Meet The Assistant Coaches

Dean Hood

Defensive Coordinator and Defensive Backfield Coach

Dean Hood, former assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at Glenville (WV) State College, begins his fifth season as defensive backfield coach at EKU and his second as defensive coordinator for the Colonels

Hood came to Eastern after coaching at Glenville State for four seasons, the last three on defense, as GSC advanced in 1993 to the NAIA Division I national championship game and compiled a 10-3 record.

Glenville State's defense ledallNAIADivisionlschools in 1993in three categories : scoring defense (9.2), pass defense (118.0) and total defense (223 0).

Hood, 34, a native of Ashtabula, OH, also coached the 1987 and 1988 seasons as assistant football coach at Fairmont (WV) State College working with defensive backs In 1989, he served as junior varsity defensive coordinator, special teams coordinator and assistant varsity defensive secondary coach at Colgate (NY) University.

Hood is a 1986 graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University where he served as team captain his junior and senior seasons while playing defensive back there He was a first team All-American defensive back at OWU as a senior and a three-time All-North Coast Athletic Conference choice in the secondary Hood received his masters of science degre e in physical education from West Virginia University in 1989. He is married to the former Crystal Ramsey of Richmond.

JIM TANARA Defensive Line Coach

Jim Tanara will handle the defensive line again in his 20th year as an assistant coach at Eastern. Tanara came to EKU from the staff of Bear Bryant at Alabama where he served 11 years working with the Title's de-

fensive front .

While at Alabama , Tanara was a member of the staff that directed the Tide to two national championships and appearances in 11 bowl games He also served as UA's head wrestling coach for 11 years.

He was a three-year letterman for UT Chattanooga and started at both defensive end and tight end While collecting Little All-American honors in 1964, he received his bachelor of science degree in 1965 and was drafted by the New Orleans Saints as a free agent upon graduation.

He was an assistant football coach at Cleveland (TN) High School for three years before going to Alabama in 1970.

Tanara's recruiting area for the Colonels includes northeast Georgia and the Atlanta and Chattanooga metropolitan areas

He enjoys hobbies of golf, tennis and scuba diving He has two children, Julie and Jimmy, and is married to the former Charlotte Gibson of Gadsden, AL.

LEON HART Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach

Leon Hart has begun his second stint as an EKU assistant coach , coming back to the Colonel program in 1996 For the third straight year, he will serve coach Roy Kidd as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

Hart was the head football coach at Elon College in Burlington , N.C., from 1989-95 where he compiled a 37-37 overall record in seven seasons there. His best year came in 1992 when Elon went 8-2 and finished the year ranked fifth among NCAA Division II schools He was voted South Atlantic Conference Coach of the Year and American Football Coaches Association District 4 Coach of the Year in 1992.

He was previously a member of the EKU coaching staff for 13 seasons (1976-88) and was offensive coordinator from 198188 Hart graduated from Mansfield (Ohio) Madison High School in 1969 and went on to Maryville College where he received his B.A in education in 1973.

While at Maryville, Hart lettered four years serving as captain of the baseball squad as a senior He was a safety for the Maryville gridders, leading the team in interceptions his last three seasons.

Prior to coming to EKU in 1976, he coached at Malabar High School in Mansfield for three years. Hart coached running backs and defensive linemen there, plus assisted with basketball and baseball.

Hart is married to the former Mattie Arvin oflrvine and has two sons , Tim and Seth.

DOUG CARTER Offensive Line Coach

Doug Carter will begin his 12th season as an assistant coach for Coach Roy Kidd's staff and will be in charge of the offensive line.

Carter came to Eastern from the staff at the University of Central Florida where he coached two seasons as head offensive line coach, offensive special teams coordinator and recruiting coordinator. In those two seasons, UCF progressed to a winning 6-5 record from a 2-9 mark in 1984.

He has also served as a graduate assistant at Florida State University in 1983 and 1984 and at EKU in 1982 when the Colonels went 13 -0 and won the NCAA I-AA national championship. While at Florida State, the Seminoles competed in both the Peach and Citrus Bowls.

