Football
- Title:
- Defensive Line / Special Teams
- Email:
- aflyger@siu.edu
- Phone:
- 618-453-7979
- Alma Mater:
- Augustana College, 2004
Austin Flyger has coached eight seasons at Southern Illinois and has served as the defensive line coach since 2012. Flyger added co-Special Teams Coordinator duties for the 2017 season.Â
When new defensive coordinator Kraig Paulson arrived in 2016, Flyger guided SIU through a transition from a 3-4 defense to a 4-3 alignment. Southern’s defense allowed 75 fewer rushing yards per game in 2016 and just 12 rushing touchdowns. The unit piled up 29 sacks--the fifth time in seven season SIU has recorded at least 29 sacks in a season under Flyger.Â
Flyger began his coaching career at SIU as a grad assistant in 2008, and his defensive line played a key role in the team’s championship defenses in 2008 and 2009. Led by All-Conference nose tackle Chris Arthurs, the defense held opponents to 10 or fewer points in seven games in 2008 and 2009, as the Salukis posted a combined 20-5 record, including a 15-1 mark in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
In 2010, Flyger took a full-time position as the defensive line coach at Northern State under former Saluki assistant coach Tom Dosch. He returned to Southern in 2012 as the team’s defensive line coach and the unit experienced immediate success. The 2012 defensive line featured AFCA All-American defensive end Ken Boatright, who went on to play in the National Football League with the Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks.
Flyger played a key role in the development of defensive end Deondre Barnett, who went on to sign a pro contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2017. Last year, Flyger was instrumental in Anthony Knighton’s break-out season, in which the redshirt freshman recorded 6.5 sacks and finished runner up for MVFC Freshman of the Year and 11th in the Jerry Rice Award voting for National Freshman of the Year.
Flyger was a stand-out player at Augustana from 2000-03, where he earned All-North Central Conference honors and was named the league’s most valuable defensive lineman as a senior in 2003. Flyger went on to play three seasons with the Sioux Falls Storm of the United Indoor Football League before embarking on a coaching career. His first coaching opportunity came in 2007, when he served on Dale Lennon’s staff at the University of North Dakota, working primarily with the defensive line.
