Cody Lillich
They say after the National Champion is crowned all attention in college sports focuses on basketball. But in Aggieland, I do not think football season ever ends. December brought us the Independence Bowl, January brought the hiring of a new defensive coordinator, and now in February we have more coaching that will be on the sideline this fall.
The people who were signed to coach with the Aggies just last week are some of the better-known names in college football.
Head Coach Mike Sherman completed his coaching staff with the hiring of Steve Kragthorpe to coach wide receivers, Dat Nguyen to coach inside linebackers and Nick Toth to head the outside linebackers.
Kragthorpe and Nguyen are familiar names in Aggieland with previous involvement with the Aggie football team. Kragthorpe served as the offensive coordinator for the Aggies from 1997-2000, that includes the 1998 year when the Aggies clinched the Big 12 Championship. Before taking the offensive coordinator role, Kragthorpe coaches wide receivers for the Aggies from ’97-’98 and coached quarterbacks in ’99-’00.
Kragthorpe left Aggieland for a spot as QB Coach with the Buffalo Bills. He returns to Aggieland, after a two year stint as the head of the University of Louisville football team.
If the term “Aggie defense” were in a dictionary, Dat Nguyen would be pictured. Nguyen was an All-American linebacker and recipient of the ’98 Lombardi & Bednarik awards. Nguyen was picked in the third round of the ’99 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys. He played seven years for the Cowboys before he retired from playing in 2005.
The third addition to the Aggie coaching staff is outside linebackers coach Nick Toth, who comes to Aggieland from The Citadel. Toth was the defensive back and special teams coach in 2009. He has had stints at Ashland University in Ohio (Defensive Coordinator 2007-08), Mercyhurst College in Erie, Penn. Elon University in North Carolina and his alma mater of Ohio University. Head Coach Mike Sherman said Toth has worked his way through the football system and is recognized by many football circles as a future star in the business.
The missing pieces to the Aggie coaching puzzle have been placed and it will be interesting to see how the team and coaches click come the start of spring practice. So basketball will have its time to shine through March – then it’s back to football in Aggieland.