Jan. 21, 2011
Tulsa, Oklahoma -- University of Tulsa Head Football Coach Bill Blankenship announced the appointment today of Brent Guy as the Golden Hurricane defensive coordinator/linebacker coach, Adam Blankenship as defensive ends coach and Holmon Wiggins as running back coach. In addition, Clint Rountree has been promoted from graduate assistant coach to Director of High School Relations and graduate assistant coach James Kilian will coach the Tulsa quarterbacks while continuing to pursue his master's degree.
Brent Guy comes to Tulsa after one year as the linebacker coach and recruiting coordinator at UNLV.
"Coach Guy has Oklahoma roots. He played and coached at Oklahoma State. His experience recruiting this state and coordinating defenses is impressive. He's the final piece of putting the experienced core of this coaching staff together that I've been seeking," said Blankenship.
Before his stint at UNLV, Guy spent the 2009 season as the defensive coordinator and linebacker coach at Louisville. Before joining the Cardinals, Guy spent four seasons as head coach of Utah State (2005-08) and produced 14 players that earned first or second-team All-Western Athletic Conference honors.
Guy went to Utah State from Arizona State where he was the defensive coordinator for four years (2001-04). In 2002, the Sun Devils' defense was ranked 27th nationally against the run and in 2004 finished the season ranked 28th in run defense. ASU went 9-3 in 2004 and defeated Purdue in the Sun Bowl, marking the Sun Devils' second bowl appearance in three years.
Before moving to Tempe, Guy was the defensive coordinator at Boise State from 1998-2000, helping the Broncos capture two Big West Conference championships.
Guy, who has been a part of nine bowl teams in his playing and coaching career, had two stints coaching at his alma mater of Oklahoma State. After serving as a graduate assistant (1986-87) and recruiting coordinator (1988) there, Guy coached the Cowboy linebackers from 1989-91 and then again from 1995-97.
During his first stint at Utah State in 1992-94, working with the linebackers, the Aggies won a Big West Conference Championship and posted the only bowl victory in school history, winning the 1993 Las Vegas Bowl, 42-33, against Ball State.
Guy began his playing career at Oklahoma State as a walk-on and became a starter at both defensive end and linebacker. He graduated from OSU with a degree in hotel and restaurant administration in 1983. He and his wife, Shawn, have two children, Madison and Riley.
Adam Blankenship comes to Tulsa from the Oklahoma high school ranks. He has spent the past two seasons (2009-10) coaching the defensive line at two-time Class 6A state champion Union High School. Blankenship has also served as a summer camp instructor at Tulsa Union High School for four years and at Illinois State three summers.
A former Union High School letterman and first-team all-state selection as a prep senior, Blankenship attended the University of Nebraska for one year (2005) before transferring to Illinois State. He earned three letters with the Redbirds and was team captain as a senior in 2008.
Blankenship earned a degree in communication studies in December 2008 from Illinois State. He is the youngest son of Tulsa Head Coach Bill Blankenship.
"The fun thing for me was to have an opportunity to watch Adam coach both at Union and through our summer camps. Coach Graham hired him to come out two different times, and we really saw those as opportunities for him to show us what he could do," said Blankenship. "Though young, in his only two years at Union as the defensive line coach they were back-to-back state champions, and I think it was obvious that the defensive line played very well and was a great contributor to that success."
Holmon Wiggins comes to Tulsa from Illinois State where he spent five seasons (2006-10) coaching the running backs coach.
In his first season (2006), the Redbirds totaled 169 yards per game in 13 games, as Pierre Rembert rushed for a school-record 1,743 yards and received All-America accolades by the Associated Press. That Redbird team posted a 9-4 record, advanced to the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) quarterfinals and finished the season with a No. 8 national ranking.
A year later, the Illinois State offense gained 199 yards on the ground while two running backs combined for 1,742 of the Redbirds' 2,194 rushing yards. In addition, three Redbird running backs became the first-ever trio in school history to each rush for over 100 yards in the same game, as the threesome accomplished the feat against Indiana State.
The 2008 season saw Illinois State total 197 yards per game while three running backs carried the load for the Redbirds, totaling 1,911 yards of ISU's 2,169 total rushing yards. After dipping down to 98 rushing yards in 2009, Illinois State totaled over 130 yards rushing this past season.
Before that, Wiggins worked two seasons as a student assistant coach and one year as a graduate assistant coach at his alma mater, New Mexico. 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.
"I've been fortunate to watch Holmon work because of my relationship with coach Johnson and Justin Fuente over the years. He is a great position coach. Holmon does an outstanding job relating to his players and the more I've been able to watch him the last couple years I've seen how he's grown as a recruiter. I'm thrilled to get someone of his caliber who will be able to impact recruiting nationally."
Wiggins was a four-year letterwinner and a three-year starter at running back at New Mexico (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. He received his bachelor's degree in psychology from New Mexico in 2003 and worked on his master's degree in counseling and child psychology.
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. Wiggins and his wife, Dominique, have four daughters: Justyce, Karyn, Brooklyn and Journye.
Clint Rountree, a 2005 graduate of Tulsa, spent last year as a graduate assistant coach on the defensive side of the ball for the Golden Hurricane. He assisted with coaching the Tulsa linebackers in 2010.
Before returning to his alma mater, Rountree spent two seasons (2008-09) coaching the defensive secondary at Delta State (Miss.) University. In 2008, the Delta State defense ranked number one in the Gulf South Conference, while in 2009 ranked No. 2 in pass efficiency.
Rountree was a four-year letterwinner (2001-04) for Tulsa. He began his career as a receiver and moved over to the defensive secondary as a sophomore. Rountree totaled 137 tackles in 48 career games while started 27 contests for the Hurricane.
Graduate assistant coach and former Golden Hurricane quarterback James Kilian will coach the quarterbacks.
Last year, Kilian assisted Chad Morris in coaching the Tulsa quarterbacks. Before that, he spent one season as the offensive coordinator at Del City (Okla.) High School, where he helped lead that team to a 7-3 overall record in Class 6A.
Kilian was a four-year letterman and starting quarterback for the Hurricane in 2003 and 2004. He was a seventh round draft pick by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2005 and returned to training camp in 2006. In 2006, Kilian played in Europe for the Hamburg Sea Devils.
In the 2007 season, Kilian played with the Nashville Kats of the Arena Football League, and went to the Atlanta Falcons Training Camp from the Kats after the season. Kilian spent the 2009 campaign with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League.
In his Tulsa career, Kilian threw for 4,865 yards and 36 touchdowns in 38 games, while starting 27 contests. He also rushed for 1,083 yards and 19 TDs in his career.
"It's exciting for me to get to keep guys like James and Clint, who have played here, involved in our program. They are tremendous young coaches. I want to keep them wearing the blue and gold," said Blankenship.
Tulsa Football Coaching Staff
DEFENSE
Brent Guy, Defensive Coordinator and Linebackers
Van Malone, Defensive Secondary
Jess Loepp, Defensive Secondary
Archie McDaniel, Defensive Tackles
Adam Blankenship, Defensive Ends
OFFENSE
Greg Peterson, Offensive Coordinator and Receivers
Denver Johnson, Offensive Line
Scott Downing, Assistant Head Coach and Tight Ends
James Kilian, Quarterbacks (Graduate Assistant)
Holmon Wiggins, Running Backs
ADMINISTRATIVE
Blair Philbrick, Director of Football Operations
Clint Rountree, Director of High School Relations
HEAD COACH: Bill Blankenship