Arkansas State Red Wolves Football Notes

Coachswap

Tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator Dan Dodd is headed to Lamar to take over the offensive coordinator job and Kyle Cefalo, a former GA under Blake Anderson, is returning to the ASU staff as a yet unspecified offensive assistant.

Dodd was on Blake Anderson’s ASU staff for three years (‘14-’16) as tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator. His 3 recruiting classes were all ranked in the top three in the Sun Belt, with his 2014 class being recognized as the #1 class overall. Staff responsibilities for recruiting have been shuffled and it has not been announced who will take over as tight ends coach or run the Red Wolves recruiting program.

Cefalo returns to the ASU program as an offensive assistant after spending this last season as a GA on the Maryland staff under offensive coordinator Walt Bell, who previously was OC for Blake Anderson. It has not been announced what position he will hold on the Red Wolves staff, but previously worked with wide receivers. When asked about the return of Cefalo, Blake Anderson said, “Kyle obviously did an outstanding job and was an important part of our success in his previous role with our football team, so we are excited to welcome him back to our program. He is a young, energetic and knowledgeable coach who will be a great addition to our staff.” Before his three years on staff at ASU (‘13-’15), Cefalo was a recruiting intern under Chris Petersen at Boise St. Cefalo is eager to return to Anderson’s staff, “This is really a dream come true – I feel like I am coming home, this is a fantastic opportunity to work at a place where I spent three years coaching and really enjoyed my time and the energy surrounding this program. I’m looking forward to working for Coach Anderson and with this outstanding staff, so I can’t wait to get started.”

Chris Odom Wins Hampton Award

The Little Rock Touchdown Club has named senior defensive lineman Chris Odom its 2016 Dan Hampton Award winner. The award is given to the top collegiate defensive lineman in the state of Arkansas. Odom finished the season with 22 solo tackles, 12 sacks, and 4 forced fumbles and was a constant in opponents backfields. Odom was also a Sun Belt Conference first team selection.

Chris Odom Tabbed As Defensive MVP At Showcase

Chris Odom was one of three Red Wolves to participate in the College Graduation Showcase event in Bedford Texas. Over 150 college athletes got an opportunity to show their talents to NFL and CFL executives over the five day event. Odom was chosen at the conclusion of the camp as the defensive MVP and as one scout observed, “He wins against a lot of different body types and has a lot of spring in his first step. There’s got to be a place for this guy at the next level because of his size and strength.”

Also participating at the camp was WR Kendall Sanders and OL Jemar Clark.

2017 Opponents Confirmed

The 2017 football opponents have been confirmed and the final game dates should be released in mid-February. Non conference games and dates are set:

9/2 @ Nebraska

9/9 Miami

9/16 UAPB

9/23 @ SMU

Conference games for 2017 will be:

AWAY: Georgia Southern, New Mexico St., South Alabama, ULM

HOME: Coastal Carolina, Texas State, Troy, Louisiana-Lafayette

In a typical scheduling fluke for the Sun Belt, Appalachian State will not play Arkansas State nor Troy in 2017.