Illinois State head football coach Denver Johnson tidied up his staff Tuesday before opening spring practice by elevating Randall McCray to assistant head coach and moving Jon Shields over to the offensive side of the ball to coach wide receivers.
In addition to shuffling coaching responsibilities, the Redbirds will take the field for the first time this spring on Wednesday. Illinois State will open the 15-day spring session, Wednesday, with a 3:30 p.m. practice. The Birds will practice four-straight days through Saturday, with all sessions starting at 3:30 p.m., and all open to the public.
Our coaching staff is extremely excited about the spring and are anxious about getting back out on the field, Johnson said. We are bitterly disappointed with the results of our 2001 season. The level of excitement and the atmosphere around the office has been fantastic.
The additional responsibility is just one of many reasons McCray is excited about the upcoming campaign.
I appreciate the confidence that Coach Johnson has shown in me, McCray said. This is really an honor and Im excited about moving my career in this direction. Someday I would like to be a head coach, but right now I just appreciate having this opportunity at one of the finest institutions in the country.
McCray is in his third season at Illinois State and accompanied Johnson to Normal from Murray State. In 2000, Illinois States defense ranked No. 11 nationally in pass efficiency defense and No. 23 in total defense and posted ISU's first back-to-back shutouts since 1961. At Murray State, his defense ranked No. 2 in the Ohio Valley in 1999 in total defense and first in turnover ratio. His special teams blocked 24 kicks in three years.
Coach McCray is a bright, young coach and hes done a great job the last two years coordinating our defensive efforts, Johnson said. Hes a guy with a lot of personal and professional integrity and has a bright future in this business. Hes been a loyal, hardworking assistant coach and I think this is an appropriate progression to take for his career and the right thing to do for our program as well.
The Monroe, NC, native was a graduate assistant at South Carolina from 1991-92 then was defensive line coach at Tennessee-Chattanooga from 1993-94 before moving to Clemson for the 1995 Gator Bowl season. He was at Bethune-Cookman in 1996. McCray earned four letters at Appalachian State at outside linebacker and running back. He played on the 1987 Southern Conference championship team and two playoff clubs. He earned his bachelors degree in communications from Appalachian State in 1991, then received his masters in education administration from South Carolina.
Johnson is anxious to see the contribution that Shields will provide on the offensive side of the ball.
Coach Shields played receiver in college and has worked with receivers before early on in his coaching career, Johnson said. We felt we had a fairly unique opportunity to restructure the staff in a positive way. This will give him an opportunity for growth in his career as well.
With Coach (Scott) Preston coordinating, I was never as comfortable as what I needed to be with him coordinating from the receivers position. I think it will be much more beneficial for (Preston) to coach the running backs and coordinate from there It will keep him tied more intimately with the running game and the protection aspect of the throwing game.
Shields returns for his third season at Illinois State. Prior to coming to ISU, Shields was a graduate assistant at Duke where he worked with defensive backs. Before that, he was a graduate assistant with the defensive line at Virginia Tech. His first college coaching position came as tight ends coach at Fordham in 1997.
Its a great opportunity for me, Shields said. Im moving to a position that I played in college and you normally feel the most comfortable at the position you played. I would like to bring some of the aggressiveness that I coached on defense over to the offensive side. Last year, I had probably the most experienced group at outside linebacker and again this year I find myself with five seniors at wide receiver. I think this group should make an impact for us both on and off the field.
Shields began coaching in 1995 as an assistant at Oakton HS in Fairfax County, Va. After one season, he moved to the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League. In Montreal, he was the director of scouting and player development and an assistant to the vice president and general manager. Shields was a letterwinner at Virginia Tech in 1993 and 1994. He was with the '94 Gator Bowl team and the '93 Independence Bowl team. Shields received is bachelor's degree in sports management from Tech in 1995.
