NORMAL, Ill. - Illinois State head football coach Brock Spack announced Tuesday that former Washington graduate assistant coach Luke Huard has been named the quarterbacks coach for the Redbird football team. Huard (pronounced U-ard) comes to ISU following a two-year stint as a graduate assistant on the Huskies' coaching staff.
Huard was a two-year member of the North Carolina football team, where he was a quarterback under former Tar Heel head coach Carl Torbush. Huard played in seven games for UNC and started four as a freshman in 1999.
"Luke is a big-time addition to our coaching staff," said Spack. "He comes from a great football family, and his dad was a very successful and respected high school coach in the state of Washington. Luke has a great football and education pedigree, and he brings a tremendous knowledge about the quarterback position to our program. I look forward to seeing what ideas Luke can bring to coaching our quarterbacks."
While having known Spack for only a couple of weeks, Huard is impressed with the ISU football coach's vision for Redbird football.
"Having gotten to know Coach Spack over the last couple of weeks, I have been extremely impressed with him as a coach," said Huard. "I believe he has a great vision for where the Illinois State football program is going. I am delighted to be a member of his coaching staff and to join the Illinois State Athletics community."
RECENT FB HIRINGS: Spack (12.17) | Farmer (1.02) | Elmassian (1.05) | Peterson (1.07) | Williams (1.07) | Conard (1.08)
Stubblefield (1.09) | Wiggins (1.19) |
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While at Washington, Huard worked primarily with UW's quarterbacks. In 2007, he helped tutor Pac-10 Conference Newcomer of the Year Jake Locker.
Huard began his coaching career as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Tacoma's Washington High School following graduation from North Carolina in 2002. He then spent four seasons as the head coach at Interlake High School (Wash.), where he led the program to its first winning season in 10 years in 2004.
He also spent the 2004 season as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Eastside Hawks, a semi-professional football team that went 10-0 and won the Northwest Football League title..raisedquote {font-family:arial, helvetica; font-size:14px; font-weight:700;}
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Huard comes from a family full of college and professional football stars. Both of his older brothers, Brock and Damon, were standout quarterbacks at Washington and went on to play professionally in the NFL. Huard's father, Mike, coached all three at Puyallup High School (Wash.), and also coached former NFL quarterback Billy Joe Hobart.
As a high school quarterback at Puyallup High School, Huard was the Gatorade Washington Player of the Year as a senior and twice earned conference player of the year honors. He was an all-state selection and an honorable mention All-America selection. As a senior, he led Puyallup to a 12-1 record and the state 4-A semifinals while throwing for 2,650 yards and 39 touchdowns.
HUARD COACHING FILE
| 2009- | Illinois State, Assistant Coach/Quarterbacks |
| 2007-08 | Washington, Graduate Assistant Coach/Quarterbacks |
| 2004-07 | Interlake High School (Wash.), Head Coach |
| 2002-03 | Washington High School (Wash.), Offensive Coord./Quarterbacks |
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