January 10, 2008

Wiemers Named Pitt State Defensive Coordinator;
Former All-American Wells Hired as O-Line Coach

    PITTSBURG -- Pittsburg State University athletic director and head football coach Chuck Broyles announced today (Jan. 10) that Dave Wiemers has been hired as defensive coordinator for the Gorillas football team and former PSU All-American Steve Wells has accepted the school’s offensive line coach position.
    Wiemers (pronounced WE-muhrs) comes to Pitt State from Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas, where he served as the Texans’ offensive coordinator during the 2007 season. The Clay Center, Kan., native previously served as head coach for MIAA rival Emporia State University from 2001-06, assistant head coach/offensive coordinator at ESU from 1999-2000 and assistant head coach/defensive coordinator at Saginaw Valley State University from 1994-1998. He also served as a graduate assistant at Pittsburg State from 1992-93.
    Wells returns to campus after a three-year absence. The Riverton, Kan., native served as a graduate assistant offensive line coach from 2002-04, after enjoying a decorated playing career for the Gorillas from 1997-2001. For the past three years, he has served as offensive line coach at Joplin (Mo.) High School.
    Wiemers replaces Anton Stewart, who stepped away from the defensive coordinator role he had served in at PSU since 1994 on Nov. 29, while Wells replaces longtime offensive line coach Bill Kroenke, who resigned his coaching position on Nov. 30 to become Assistant Athletic Director for Marketing & Promotions at the school.
    “We’re excited to have Dave Wiemers and Steve Wells join our football staff,” Broyles said. “We went through an exhaustive national search and feel like we hired two top-notch coaches to fill our vacant positions.
    “Dave comes to our staff with vast coaching experience,” Broyles said. “He has great familiarity with the MIAA and our regional recruiting circle having spent six years as head coach at Emporia State. Dave coached some very solid defensive units, both at Emporia and his former school, Saginaw Valley State, where he was defensive coordinator for a number of years. He’s a proven recruiter and his experience as a head coach will enable him to provide added insights into the everyday workings of a college football program.
    “We’re excited to bring back one of our alums and a former standout player in Steve Wells,” Broyles said. “He was a graduate assistant offensive line coach under Bill Kroenke for three years, including on our National Runner-up squad in 2004. Certainly, he’s very familiar with our schemes as well as what it takes to be a player at Pittsburg State University.”

Wiemers Biography
    Wiemers has enjoyed a 16-year career in the collegiate coaching ranks.
    During the 2007 season, he served as offensive coordinator at Tarleton State University, an NCAA Division II member of the Lone Star Conference. The Texans posted a 9-2 record and narrowly failed to qualify for the NCAA-II playoffs. TSU averaged 37.2 points and 452.2 total yards per game, ranking 23rd nationally in scoring and 20th nationally in total offense.
    Prior to joining the Tarleton staff, Wiemers spent eight years at Emporia, serving as offensive coordinator/assistant head coach for two seasons (1999-2000) for former PSU offensive coordinator Jerry Kill -- now the head coach at Northern Illinois University. Wiemers was named head coach at ESU on Dec. 8, 2000, after Kill left the school to become head coach at Southern Illinois University.
    In six seasons as head coach for the Hornets (2001-06), Wiemers compiled a 35-32 (.522) record with an MIAA co-championship in 2003 and a Mineral Water Bowl victory in 2002. He was named the Wilson/MIAA Coach of the Year in 2003 after guiding ESU to a 9-3 record, a share of the MIAA title and the program’s first (and only) NCAA-II playoff appearance. Wiemers was the runner-up for the Schutt Sports Division II National Coach of the Year that season.
    Wiemers also served as assistant head coach/defensive coordinator for five seasons (1994-98) at Saginaw Valley State University, an NCAA-II member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
    At SVSU, he coached the linebackers and oversaw a unit that set school records with 44 sacks and 29 forced turnovers in 1998. SVSU posted a 38-14 (.731) record during his tenure, including back-to-back 9-2 seasons in 1997-98.
    He spent two seasons as a graduate assistant defensive line coach at Pittsburg State in 1992-93, helping the Gorillas to a pair of NCAA-II playoff appearances including a 14-1 record and the NCAA-II National Runner-up finish in 1992.
    Wiemers began his coaching career as the quarterbacks coach at Seaman High School in Topeka, Kan., in 1991 after a successful collegiate playing career at Washburn University (1989-90).
    Wiemers was an All-State quarterback at Clay Center Community High School and he played in the 1986 Kansas Shrine Bowl. He played football and baseball at Dodge City Community College, earning All-Jayhawk Conference honors as a quarterback. He was a pitcher and quarterback at Washburn as well.
    Wiemers earned his bachelor’s degree from WU in 1990 and his master’s in physical education from PSU in 1995. Dave, and his wife Susie, have two sons, Brett (6) and Tyson (4).

Wells Biography
    Wells rejoins the Pitt State coaching staff after serving for three years as offensive line coach at Joplin (Mo.) High School. He coached eight All-Ozark Conference offensive linemen during his three-year tenure on the Eagles coaching staff.
    Prior to coaching in the high school ranks, Wells served as a graduate assistant offensive line coach at PSU from 2002-04. He helped the Gorillas to a pair of MIAA titles (2003-04) and consecutive trips to the NCAA-II playoffs his final two years on the PSU staff. He coached five NCAA-II All-American offensive linemen during his three-year tenure on the Gorillas staff, including the inaugural Gene Upshaw Award winner – Division II Lineman of the Year – in 2004.
    Wells earned third-team NCAA-II All-America and first-team All-MIAA honors as an offensive lineman as a senior for the Gorillas in 2001, helping Pitt State to an MIAA title, an 11-2 record and an NCAA-II national quarterfinalist finish. He enjoyed a six-year playing career, redshirting in his initial season at PSU in 1996 and exercising a medical redshirt in 1997.
    Wells, an All-League and All-District tight end during his prep days at Riverton High School, earned a bachelor’s of science degree in biology from Pittsburg State University in May 2002 and a master’s of science degree in physical education from PSU in December 2003.
    Steve, and his wife Kindyl, have an infant daughter, Elizabeth (1).