CLARKSVILLE – Austin Peay State University head football coach Mark Hudspeth has announced the first additions to his inaugural staff.
The new staff additions are:
Marquase Lovings - Associate Head Coach/Running Backs Coach
Tim Zetts - Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach
Mark Powell - Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach
Dominique Bowman - Co-defensive Coordinator/Cornerbacks Coach
Eddy Morrissey - Offensive Line Coach/Run Game Coordinator
Chad Bumphis - Wide Receivers Coach
Jordan Frazier - Director of Football Operations
Spencer Grubbs - Director of Recruiting
Lovings comes to Austin Peay after a season as the defensive line coach at Nicholls. Prior to that, he worked with Hudspeth as an assistant at Louisiana for seven seasons (2011-17). He spent his final season with the Ragin' Cajuns as the defensive ends coach, and his first six years as the running backs coach.
As the running backs coach, running backs Elijah McGuire and Alonzo Harris were each All-Sun Belt performers, and McGuire was named Sun Belt Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year in 2014. The tandem combined for 2,071 yards and 26 scores that season, and Lovings was a nominee for the Broyles Award as the nation's top assistant coach.
"Marquase Lovings teams up with me again after we worked together for seven years at Louisiana-Lafayette and went to five bowl games together," Hudspeth said. "He coaches with passion, he's a great recruiter and he'll be a great mentor to these young men every day here at Austin Peay."
Zetts comes to Austin Peay after serving as the assistant wide receivers/offensive skill quality control coach at Mississippi State last season. He spent the 2017 season as the quarterbacks coach at Davidson.
Prior to that, he was the offensive coordinator at John Carroll. The 2016 Blue Streaks squad claimed the Ohio Athletic Conference title and advanced to the NCAA Division III semifinals. The team averaged a shade under 33 points per game and finished the year with a 12-2 record. In 2015, the offense averaged 31.3 points per game, and five offensive players earned All-OAC honors.
He spent three seasons (2012-14) as the running backs coach at Fordham for current Mississippi State head coach Joe Moorhead. In 2014, the Rams won the Patriot League championship, and under Zetts' tutelage, Chase Edmonds won the Jerry Rice Award as the top freshman in the FCS.
A 2009 graduate of the University of Akron with a degree in business and organization communications, Zetts was a backup quarterback for the Zips when they won the Mid-American Conference title in 2005, before leaving in 2007 to compete for the starting job at Saginaw Valley State. He returned to Akron to begin his coaching career as a student assistant at Akron.
"Tim has been an offensive coordinator before and has also been around some of the best offensive minds in college football," Hudspeth said. "He'll bring a wealth of ideas and creativity to this offense, and I know that he'll work well with the coaches we have here."
Powell spent 2018 as a defensive graduate assistant at Mississippi State where he worked with the only defense in the country to finish in the top 10 of all four major defensive categories, ranking first in total defense (263.1 yards per game), second in scoring defense (13.2 points per game), second in rushing defense (95.0 yards per game) and seventh in pass defense (168.0 yards per game).
Powell was the special teams coordinator, defensive line coach and outside linebackers coach at Christopher Newport University in 2017. He spent the two previous years at Villanova as a defensive assistant before being promoted to tight ends coach. He has also been a defensive assistant at Yale and Lafayette.
"Mark Powell will bring a wealth of energy and knowledge to our team," Hudspeth said. "He also is very passionate about special teams, and he will be the defensive coordinator, along with coaching the linebackers. Mark has a lot of great experience that he will rely on to be a big asset to our staff."
Bowman joins the Governors as the co-defensive coordinator cornerbacks coach after spending the past two seasons at UT Martin.
Bowman was elevated to assistant head coach following the 2017 season after the Skyhawks put up one of the best statistical defenses in the FCS. UT Martin finished the season ranked first in red zone defense (60.6 percent), fourth in scoring defense (14.3 ppg), fourth in first downs defense (168), sixth in total defense (273.8 ypg), sixth in third down conversion percentage defense (28.7 percent), eighth in fourth down conversion percentage defense (28.6 percent), eighth in team passing efficiency defense (104.3), ninth in passing yards allowed (159.9 ypg) and 20th in rushing defense (113.9 ypg) nationally.
