Southeast hires Lounsbury to fill spot left by Bradford

The veteran coach will serve on a temporary basis.

Southeast Missourian

A 25-year coaching veteran has been added to complete Southeast Missouri State University's football coaching staff for the 2004 season.

Southeast head coach Tim Billings announced Tuesday that Dan Lounsbury has been hired as the Indians' tight ends coach. Lounsbury will help fill the void left when Southeast defensive coordinator Damon Bradford was recently called to active duty with the Tennessee National Guard.

Lounsbury will fill a temporary spot on the Indians' staff in the absence of Bradford.

"Dan Lounsbury is a coach with great offensive credentials and adding him to our offensive staff will help me devote my time to the defense," said Billings, who will act as defensive coordinator this year. "With the addition of Lounsbury, our new offensive coordinator, Rob Likens, will have a veteran staff that can run the offense."

Billings said that assistant head coach Kip Shaw will again handle the receivers, with Mike Chavez returning as offensive line coach and Tony Joe White returning as offensive backfield coach and special teams coach.

"Likens and Lounsbury are good friends and have spent a lot of time together in the past," Billings said.

Lounsbury, a former quarterback at Arkansas, began his coaching career as offensive coordinator at Sam Houston State in 1976. He most recently was offensive coordinator at Tulsa in 2002.

Lounsbury has also been offensive coordinator at Houston and for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League while serving on the staffs at Texas Christian, Kentucky, Purdue and Texas. He has also been a head coach, at Southeastern Oklahoma State in the early 1980s and Wisconsin-Superior in the early 1990s.

Cody Vardeman, defensive backs coach, will serve as co-defensive coordinator with Billings. Other defensive staff members are Matt Webb (tackles), Andy McGill (ends), Zane Jillson (assistant backs) and Jackson High School product J.P. Hall (assistant linebackers).