Northwestern State head coach Blaine McCorkle on Wednesday announced three new hires and three internal promotions.
Wide receivers coach Carson Stewart has been promoted to offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach Norman Joseph to assistant head coach, and linebackers coach Justin Williamson to recruiting coordinator. Stewart was previously the Demons' recruiting coordinator.
"Coach Joseph did a tremendous job in year one helping us get started offensively, "McCorkle said. "He has a wealth of experience that is invaluable to our program and me as a head coach. The promotion to assistant head coach will allow him to put those experiences to use as we continue to build our program.
"Coach Stewart has been steeped in our offensive system for years. Has held the coordinator title in the past and been wildly successful so this will be a seamless transition for him," he added. "With that, we will make our recruiting coordinator moving forward to free Carson up. All of these moves again are allowed to happen due to the incredible commitment by our administration to bring this once-proud program back to where it belongs and they fully understand the incredible task we all have ahead of us."
Additionally, Kendrick Van Ackeren has joined the staff as defensive backs coach, Isaac Bails as defensive line coach, and Tylan Martin as running backs coach.
McCorkle noted that three hires will give Northwestern State a full compliment of assistant coaches for the first time since NSU joined Division I in 1976.
"This was a promise President (James) Genovese made upon his arrival and I can't thank him, and (AD Kevin Bostian) enough for making this happen. You can't do a job if you don't have the proper tools, and this certainly helps us in our building project," McCorkle said.
Van Ackeren joins Northwestern State after two seasons at Arkansas Tech, where he was the Wonder Boys' defensive coordinator while coaching defensive backs and linebackers. Arkansas Tech boasted six all-conference defenders in 2024. Prior to Arkansas Tech, Van Ackeren coached the secondary at Colorado State-Pueblo, where his unit led the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in interceptions and passing efficiency.
Martin joins Northwestern State after four seasons at rival Nicholls, where he coached running backs and served as co-special teams coordinator. There, he coached Collin Guggenheim to a Southland Conference Player of the Year award in 2023 (Guggenheim is now Nicholls's running backs coach) and Miquele Brock to the Southland Conference Freshman of the Year award this past season.
Bails joins Northwestern State after two seasons as the assistant defensive line coach at North Texas. He has previous experience coaching defensive lines at Birmingham Southern and in the Louisiana high school ranks.
Northwestern State endured an 0-12 season in 2024, McCorkle's first with the program. The Demons are striving for the program's first winning season since 2008, and last won a game on Nov. 5, 2022.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.