NORMAL, Ill. - Illinois State head football coach Brock Spack announced Monday that Holmon Wiggins, who served as the Redbirds' running backs coach under former head coach Denver Johnson, has been retained on the coaching staff as an assistant coach. Wiggins will again coach the ISU running backs, a position he has guided since he came to Illinois State from New Mexico in 2006.
"I couldn't be happier to have Holmon stay on our coaching staff as our running backs coach," said Spack. "He fits right into our system in terms of his coaching philosophies and our overall coaching style. Our players really respect Holmon and the type of person that he is. Our entire coaching staff was very high on him, both as a person and as a football coach."
Under Wiggins' guidance, the Illinois State running backs tallied the 10th-highest rushing total in school history in 2008 with 2,169 rushing yards. ISU had the 18th-best rushing offense in the nation in 2008 with an average of 197.18 yards per game on the ground.
In 2008, Wiggins coached senior tailback Walter Mendenhall to Valley Football All-Newcomer honors after Mendenhall posted a school-record 6.32 yards per carry average on the season. Mendenhall also recorded four 100-yard rushing games on the season and racked up seven touchdowns during a three-game span late in the season.
RECENT FB HIRINGS: Spack (12.17) | Farmer (1.02) | Elmassian (1.05) | Peterson (1.07) | Williams (1.07) | Conard (1.08)
Stubblefield (1.09) |
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After his first season at Illinois State (2006), Wiggins set the bar high - in fact the highest it's ever been - as former Redbird Pierre Rembert rushed for a school-record 1,743 yards. Rembert also received all-conference honors and was named an All-American by the Associated Press..raisedquote {font-family:arial, helvetica; font-size:14px; font-weight:700;}
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The Redbird running backs had a solid follow-up year under Wiggins in 2007. Rafael Rice claimed second-team all-league honors, while Illinois State totaled 2,194 rushing yards, the seventh-highest rushing total in school history. In addition, Rice, along with Geno Blow and Cortes Rice, became the first Redbird trio to rush for 100 yards or more in a single game, as the threesome accomplished the feat against Indiana State.
Wiggins was a four-year letterwinner and a three-year starter at running back for New Mexico from 1998-2001. He finished his collegiate career ranked No. 14 all-time in rushing (1,833 yards) and No. 12 in all-purpose yardage (2,912 yards) in New Mexico history.
He remains the Lobos' single-season leader in punt returns (46) and punt return yardage (392), both set in 2000. Wiggins led New Mexico in rushing during the 1999 and 2000 seasons.
After his playing career, Wiggins worked two seasons as a student assistant coach and one year as a graduate assistant coach at his alma mater. As a student assistant, he worked with the Lobo running backs, while shifting his focus to quarterbacks and wide receivers as a graduate assistant coach.
A native of Los Angeles, Wiggins played his prep football at San Pedro High School, while being named the city's player of the year for class 4A.
He received his bachelor's degree in psychology from New Mexico in 2003 and is currently working on his master's degree in counseling and child psychology.
Wiggins and his wife, Dominique, have three daughters, Justyce (9), Karyn (3) and Brooklyn (1).
WIGGINS COACHING FILE
| 2006- | Illinois State, Assistant Coach |
| 2005-06 | New Mexico, Graduate Assistant |
| 2003-05 | New Mexico, Student Assistant |
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