Bison to name d-backs coach today

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NDSU has set a 2 p.m. press conference to name its new defensive backs coach. Presumably, it’s Northern Iowa defensive coordinator Chris Klieman (pronounced Kly-man).

Here’s The Forum story from a couple of weeks ago:

North Dakota State head football coach Craig Bohl said Thursday that he has interviewed Northern Iowa defensive coordinator Chris Klieman for the defensive backs position.

 

 Klieman just finished his eighth year with the Panthers, who play in the Missouri Valley Football Conference with NDSU. The Bison are looking for a secondary coach after Brian Ward resigned to become the defensive coordinator at Drake University (Iowa.).

 

 Bohl said he cannot comment if the position has been offered to anybody.

 

 Meanwhile, UNI players linked to Twitter accounts appear to be bracing for losing a coach.

 

 Northern Iowa defensive back Garrett Scott said on his Twitter account “our db coach just left us.” Varmah Sonie, another defensive back, tweeted “imma miss my coach.”

 

 NDSU has had plenty of trouble with UNI defenses in recent years. Last fall, the Panthers sacked NDSU quarterbacks a schoolrecord 11 times and held the Bison to minus-40 yards rushing in a 16-9 UNI victory. In 2008, the Panthers picked off four Bison passes and recovered a fumble in a 23-13 win. NDSU is 0-3 in its Division I meetings with the Panthers. In 2009, the Panthers were fourth in Division I Football Championship Subdivision in scoring defense and led the Missouri Valley in rushing and passing defense. 

4 thoughts on “Bison to name d-backs coach today”

  1. Going from defensive coordinator at UNI to d-back at NDSU? What is the rest of the story?

  2. The talk on the UNI board is that there’s a lot of animosity between HC Mark Farley and his assistants down there and that’s the reason for Klieman’s departure. To be fair he was actually DB coach/co-defensive coordinator down there last year and Farley is a defensive guy so he may be a little more hands on than Bohl is with his defensive staff which could’ve turned Klieman off. I also think it’s a significant pay raise for him but the fact that a UNI alum is jumping ship at UNI for the same (or even slightly lesser) coaching position at NDSU is certainly intriguing.

  3. Another angle that maybe hasn’t been considered yet is that Bohl is willing to pay big bucks to get this guy — because he will tell the NDSU coaches everything he knows about UNI’s system. I’m sure Bohl wants to beat UNI badly, the only current MVFC team they haven’t beat since joining the conference I believe.

  4. Word is that UNI is having some budget issues. They will no longer have a baseball team and the football program has been brought up in discussions of possible cuts. UNI fans have also stated that donations are down from boosters and many of them are getting frustrated with Farley. Sounds as if the HC is a control freak and his coaching staff is getting annoyed with him.