FORT COLLINS — With four more hires to his coaching staff, Colorado State football coach Jim McElwain is down to just one position left open — defensive coordinator.
On that front, McElwain said Tuesday he is close to an announcement.
“We have that kind of ready to roll,” he said. “There’s some contract things that we have to take care of.”
CSU tried to hire former Broncos defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale, but he was pried from the Rams’ hands by the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens last week. On Tuesday, McElwain announced the hirings of Marty English, Derek Frazier, Jeff Hammerschmidt and Alvis Whitted, bringing the CSU coaching staff to eight.
“In the process of hiring a staff, I think there’s a couple things that I learned when I spoke with a lot of guys that are head coaches and have been head coaches,” said McElwain, a former Alabama offensive coordinator awaiting his first season as CSU’s head coach. “If there’s one thing they gave me a piece of advice, it was to make sure that your hires are right. Don’t jump to it and just go get a hire, but make sure that the fit for your program, both recruiting, personality, all of the different things that are needed to have success in your program and your organization (is right).”
English comes to CSU from Wyoming, where he was the defensive coordinator for the Cowboys last season. A Colorado native, he will coach the Rams’ defensive linemen.
Frazier, the new offensive line coach, was the starting center on Northern Colorado’s 1996 national championship team. Hammerschmidt, the special-teams coordinator, comes to the staff following his brother, Dan, who was part of the previous CSU coaching staff under Steve Fairchild.
Whitted, a former NFL wide receiver who played for Tom Coughlin when he was head coach at Jacksonville, arrived Monday ready to take over as wide receivers coach.
“Coach McElwain and (athletic director) Jack Graham, the vision and goals they have, and the family atmosphere that they are building here, I can’t miss out on that,” new linebackers coach Tim Skipper said. “I think this is a special time. You can feel it in the air if you’ve been around and pay attention to what’s going on.”
Said new quarterbacks coach Billy Napier, “I think we’ve got a great group of competitors here amongst the staff.”
Christopher Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com
Reshaping the Rams
Jim McElwain’s first Colorado State football coaching staff, minus a defensive coordinator, who he says will be hired soon:
Dave Baldwin — Offensive coordinator
Billy Napier — Assistant head coach, quarterbacks coach
Derek Fraizer — Offensive linemen
Alvis Whitted — Wide receivers
Marty English — Defensive linemen
Tim Skipper — Linebackers
Jeff Hammerschmidt — Special-teams coordinator
Tim Duffie — Recruiting coordinator
Mike Kent — Head football strength and conditioning
Rashad Harris — Assistant football strength and conditioning
Tom Ehlers — Director of football operations
