University of Kentucky football coach Hall Mumme has announced the hiring of six assistantcoaches, including three from his Valdosta State staff and one from the former UK staff.
Coming with Mumme from Valdosta State are Mike Major, Mike Leach, and Mike Fanoga.Calvin Miller has been retained from the former staff. In addition, Guy Morriss joins UK fromMississippi State and Claude Bassett, a high school coach and long time Brigham Youngassistant, also comes on board.
Major will be the defensive coordinator and coach linebackers. Defensive line work will behandled by Fanoga (tackles) and Miller (ends). Morriss will be the offensive line coach andLeach will coach the wide receivers. Bassett will be the team’s recruiting coordinator.
Major was Mumme’s defensive coordinator the past five seasons at Valdosta State. As a positioncoach, he guided the linebackers four years and the defensive backs during the 1993 season. TheBlazers had a 40-17-1 record during those five years and advanced to the NCAA Division IIplayoffs in 1994 and 1996.
Major’s defense set a school record in 1994 by allowing only 162 points–the fewest in VSUhistory. His defensive units led the Gulf South Conference in numerous statistical categories andachieved some top 10 national rankings for defense. His teams posted six shutouts in five years.VSU had only four shutouts in the 10-year history of the program prior to Major’s arrival.
Individually, nine of his defensive players were named first-team All-GSC. Antonio Edwardswas the GSC Defensive Player of the Year in 1992 and went on to become a starting defensivefor the Seattle Seahawks. Three other Blazer defendants also signed professional contracts.
A graduate of Stephen F. Austin, Major’s coaching career began at several high schools inTexas, including Moody HS in Corpus Christi, where he first coached with Mumme. He alsowas with Mumme one year as an assistant coach at Texas-El Paso. Major rejoined Mumme atCopperas Cove (Texas) HS from 1986-88 and was the defensive coordinator at Iowa Wesleyanin 1989. Major helped transform Iowa Wesleyan from an 0-10 team to a 7-4 team in his oneseason there. Major was an assistant coach for tow years at Stephen F. Austin before going toValdosta State.
“Since I’m the offensive coordinator, I need a defensive coordinator I can turn it over to andtrust,” Mumme said. “There’s nobody I trust on the sidelines more than Mike. He’s a truestudent of the game and is a perfectionist. He’s also great at making adjustments during thegame.”
Leach was the offensive coordinator the last five seasons at VSU. He also was in charge of thequarterbacks and receivers from 1992-93 and the offensive line for the last three years. TheBlazers compiled a 40-17-1 during his term there.
Under Leach’s direction, the 1993 VSU offense broke 66 school records, 22 conferencerecords, and seven national marks. VSU advanced to the national playoffs in 1994, with Leach’soffense breaking 80 school records, 35 conference marks, and seven national standards. VSUreturned to the NCAA Division II playoffs again in 1996. Quarterback Chris Hatcher won the1994 Harlon Hill Award as the player of the year in Division II and QB Lance Funderburk wasthe Harlon Hill runner-up in 1996. Seventeen of his offensive players earned first-team All-GulfSouth Conference honors.
Leach first coached with Mumme at Iowa Wesleyan College from 1989-91. Leach was offensivecoordinator and line coach at IWC, which led the NAIA in passing yardage in 1990 and finishedsecond the other two seasons. The IWC offense passed for more than 11,000 yards in thosethree seasons an broke 26 national records. A winless team when Leach arrived, by 1991 IWCparticipated in the NAIA national playoffs. IWC quarterback Dustin Dewald and VSU’s Hatcherare two of only seven quarterbacks in collegiate history to pass for more than 100 touchdowns.
Leach also gained experience as the head coach of the Pori, Finland, team in the EuropeanFootball League (spring 1989) and as an assistant coach at College of the Desert (1988) and atCal Poly-San Luis Obispo (1987). Leach graduated from Brigham Young University withhonors, holds a master’s degree from the United States Sports Academy, and has a law degreeafter graduating in the top one-third of his class at the Pepperdine University School of Law.
“The great thing about Mike is that he can coach any position on offense,” Mumme said. “He’sextremely bright as evidenced by his achievements in law school. He is invaluable at helpingorganize the practice schedule and our yearly routine for coaching offense. He’s a tirelessrecruiter and a lot of fun for our players.”
Fanoga coached the defensive line the last three seasons at Valdosta State, helping the Blazersadvance to the 1994 and 1996 NCAA Division II playoffs. Fanoga helped coach the 1994 VSUdefense that allowed the fewest points (162) in school history. He also served as the team’srecruiting coordinator in 1994-95.
