Aug. 10, 2011
RENO, Nev. - University of Nevada football coach Chris Ault announced Wednesday the hiring of two new staff members to the Wolf Pack football program.
Former NFL player Jon Haskins will serve as the team's Director of Player Personnel while former Wolf Pack staffer Dave Brown returns to the program as the Director of Football Operations. Both positions are funded from external sources.
"The additions of a DFO and DPP to our program provide my staff the opportunity to focus on their coaching and recruiting responsibilities," Ault said. "These are positions that most FBS schools have long had and they are critical to continuing to build and maintain a strong program. Having these positions will allow our program - from myself to my coaching staff and on down - to function more effectively and efficiently."
Haskins comes to Nevada after three years in the same position at Stanford University, his alma mater. A two-time honorable mention All-Pac-10 linebacker, Haskins was picked in the seventh round of the NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers and his NFL career also included time with the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Stanford graduate also spent time at Duke, where he served as a graduate assistant from 2002-04, assisting with the offensive line before coaching the tight ends in his final season. His professional career also includes time with The Sports Studio as a technical advisor for sports scenes in motion picture productions, television commercials and print advertising campaigns.
"This was a critical hire," Ault said. "Having a full-time recruiter and evaluator will allow us to double our recruiting base, dramatically improve our evaluation process and, more importantly, allow all of my coaches to spend more time in developing recruiting contacts and coaching relationships. We have been at a recruiting disadvantage for such a long time and I believe the impact of this position will be dramatic right away in terms of creating competition at each position and allowing our coaches to develop a more thorough evaluation process."
Brown returns to Nevada after one season as the run-game coordinator and wide receivers coach at Portland State. He previously spent four seasons at Nevada in a variety of roles, including quality control/video coordinator in 2006 and then three years as a graduate assistant coach working alongside Ault with the quarterbacks.
A college quarterback who played at Central Missouri State University, Brown spent five years coaching running backs at his alma mater before coming to Nevada in 2006. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Central Missouri State in addition to a master's in educational psychology from Nevada.
"I'm glad to have Dave back as he is very familiar with our program and, more importantly, the administrative part of football," Ault said. "There is no question that he will relieve some of the administrative work that my coaches have had to do in the past. He will be a great ambassador for Wolf Pack football within the community."
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