Denison University Announces Football Staff

With just under eight weeks until the start of the 2010 Denison University football season, first-year head coach Jack Hatem has announced his coaching staff for the upcoming season.  Below is a listing of each coach, by position.

Mark Watts (Co-Defensive Coordinator/Inside Linebackers)
Coach Watts is back for his eighth year overall and his fifth year since returning to Denison after a year and a half as an Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach at the United States Military Academy at West Point.  In 2010 Watts will also move back into the role as Defensive Coordinator, a position he held previously at Denison from 2002 through 2005.

During his last tenure at Denison, Watts has the Defensive Coordinator and Head Strength & Conditioning Coach from August of 2002 until February of 2005.  Watts coached the secondary, linebackers and finally the safeties in those three years.  While coordinating the defense, Watts helped the Big Red improve in all but one defensive statistical category over the course of three seasons. In 2004, Denison was in the top half of the NCAC conference defensive statistics in seven out of eleven categories including 4th in total defense, 3rd in turnovers and 2nd in Pass Defense Efficiency helping the Big Red earn a 6-4 record, their best since 1991.

Aside from Denison and Army, Watts has had coaching stints at Clarion University (1998-2001) and Allegheny College (2001-02).  

Zack Brent (Co-Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs)
A 2007 graduate of Denison University, Zack Brent returns to the Big Red sidelines after spending the past four seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Colorado and Michigan Tech University.  After graduating from Denison, Brent spent the 2007 and 2008 seasons as the recruiting assistant at Colorado.  In 2009 he moved to the upper peninsula of Michigan as graduate assistant for the Michigan Tech Huskies.  An NCAA Division II institution and a member of the highly competitive Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Brent coached the defensive backs.


In addition to his experiences coaching at Colorado and Michigan Tech, while studying abroad during his junior year at Denison, Brent served as the player development intern for NFL Europe and was the assistant coach for the London Warriors, the London Youth National Team.  In the spring of 2007 Brent also served as a defensive assistant for the Columbus Destroyers of the Arena Football League and in the following spring, Brent had the opportunity to serve as a player/coach for the Swarco Raiders of Innsbruck, Austria where he helped them to the 2008 European Championship.

Frank Little (Offensive Line)
A mainstay on the Denison coaching staff over the last decade has been offensive line coach Frank Little who returns for his 11th season in 2010. Coach Little has been with Denison for two coaching stints in his career. The first spanning 1997-2000 and his present stint which dates back to 2003.

Over the past six years Denison has established themselves as one of the top rushing teams in the North Coast Athletic Conference. In 2008, Little's offensive line anchored the Denison rushing attack that led the NCAC, averaging 203 ypg.  That team finished 6-4 and finished in a tie for third place in the final conference standings.  Little's offensive lines have twice been awarded d3football.com's Offensive Line of the Week, the first coming in 2006 after a 455-yard rushing performance against Kenyon.  The second also came against Kenyon in 2007 when three DU running backs surpassed 100 yards rushing in the game.

A native of Columbus, Ohio, and a 1989 graduate of Ashland University, Little has had coaching stints at Big Walnut High School (1992), Urbana University (1996) and Kenyon College (2001-02).

Jim Cope (Wide Receivers)
Jim Cope enters his 10th season as a member of the Big Red staff and will coach the wide receivers in 2010.  Cope brings over 30 years of coaching experience to the Big Red sidelines.  He came to Denison in 2001 after serving 16 years as an assistant coach at Muskingum College in New Concord, Ohio.  A 1973 graduate of Ohio University, Cope taught health and human physiology at Tri-Valley High School in Dresden, Ohio for 30 years.  He also spent seven years as an assistant football coach at Tri-Valley.

Matt Mrkobrad (Defensive Line)
Matt Mrkobrad returns for his third season on the Denison coaching staff and his first as a part-time coach after spending 2008 and 2009 as a volunteer defensive assistant.  Mrkobrad will coach the defensive line in 2010.  A 2003 graduate of Denison University, Mrkobrad was a 2002 All-NCAC selection at defensive line.  Mrkobrad is currently employed as an attorney for Nationwide Insurance in Columbus, Ohio.  A 2005 graduate of Penn State's Dickinson School of Law, Mrkobrad helped guide Boiling Springs High School (Pa.) to a 10-0 season in 2005.

Jeff Buchanan (Outside Linebackers)
With the 2010 season marking the 25-year anniversary of Denison's 10-0 North Coast Athletic Conference championship season in 1985, it's fitting that Jeff Buchanan, an assistant coach on that 1985 squad, returns to the Big Red sidelines in 2010.  Since leaving Denison after the '85 season Buchanan has gone on to become one of the most successful high school coaches in Central Ohio.  He accepted his first head coaching job at Lancaster Fisher Catholic in 1986 and coached the Fighting Irish for six seasons, preceding current DU head coach Jack Hatem, who took over the reins at Fisher Catholic in 1992.  Buchanan moved on to Newark Catholic in 1993 where he guided the Green Wave to three appearances in the state semifinals and a state runner-up finish in his first season.  In 10 seasons at Newark Catholic, Buchanan won 83 games.  In 2002 Buchanan accepted the head coaching job at Watkins Memorial High School and after taking the Warriors to their first playoff berth in 2006, he moved on to Newark High School, where he guided the Wildcats for the past three seasons.

Buchanan has 141 career coaching victories and is still teaching physical education at Newark City Schools.  He will coach outside linebackers for the Big Red in 2010.

Austin Holter (Quarterbacks)
Austin Holter is another name with plenty of local flavor.  Those who have followed the NCAC are familiar with Holter, most recently as a three-year starting quarterback for the College of Wooster.  Prior to that, Holter was piling up yardage on the ground and through the air as the starting quarterback at nearby Johnstown-Monroe High School.  A 2010 Wooster graduate, Holter spent three seasons as the Fighting Scots' starting signal caller.  He was a two-time All-NCAC selection and in 2009, set a school-record with 2,873 yards of total offense.  His 2,106 passing yards were also a school record.  Holter will coach the the Big Red quarterbacks this fall.

Gary Sitler (Kickers/Punters)
Gary Sitler returns for his 11th season as a volunteer coach of the Big Red's kickers and punters.  A native of Newark, Ohio, Sitler has spent over 20 years teaching kicking and punting at local camps and clinics all over the state of Ohio.  In 2009 he also accepted a volunteer position as a member of the Eastern Michigan University coaching staff where he works exclusively with their kickers and punters.  A 1978 graduate of Wittenberg University, Sitler was part of the Tigers' national championship team in 1975 and was the program's all-time leader in punting for over 30-years.

News Release By:  Craig Hick, Denison SID