Last Thursday, former Northwest Missouri State associate head coach Will Wagner was named the seventh head football coach of Angelo State University.
Wagner started at Northwest, under Hall of Fame coach Mel Tjeerdsma as a graduate assistant before being hired full time as defensive backs coach. In 2007, Wagner was named associate head coach. Defense has been a strong hold for Bearcat football during their great Division II run, where 12 defensive backs combined to earn 18 All-MIAA honors. Wagner coached Myles Burnsides, who was named National Defensive Player of the Year in 2008.
The Bearcats have averaged nearly 18 interceptions per season since 2004. There’s a good write up on Wagner in the San Angelo Standard Times describing how the school was so attracted to not only Wagner’s smarts with the X’s and O’s of the game, but also from a recruiting standpoint.
