One familiar face and one newcomer have joined the Illinois State football program. Head coach Denver Johnson announced the two hirings Friday and said his staff is now complete for the 2001 campaign.
Jon Shields, who had left for a brief time for a high school position in his native Virginia, has returned. He coached the outside linebackers in 2000 and will do the same in the upcoming season.
Joining the staff for the first time is Chris Patton, a former player at Oklahoma State, who has spent the last six years as an assistant coach in the Lake Highlands High School program in Dallas, Tex. He will coach the defensive line
Getting Jon back on the staff is just great and Chris is one of those guys who is a good fit no matter where he goes, Johnson said.
I think Jon missed college coaching and we had a better situation for him this time. Hes done a real nice job for us and he has a unique understanding of our Up-G package on defense because he has played in it and coached it. I am real excited to get him back and I know the players who were under him last way feel the same way.
Shields played at Virginia Tech and has previous college coaching experience at Duke, Fordham and his alma mater.
Patton, who hails from Chickasha, Okla., has been in one of Texas most successful prep programs. During the 1990s, Lake Highlands had the fourth-best playoff record in class 5A. The school made three trips to the state semi-finals and one to the quarter-finals.
At OSU from 1980-84, Patton played on the defensive line for three seasons before moving to the offensive line for his senior campaign. His position coach on defense was current Miami Dolphins head coach Dave Wannstedt.
Chris has been in the cradle of some very good football, Johnson said. He has learned from good coaches and he has been in an environment that really promotes coaching the game the right way. The players will really like him and Im excited about the knowledge and recruiting ties he brings to our program.
Johnson also announced that he has filled the teams restricted duties positions with the addition of Justin Fuente, Galen Scott and Tim Thornton, all of whom played under Johnson. Fuente was a quarterback at Murray State when Johnson was the head coach there, while Scott and Thornton both competed at Illinois State. Scott is the Redbirds all-time leading tackler.