His other coaching experience includes one year (1981) as offensive backfield coach at his alma mater-William Jewell College in Liberty, MO That team went 12-1 and was a NAIA national semifinalist. In 1980, he was head football coach at Holt County High Schoolin Mound City, MO., as that team was district champion and Class A state semifinalist.

Carter is a 1976 graduate of Liberty (MO) High School where he was a three-year letterman in the offensive line and played in the Missouri vs . Kansas high school all-star game . The 39-year old native of Kansas City, MO , graduated from William Jewell in 1980 where he was a two-year letterman at offensive guard and competed for one season on the swim team.

He has one son, Christian (3 1/2) .

DONN LANDHOLM Linebackers Coach

Donn Landholm begins his second season as assistant football coach at EKU and will coach the Colonel linebackers .

Landholm , 41, came to Eastern from Blinn (TX) College where he served four seasons as offensive line coach. Blinn compiled back-to-back 12-0 seasons in 1995 and 1996 and won consecutive national junior college championships those two years

A native of Bristow, NE, Landholm is a 1979 graduate of Wayne State (NE) College where he played outside linebacker for WSC He received his masters of science degree from Central Missouri State University in 1985

Landholm began his coaching career in 1979, serving as assistant football coach at Plainview (NE) for three seasons before handling the head football coaching duties there in 1982. He then served a two-year stint (1984-85) as runningbacks coach at Cenral Missouri State and one season as runningbacks coach (1986) at Montana State University.

From 1987-91 , he was apartoftheArizona State University football program working with former Colonel quarterback Larry Marmie who was serving as ASU's head coach He spent the first two years as a graduate assistant and the last three as a volunteer coach working with the linebackers atEKU. Before going to Blinn College, he was linebackers coach at PSJA North High School in Pharr, TX, for the 1992 season.

JOHN REVERE Runningbacks Coach

John Revere , former outst a nding flanker for EKU, begins his second season as runningbacks coach for the Colonels. Revere replaced longtime Colonel assistant Teddy Taylor who is serving as head football coach at nearby Madison Southern High School.

Revere, 44, served from 1982-96 as an assistant football coach at LaGrange High School in LaGrange, GA Also at LaGrange High, he was boys' head track coach from 1982-97 and girls track coach from 1989-96.

He started for four seasons (1972-75) for the Colonels at flanker. While at EKU, he caught 95 passes for 1,501 yards and 13 touchdowns, ran the ball 53 times for 419 yards and two scores, had 65 punt returns for 459 yards and 59 kickoff returns for 1,212 yards and a TD.

He was first-team All-OVC as a junior , second -team AllOVC as a sophomore and a pre-season All-OVC pick as a senior. He won two team 110 percent awards while at Eastern and was co-captain of the 1975 Colonel team that went 8-2-1.

Reve re received his bachelors degre e in health and physical education from EKU in 1976 and his masters degree from Troy State University in 1992.

Revere is married to the form e r Brenda Daniel of Dayton, OH , and they have four children : Janeece , J.R. , Courtney and Ben . J .R. plays quarterback at Georgia Southern University .

WALTER WELLS Tight Ends Coach

Walter Wells begins his second season as tight ends coach for the Eastern Kentucky Colonels after spending three seasons (199496) at Cumberland University in Lebanon, TN.

Wells, 30, was assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator in 1996 at Cumberland as the Bulldogs finished 13th in the nation with an 8-2 overall record, led the Mid-South Conference in total offense and all of NAIA and NCAA in rushing yards per game (369.0)

He began his collegiate coaching career at Cumberland in 1994 as offensive line coach and became the offensive coordinator at CU in 1995 for head coach Herschel Moore as the Bulldogs led NAIA in rushing.

Prior to going to Cumberland, Wells was an assistant coach at Smyrna (TN) High School where he worked with the offensive and defensive lines

A native of Nashville, TN, Wells graduated from McGavock High School in 1985 after playing in both the offensive and d efensive line for coach Wes Elrod for four seasons.

He then played his collegiate football at Austin Peay State University where he was a two-year starter and letterman for the Govs at center.

Wells received his bachelors of business administration degree from Belmont University of Nashville in 1992 and his masters of scie n ce degree in human relations management from Cumberland in 1995.

H e is married to the former Jennifer Beth De Weese of Baxter , TN.