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2006 Coaching Staff

Larry Kehres, Head Coach

     Kehres enters his 21st season as head coach of the Mount Union Purple Raiders as one of the most successful head coaches in the history of college football.  His overall record of 231-20-3 (.915) is phenomenal by itself, but that is just the beginning.

     His teams have posted 14 undefeated regular seasons (86-90-92-93-95-96-97-98-99-00-01-02-03-04), won 46 of 54 playoff games, 16 Ohio Athletic Conference championships (86-90-92-93-94-95-96-97-98-99-00-01-02-03-04-05) and have been Division III National Champions eight times (93-96-97-98-00-01-02-05).

     Beginning with the first game in 1996, to the final game of 1999, his teams won 54 straight football games.  He then did one better than that by winning 55 straight games from the beginning of the 2000 season to the final game of 2003, setting a new standard in college football for excellence.  He guided the Raiders to a unbelievable mark of 120-7-1 (.941) during the decade of the 1990's, and enters the 2006 season having won 135 of his last 139 contests.

     Kehres is a native of Diamond, Ohio and went to Southeast High School.  He played quarterback while attending Mount Union College (67-70) and still holds the school record for longest pass completion, 95 yards for a touchdown, in a 1970 contest versus Ohio Northern.

     He was a graduate assistant coach at Bowling Green State University (71-72) while earning a master's degree in health and physical education.  He served as head football coach for one season (1973) at Johnstown Monroe High School before returning to Alliance and spending the next eleven years as a Purple Raider assistant coach, mostly offensive coordinator, before taking over as head coach in 1986.

     Kehres is also an associate professor of physical education and athletic director at Mount Union College, and has been named the GTE Division III National Coach of the Year seven times (93-96-97-98-00-01-02) as voted on by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA).

Jeff Wojtowicz, Secondary

     Wojtowicz is in his 20th year as an assistant coach for the Purple Raiders and handles the defensive backfield.  Under his guidance, the 1992 Raider defense set an OAC record with 33 interceptions.

     In 2001, Wojtowicz earned the National Football Foundation's Northeastern Ohio Assistant Coach of the Year Award, and in 2004 was named the OAC Co-Assistant Coach of the Year as voted by the 10 head coaches in the league.

     He was a graduate assistant at Indiana State University (1984) and an assistant coach at Wittenberg University (1985) before returning to Mount Union in 1986.  He was a three-year letter winner for the Raiders as a defensive back (81-83) and was a co-captain of the football team his senior year, earning Honorable-Mention All-OAC honors that season.

     Wojtowicz also is an instructor in the Health and Physical Education Department at Mount Union, and coaches the men's and women's tennis teams.  He was named OAC Tennis Coach of the Year in 2000.

Matt Campbell, Offensive Line

     Campbell returns for his second season as part of the Raiders coaching staff this year following two seasons serving as a graduate assistant at Bowling Green State University while pursuing a Masters
Degree in Education Administration.

     The former Raider All-American defensive end played on three national championship teams while earning First-Team All-OAC honors and being voted the conference's best defensive lineman in 2001 and 2002.  He was also honored as a College Sports Information Directors (CoSIDA) Academic All-American in 2002 while majoring in history.

     During his playing career, Campbell recorded 207 tackles, including 49 for loss, and 22 sacks, while setting a Mount Union single season record for tackles for loss with 25 and a single game tackles for
loss mark of six during his senior season of 2002.

Vince Kehres, Defensive Line

     Kehres returns for his seventh year as part of the coaching staff this season where he excelled on the gridiron during his college career.  He will again handle the defensive line after spending four seasons in charge of the defensive ends prior to coaching the offensive line in 2004.

     He was a four-year letter winner (94-97) as a defensive end, recording 62 tackles, including 12 tackles for loss during his playing career, while playing on two national championship teams (96-97).  He earned All-Conference honors his senior season when the Purple Raiders' defense led the nation in fewest points allowed (5.6 ppg) and run defense (48.6 ypg), while posting five shutouts.

Jason Candle, Wide Receivers

     Candle begins his fourth year as a wide receiver coach for the Raiders after serving as a student assistant in 2002.  During his playing career, he caught 57 passes for 1,037 yards and 11 touchdowns for Mount Union, earning First-Team All-OAC honors in 2001.  He played on two national championship teams (00-01).  Candle is a product of nearby West Branch High School.

Zac Bruney, Quarterbacks / Secondary

     Bruney returns as an assistant coach this year after serving as a two-year starter and four-year letter winner at quarterback for the Purple Raiders.  During his playing career he led all of Division III in passing
efficiency in 2003 and earned the Mike Gregory Award as the OAC's best offensive back his senior year.  Bruney ranks fourth all-time at Mount Union with 5,769 passing yards, 64 touchdowns and just 19 interceptions.

     Bruney earned the Clyde Lamb Award as the college's top male student-athlete in 2004-05, and also was named to "ESPN's The Magazine" 2004 Football Academic All-American Team.

Joel Cockley, Running Backs / Tight Ends

     Cockley returns this season to the Purple Raiders coaching staff for a seventh consecutive year.  He served under Larry Kehres from 1989-94 as well, including the final three of those seasons as offensive coordinator and offensive line coach.

     He has held a number of head coaching positions at the high school level, including Alliance High School (81-88, 95-99), Dover High School (1979) and Buckeye North High School (76-78).   In addition,
he has been an assistant coach at Youngstown State University (1980) and Triway High School (73-75).  Cockley played safety in college at Northeast Missouri State (69-72) and was a part of three conference
title teams.

Ed Hogya, Wide Receivers / Tight Ends

     Hogya is in his second stint as a Purple Raider assistant and will work with receivers for a fourth consecutive season.  A 1989 Mount Union graduate, he was a three-year letter winner (86-88), catching 109 passes for 2,039 yards and 13 touchdowns during his career and earning First-Team All-OAC honors at wide receiver in 1988.

Clyde Ross, Kickers

     Ross returns for a 12th season as the Raiders kicking coach after a one-year absence last year.  He has served as an assistant football coach at Salem High School (70-76), United High School (1969) and
Bowling Green State University (1968), where he graduated.  He also attended and played collegiate football at Southern Illinois State University (57-58) and Morris Harvey College (now Charleston
University) (55-56).

Keith Wakefield, Linebackers

     Wakefield comes to Mount Union after a very successful head coaching career at the High School level.  He spent the last two seasons as head coach at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary's High School after a 22-year career (82-03) at Perry High School, where his teams won 12 Federal League titles and reached the Division I State Semifinals in 2000.  Prior to that he served as head coach at both Mansfield Madison and Austintown Fitch High Schools.  Wakefield is a graduate of Otterbein College with a degree in education.

John Wallace, Offensive Line

     Wallace begins his first season as an assistant coach with the Purple Raiders after serving in the same capacity at Green High School the past seven years, including last season as the team's offensive
coordinator. He is a 1991 graduate of Alliance High School and earned his degree in secondary education from the University of Akron in 1999.

Ross Watson, Defensive Backs

     Watson joins the Mount Union coaching staff and spending the last four seasons playing cornerback for the Purple Raiders.  He is a four-year letter winner and three-year starter, earning First-Team All-Conference and AFCA All-American honors in 2005.  Last year he led the team with nine interceptions, one shy of the school record, and in his career, had 146 tackles, 14 interceptions and 29 passes broken up.

Student Assistants:

Jeff Goodwill, Offensive Line

Nick Cianni, Wide Receivers

Daniel Blume, Defensive Line