Miles Rounds Out Staff Ahead of Spring Game
In the time between National Signing Day and the annual Spring Game, Head Coach Les Miles has finished putting together his first coaching staff. Coach Miles went through the rolladex; using his many connections to coaches around the country.
His first staff at Kansas will feature five coaches that have previously served under Miles. That's only counting the ten assistant coaches, there are also many previous connections to the coaches and professionals that fill out the analysts and support staff.
Since Signing Day, the remaining three position coaching spots were filled. First by Chevis Jackson, who will coach Cornerbacks at Kansas. Jackson played for Miles at LSU (from 2004 to 2008), excited to return to now coach under Les Miles in Lawrence.
A native of Mobile, Alabama, Jackson played on the 2007 National Championship team at LSU under Miles. After his senior season in '07, he was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the third round of the 2008 NFL Draft.
Shortly after his four-year pro playing career, Jackson began coaching as a Graduate Assistant at South Alabama. He spent one season as a GA at his alma mater, brought in by Les Miles to work with the secondary in 2015.
He spent the last three seasons coaching at Ball State. He was named the Mid American Conference's Recruiter of the Year in 2017, often considered one of the best mid-major recruiters in the country.
The last coach added to the defensive coaching staff is Brett Diersen, the new Defensive Line Coach. Diersen follows Kevin Kane from SMU, having worked with both Kane and Jay Niemann at Northern Illinois.
Diersen helped the Huskies to four bowl games during his five-year tenure and a pair of MAC Championships.
He spent the 2012 season coaching defensive line and special teams at Florida Atlantic after a season at Indiana as the defensive ends coach and recruiting coordinator. From 2008-10, Diersen helped Nebraska to three bowl appearances working with a special teams and defensive line that featured AP National Player of the Year Ndamukong Suh.
He ties to the coaching staff, success coaching players to the NFL, and recruiting prowess made him a perfect fit to the coaching staff. It's still expected that Clint Bowen will have a position with the new coaching staff. It's clear now that it won't be as a positions coach, but it could be as an administrator or analyst.
Finally, the tenth and final coach hired is new Receivers Coach Cleo Lemon. Lemon spent the last two seasons coaching at the FCS level with Jacksonville State. Coaching receivers, he helped lead one of the top scoring offenses in the FCS.
Lemon brings seven years of coaching experience and a full career as a professional Quarterback in the NFL and CFL. That playing career saw Lemon play quarterback for the San Diego Chargers (2003-05), Miami Dolphins (2005-08) and Jacksonville Jaguars (2008-09) in the NFL before two seasons with the Toronto Argonauts in the CFL.
A four-year starter at Arkansas State from 1997-2000, Lemon threw for 7,706 yards and 48 touchdowns. His playing career at ASU parlayed into a long professional career. Lemon signed a free agent contract with the Green Bay Packers in 2002 and would see his first action under center with the Chargers in the 2004 season. He threw for 2,185 career yards and eight touchdowns in the NFL before moving on to the CFL to play for the Argonauts in 2010.
That 2010 season saw Lemon take over at quarterback in Toronto, where he led the Argonauts to the CFL Playoffs after a three-year absence. In just two CFL seasons, he threw for 5,069 yards and 22 touchdowns, while also averaging over seven yards per carry.
In his one season as offensive coordinator for PRCC in Poplarville, Miss., the Greenwood, Mississippi native led a Wildcats team that had five offensive players extend their playing careers by signing scholarships at four-year institutions. Those players included quarterback D.J Gillins (SMU), wide receiver Matthew Eaton (Iowa State), offensive lineman Keaton Brown (UAB) and tight end Sloan Spiller (ULM).
During his NFL career, Lemon crossed paths with Todd Monken. Monken coached receivers for the Jacksonville Jaguars during Lemon's tenure with the Jags. That time, along with the JUCO coaching stint, made Lemon familiar with the Jayhawks' new Offensive Coordinator. Now, he will coach Receivers while Monken will handle coaching Quarterbacks. It's expected the two will work closely to build the passing game.
These final three coaches all show a theme to Les Miles' staff at Kansas. A level of familiarity, with a mix of veteran coaches and a young, energetic staff that have all found success recruiting and coaching at multiple levels of football.
Kansas has scheduled their Spring Game for Saturday, April 13th with spring practice opening on March 16th. It's earlier than previous spring practices, but the new staff wanted a different pace and schedule to the offseason program. The Spring Game will be the first look at how all of these changes and new coaches will change the product on the field.