Football | August 23, 2016

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Two of the assistant coaches on the defensive side of the ball are new to Western Michigan this season. Jimmy Williams, an All-American defensive lineman at Nebraska is the defensive line coach for the Broncos while long time Southern Miss assistant coach and former NFL Europe head coach David Duggan is the new linebackers coach.

Duggan has a history with the Broncos' staff, working with defensive coordinator Ed Pinkham during previous stops in his career at New Hampshire, Allegheny College and Colgate. From there he branched off to become a coach in NFL Europe, helping the Berlin Thunder win the World Bowl in 2001 and 2002 as a defensive coordinator and becoming the head coach of the Cologne Centurions in 2006-07. He returned to college at Southern Miss helping establish a dominance in Conference USA from 2008-11 and then in 2013-15 when he helped rebuild the program.

Upon arriving in Kalamazoo, Duggan has found a unique type of players here than he's seen in his storied career.

"I think the players here are high football IQ players." Duggan said. "These guys play hard and they've bought into Coach Fleck's culture. You don't have a lot of off-field problems you might have at other places. The culture is the number one thing that's the huge difference. It shows on and off the field."

Duggan is charged with leading a Bronco linebacking core that will only return one starter that played in the Popeyes Bahamas Bowl at linebacker. Junior Caleb Bailey, who was fourth in the Mid-American Conference last season with 12.5 tackles for loss serves as the lone returner. Robert Spillane, who was MAC Defensive Player of the Week against Miami (OH) in 2015 is coming off a season-ending injury. When healthy he has proved to be among the ELITE of linebackers in the league.

The newest linebacker to join the group is converted safety Asantay Brown. Brown was a third-team All-MAC player at safety last season and is being moved to the front seven for his versatility. Coach Fleck said Brown could even play rush end if needed.

"I laughed at first," Brown said when hearing about moving positions. "I wasn't really the weight of a linebacker but my mindset is to sacrifice for the team and if they want me to play linebacker I'll play linebacker."
Duggan has been charged with teaching Brown the nuances of linebacker. For Duggan, it helps teaching someone who is self-motivated as opposed to having to drag him along.

"He's athletic and a good football player," Duggan said. "We needed help at our SAM linebacker spot and he has filled that role and done a great job. When you're a great football player it doesn't matter where you play. One thing about him is he's working all the time at it. He's always in the film room and it's important to him."