Whittier.
Bradford joined the Southeast staff in 2004 but missed the past two seasons while on active duty with his Army National Guard unit in Iraq. A graduate of Lambuth, Bradford previously coached at Tennessee Tech and Tennessee-Martin.
The new assistant coaches begin their duties today (Jan. 4).
