North Dakota State football is in the midst of one of its biggest offseasons in five years as new coach Tim Polasek has had plenty to do in a short amount of time as he has had to recruit both current and future players, get involved in the community, and put his staff together. He has worked hard to put his staff together and it now appears he has as he filled out his staff with three hires over the last week, one of which came with a bit of controversy.
Devin Klieman: Safeties Coach
If that last name sounds familiar to you then you’re right as Devin is the son of former NDSU and current Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman. While his father was the head coach at NDSU, Devin was a student coach helping out on defense. He followed his father to Kansas State to continue his role as a student coach until he graduated in 2020. He then left for Abilene Christian University to be an assistant linebacker coach for one season until he returned to Manhattan as a graduate assistant. Klieman returns to Fargo as the new safeties coach after former safeties coach and defensive coordinator Jason Petrino was not retained by Tim Polasek.
Will Johnson: Cornerbacks Coach
Will Johnson is a former cornerback at the University of Oklahoma who started coaching at OU in 2020 as a graduate assistant. In 2022 Johnson followed then-Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley to Southern California where he served as a graduate assistant on defense for two seasons. He takes over coaching the corners from Lewis Walker who left to become the defensive coordinator at Monmouth University in New Jersey.
Jake Landry: Offensive Coordinator
Jake Landry took the long winding road to Fargo as NDSU was still trying to pick up the pieces left by Tyler Roehl’s abrupt departure and they needed to get a new offensive coordinator in fast, enter Jake Landry. He comes to Fargo from UND, well technically. This is the controversial part of the hiring process as Landry had already agreed to leave St. Thomas to be the new North Dakota offensive coordinator. Only eight days after joining Bubba Schweigert’s staff the former UND quarterback had a change of heart and went to the arch-rival Bison instead. Landry and Polasek were coaches together at Northern Illinois in 2013. Landry now has a huge task in front of him as he takes over an offense that averaged 38 points and 435 yards per game last year.