Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Three football assistant coaches leaving SIU
01/07/2014 | 12:00:00 | Football
Jan. 7, 2014
CARBONDALE, Ill. -Saluki Football assistant coaches Kalen DeBoer, Randy Hedberg and Eric Schmidt have each accepted new jobs at other schools.
DeBoer, who was the offensive coordinator at SIU for the past four seasons, is headed to Eastern Michigan of the FBS where he will be the offensive coordinator for the Eagles under new head coach Chris Creighton. It will be the first FBS job for DeBoer, who won three NAIA National Championships as the head coach of the University of Sioux Falls before joining the Salukis' staff.
Hedberg will be the new quarterbacks coach at North Dakota State under new head coach Chris Klieman. Hedberg, a North Dakota native, had been the quarterbacks coach at SIU for all six years of Lennon's tenure. Prior to his time at SIU, Hedberg spent 18 years as a college head coach, including nine years at Minot State and nine years with St. Cloud State.
In addition, Schmidt has been named the defensive coordinator under former SIU defensive coordinator Bubba Schweigert, who was recently named head coach at the University of North Dakota. Schmidt spent the previous six seasons at SIU, where he coached inside linebackers and special teams in 2013. In his time at Southern, he also worked with outside linebackers and the defensive line. Schmidt was a captain on Dale Lennon's 2001 national championship team at North Dakota.
