ATHENS, W.Va. – Concord University head football coach
Brian Ferguson has announced a portion of his staff for the upcoming season.
Ferguson's first staff as head coach will include Casey Creehan (defensive coordinator), Austin Ashcraft (offensive line), Brian Saunds (wide receivers/recruiting coordinator) and
Saul Robles (offensive graduate assistant).
Carter Mangel, a former graduate assistant at Concord, shifts from the offensive side of the ball to coach the defensive line. And
Malachi Newell will remain as the linebackers' coach for a second season.
Creehan has a long coaching pedigree that has covered the Canadian Football League and Division I and Division II college football. Creehan has spent time with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Edmonton Eskimos, Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Montreal Alouettes—all of the CFL. Near the beginning of his coaching career, Creehan made a stop at Division II and fellow regional school Clarion in 2001 and 2002. He has coached on the defensive side of the ball at Lehigh (1999), James Madison (2003) and Eastern Michigan (2009). Creehan's most recent coaching stop was as a head coach at Lehigh High School in Florida.
Ashcraft comes to southern West Virginia as a well-traveled position coach in various parts of the country. A former Division II lineman at Humboldt State in California, Ashcraft's latest stop was at Luther, a Division III, in Iowa. Ashcraft has coaching experience at Division I schools, Northwestern State (2019), South Alabama (2020) and UNLV (2021). He earned his master's degree while coaching at a successful Division II program, West Texas A&M.
Brian "Buzz" Saunds is just two years removed from playing for one of the most successful Division II programs in the history of college football, Valdosta State. As a wide receiver on the national runner-up 2021 Blazers team, Saunds hauled in 73 catches for 1200 yards while scoring seven touchdowns. He also led VSU in receiving in 2019 as he recorded 54 receptions for 938 yards and five touchdowns. Saunds earned All-Gulf South three times in his career, including first team nods in 2019 and 2021. Saunds is originally from Darien, Georgia.
Concord fans will remember Robles from the last two seasons. He wrapped up his playing career last fall as he started all 11 games for the Mountain Lions at left guard. In his two-plus seasons, Robles moved around on the offensive line in his first season before finding a permanent home at left guard for the 9-2 CU team in 2022.
Ferguson will announce the two remaining spots on his staff later in the summer.
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