June 26, 2007
Head coach Jeff Voris completed his 2007 Butler football staff with the addition of three new part-time assistant coaches. Voris also announced the internal promotion of second-year assistant coach Frank Smith to offensive coordinator for the Bulldogs.
Joining the Bulldogs this season will be running backs coach Geoff Roell, cornerbacks coach Nick Anderson and wide receivers coach Danny Sears. The trio will replace departed staff members David Blackburn, Adam Webb and Ty Henderson. Blackburn accepted a scouting position with the Baltimore Ravens, Webb took on a full-time teaching load and Henderson entered private business.
Roell is joining the Bulldogs' staff after spending four seasons as varsity running backs coach in the Perry Township school district. He coached for three seasons (2003-05) at Southport High School and for one season (2006) at Perry Meridian High School. A former player on Roncalli High School's state championship football teams in 1993 and 1994, Roell earned a football scholarship to the University of Toledo, where he earned his degree in 2001.
Anderson spent two seasons as an assistant football coach at Manual High School in Indianapolis (2003-04) and one year as an assistant coach at LaVille High School in Lakeville (2005). He began his collegiate playing career at Eastern Kentucky University in 1997, before transferring to Quincy University, where he was a starting defensive back. Anderson, who earned his degree from Quincy in 2003, has played semi-pro football with the River City Rampage (NIFL), the Indiana Tornados (NAFL) and the South Central Broncos (IFL) for the past four years.
Sears, a former standout wide receiver at Franklin College, was a three-time, first team All-Heartland Conference wide receiver (2004-06) and a two-time conference Special Teams MVP (2004 & 2006) as a punt and kick returner. He finished his collegiate career with over 2,000 receiving yards and 20 career touchdown catches. The four-year varsity letterwinner for the Grizzlies compiled over 5,000 all-purpose yards, before wrapping up his collegiate career last fall.
Smith joined the Bulldogs last fall as offensive line coach. He previously had served as a graduate assistant coach at Miami (Ohio) for two years. He was a three-year starting offensive lineman at Miami and the team's Offensive Lineman of the Year in 2001. He'll continue to have responsibility for the Bulldogs' offensive line.
Butler will begin its second season under Voris on Sept. 1, when the Bulldogs host Albion College in a 1 p.m. (EDT) contest at the Butler Bowl.