MOREHEAD, Ky.—Morehead State football coach Matt Ballard announced Friday the promotion of three of his assistant coaches,
Rob Tenyer,
Thomas Duffy and
Patrick St. Louis.
Tenyer, who has been a member of Ballard’s staff for 10 years, most recently as the recruiting coordinator, has been named offensive coordinator. Duffy, in his second season with the Eagles has been elevated to a full time position and will replace Tenyer as the recruiting coordinator. St. Louis has also been elevated and will coach the Eagle offensive line.
“We’re very excited about these staff promotions, what it’s going to bring to the table to help our offense take a step forward,” said Ballard.
During the past four seasons, Tenyer, who also coaches the MSU offensive backs, has been integral in the recruitment and development of MSU players.
“It was a natural thing for us to promote within house,” Ballard said. “Coach Tenyer has been here 10 years now and has had a lot of responsibilities in a lot of different areas and it’s amazing what he does here. It was a natural progression to promote Rob up to offensive coordinator, he’s going to do a great job. He’s a very detailed guy, a very organized guy with a great mind for the game, and he’s going to help us take the next step forward in our offensive package.”
A native of Marine City, Mich., he joined the Eagle staff after serving as an assistant football coach at Centre College in Danville, Ky. Prior to going to Centre, he was a graduate assistant coach at California University (Pa.). He also worked as an assistant coach with the Landsberg, Germany, American Football Team.
“I'm very excited about my new role,” Tenyer said. “I'm even more excited about the promotions of Thomas Duffy and Patrick St. Louis. We were able to finish recruiting with a bang and transition into our new roles without losing a beat. Our number one priority is to simplify our offense, and create more opportunities for our skill player's. We want our player's to think half as much, and play twice as fast.”
Duffy, who joined the Eagles as a part-time wide receivers coach last season, will continue to coach the Eagle pass catchers while taking over the recruiting coordinator position.
“Coach Duffy last year coached our wide receivers, but he was a part-time coach,” Ballard said. “The great thing about this is that it allowed us to hang on to him. If this hadn’t have happened we’d have probably lost coach Duffy. We were able to promote him up to a full time assistant. He keeps the same responsibility from a coaching standpoint, but he is also promoted to our recruiting coordinator. He's got great ties in the state of Kentucky, great people skills, very enthusiastic, and an outstanding recruiter.”
Duffy joined the Eagles after spending the previous three seasons as the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator for Fairhope High School in Fairhope, Ala. He also spent three years as the head coach at Henderson County High School in Henderson, Ky.
“Getting bumped up to full time and recruiting coordinator was an exciting thing for both me and my family,” Duffy said. “I am grateful for the opportunity that Coach Ballard has given me, and also thankful that the former recruiting coordinator, Rob Tenyer, is still on staff to assist me in the transition. I am confident in the direction of our football program at MSU, and I am looking forward to being a part of the success we are going to experience in the future. “
St. Louis, who originally joined Ballard’s staff as a graduate assistant, will take over the offensive line duties, which he had been assisting on for the past two seasons.
“I am thankful that Coach Ballard has given me this opportunity,” St. Louis said. “I am excited to work with the offensive line. We have a good young group coming back and they have the potential to be very good.”
A native of Belton, Mo., St. Louis attended Missouri Western State University where he played football and earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education in 2008.
“Coach St. Louis has been with us for two years and has done a tremendous job as a graduate assistant/part-time guy for us. This young man is beyond his years as far as football is concerned. It was a very natural thing for a guy that had proven himself and knows all of our stuff, it was a very natural transition.”
The promotions came following the departure of former offensive coordinator Gary Dunn, who recently accepted a similar position at Duquesne. Dunn also was the offensive line coach at MSU.
“Gary Dunn was with me for 15 years and he did a tremendous job with the offensive line and part of his time coordinating the offense.”
MSU is in the midst of spring practice, which culminates with a April 29 spring game at Jayne Stadium.