Before UT Martin, Bowman served as the defensive backs coach at the University of Arkansas at Monticello for the 2016 season. While leading the secondary unit, the Weevils tallied 11 interceptions on the year along with 34 pass breakups.
"Dominique Bowman will bring a wealth of Tennessee-area recruiting experience to us, as he used to be a high school coach there in Memphis," Hudspeth said. "His secondaries have consistently been some of the top in the conference. He brings a lot of passion and energy to that position, and I think his demeanor fits our staff well."
Morrissey has coached in a variety of roles at institutions from coast to coast but has worked mostly with the offensive line. He comes to APSU after a season as an offensive quality control and assistant offensive line coach at Mississippi State, where he worked with Hudspeth.
He was the offensive line coach at Bryant in 2017 after spending seven seasons (2010-16) as the assistant head coach, offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator at Princeton. During his time at Princeton, the Tigers won the 2013 Ivy League Championship, and Morrissey was responsible for recruiting two-time Ivy League Player of the Year John Lovett.
Morrissey spent three seasons as a graduate assistant for offense at Oregon (2006-08), where he tutored future NFL offensive linemen Geoff Schwartz and Max Unger. The Ducks won the 2007 Sun Bowl and the 2008 Holiday Bowl during his tenure.
He also had coaching stops at Fordham, UMass, Northeastern and Brown, and was a part of two conference championships during that time.
"I'm excited to get someone with the experience of Eddy Morrissey on staff," Hudspeth said "He has been at a lot of great programs and coached a lot of great players. I think he's going to bring a lot of creative ideas to our system, considering he's been in with some really good offensive coaches, including (Mississippi State head coach) Joe Moorhead. I'm really excited about his leadership at that position."
Bumphis comes to Austin Peay after spending the 2018 season as an offensive graduate assistant at Utah. He has been an offensive G.A. at Buffalo (2017) and wide receivers coach at Iowa Wesleyan (2016).
Mississippi State's leading receiver three of his four seasons from 2009-12, Bumphis ranks second all-time in receiving yards at MSU with 2,270. He was named to the Freshman All-Southeastern Conference team by the league's coaches in 2009 and second-team All-SEC by the AP as a senior in 2012.
He signed as an undrafted free agent with the Miami Dolphins in 2013 and spent time with the practice squads at Miami, Denver and Jacksonville before finishing his professional career with the Canadian Football League's Edmonton Eskimos in 2015.
"I had the opportunity to coach Chad as a player in 2009 at Mississippi State where he was an All-SEC player before going on to the National Football League," Hudspeth said. "He'll walk into the room with instant credibility with those wide receivers with them knowing he has played that position at a very high level. His recruiting knowledge of north Mississippi will be relied on."
Frazier joins the Governors staff after spending the previous five seasons at Louisiana, including his first four while Hudspeth was the head coach of the Ragin' Cajuns. He primarily worked with special teams as a quality control coach and graduate assistant.
During his first two seasons as a student assistant, he worked in recruiting and operations, in addition to working with the defense and special teams.
"Jordan is one of the most organized guys that I've been around," Hudspeth said. "His attention to detail will be a great asset to our program. We're really excited with the experience and energy he'll bring to that position that will be an important position as he helps with the day-to-day operations of our program."
Grubbs comes to Austin Peay after serving as the director of recruiting at Old Dominion the previous two seasons. He was instrumental in the Monarchs signing the highest-rated signing class in program history.
Prior to his time at ODU, Grubbs spent four years as a recruiting assistant at Tennessee.
"Spencer spent four years in the recruiting department at Tennessee and then the last two at Old Dominion," Hudspeth said. "Spencer's from Nashville, so obviously he's very familiar with the state of Tennessee. He also brings a wealth of energy and excitement to our program."
Stay tuned to LetsGoPeay.com and the Governors' football Twitter account, @AustinPeayFB, for all the latest news on additions to the coaching staff in the coming days and weeks.