Under Fanoga’s guidance, defensive end Andre Hampton finished his career in 1994 with aschool record 36 quarterback sacks and was named All-Gulf South Conference. Fanoga hadanother first-team all-conference player in 1996, defensive tackle Artie Ulmer.
Fanoga coached the defensive line at Iowa’s Wesleyan from 1990-93, including the 1990-91seasons with Mumme. IWC went to the NAIA national playoffs for the first time in the 1991season. Before IWC, he coached at Livingston (Ala.) University in 1989.
Fanoga earned his master’s degree at Texas El-Paso while beginning his coaching career as agraduate assistant. He played defensive end and linebacker for two years at UTEP (1985-86),where he first met Mumme. He played two years at Snow College before transferring to UTEP.
“Mike is a tireless worker,” Mumme said. “He’s loyal, dependable, and a good role model forthe players. He’s very enthusiastic about his coaching on the field.”
Working with Fanoga on the defensive line will be Calvin Miller, who has coached thedefensive ends the last two seasons at Kentucky. He has made a significant impact as quarterbacksack production has increased dramatically under his guidance. Wildcat ends made 13 sacks in1995, doubling the total of six and one-half sacks from the previous year. Sacking was on therise again in 1996, as Wildcat ends claimed 18.5 sacks.
Miller played a key role in the development of Chris Ward, who broke the UK single-seasonrecord with 10.5 sacks in 1996. Ward finished in second place on the UK career list with 17sacks. He was named second-team All-Southeastern Conference this season.
Miller coached the defensive ends at his alma mater, Oklahoma State, from 1991-94. He senttwo players to the National Football League. Another protege advanced to the NFL from histerm at Tulsa (1988-90). Miller himself played three seasons in the NFL.
“I wanted Calvin on our staff because of his knowledge of our defensive system, which he hadexperienced while coaching at Oklahoma State,” Mumme said. “Calvin is also known as a personof great character and I am very happy to have him on the staff.”
Morriss comes to Kentucky from Mississippi State, where he coached the offensive line. One ofhis tackles, Brent Smith, earned first-team All-Southeastern Conference honors this year and isexpected to be an early-round pick in the 1997 National Football League draft.
Morriss was a 15-year player in the NFL, including 11 years with the Philadelphia Eagles andfour with the New England Patriots. He was an All-Pro selection in 1981 and played in twoSuper Bowls. He graduated from Texas Christian, where he was an All-Southwest Conferenceguard.
After his playing days, Morriss began his coaching career with the Patriots in 1988-89. He wasthe offensive coordinator at Mansfield (Texas) HS in 1991, then joined forces with Mumme atValdosta State in 1992-93. He returned to the professional ranks with the Arizona Cardinals in1994 and the Canadian Football League’s San Antonio Texans in 1995.
“Guy knows more about pass protection than anybody I’ve ever coached with,” Mumme said.”He’s coached successfully on every level, from high school to the NFL. He’s truly a player’scoach, the type of person I’d want my son to be around.”
Bassett, an 11-year coaching veteran at Brigham Young, returns to the collegiate ranks afterserving the last three years as head coach at Memorial High School in McAllen, Texas. Bassetttook over a program that had been winless for two years prior to his arrival. By Bassett’ssecond season (1995), Memorial had improved to a 10-1 record, the first time that the schoolhad won more than six games in one year. It also marked the school’s first entry in the ruggedTexas Class AAAAA state playoffs.
While Bassett coached at Brigham Young from 1983-93, the Cougars compiled a record of103-37-2 (.732), won eight Western Athletic Conference championships, and a nationalchampionship in 1984. He coached the offensive line from 1983-86 and the linebackers from1987-93.
At BYU, Bassett was responsible for recruiting quarterback Ty Detmer, who still holds 58NCAA records for passing and total offense. BYU had two Outland Trophy winners and 13All-Americans (including six consensus All-Americans) during Bassett’s years there.
Bassett was the offensive coordinator at Mountain View High School in Mesa, Ariz., from1980-82. Mountain View won the Class AAA (highest classification) state championship in 1980and 1982. Bassett began his coaching career as an undergraduate student at Brigham Young. Hewas an assistant coach at Spanish Fork (Utah) HS and Pleasant Grove (Utah) HS. Bassett was astandout football and baseball player at Shasta Junior College, but an injury at BYU ended hisfootball career.
“Claude is the most persistent recruiter I’ve ever been around,” Mumme said. “I’ve know himsince I was at UTEP and it was his vision which enabled me to learn the BYU offense. I knowhe’ll bring to us the same qualities he brought to (BYU head) Coach (LaVell) Edwards’ staff.He’ll make a great recruiting coordinator.”
Mumme will hire three more assistant coaches, two offensive coaches and a defensive backscoach.
