WEST CHESTER, Pa. - Golden Rams football head coach Bill Zwaan recently announced the hiring of three new assistant coaches and added a volunteer head coach as well to his 2010 coaching staff. Now in his eighth season running West Chester's storied program, Zwaan shook things up on the sideline after failing to reach the postseason in 2009.
Brandon Noble returns to West Chester after a one-year hiatus while Brian Kelley, who primarily helped out during spring practice the last few years, joins the staff for the first time this fall. A pair of Widener University assistants, Chris Bantell and JoJo Patrick, made the move west as well.
BRANDON NOBLE
Brandon Noble returns to West Chester University for his second tour of duty on head coach Bill Zwaan’s staff. This time as a full-time assistant coach. Noble was a part-time assistant coach with the Golden Rams’ gridders from 2006-08, before taking a one-year hiatus from the coaching profession.
Noble will tutor the defensive line in 2010 where he inherits two of three returning starters and a talent level that Zwaan feels goes almost three deep across the front line. The former NFL standout will oversee a group that led the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) in rushing defense, allowing a miniscule 77 yards rushing per game a year ago. The Golden Rams run defense was a big reason that the team placed second in the conference in scoring defense, surrendering just 17 points per game.
Three-time All-PSAC East selection Travis Ford-Bey is Noble’s prize pupil this fall. Ford-Bey led the Golden Rams with seven QB hurries in 2009 and is considered one of the conference’s top pass rushers off the edge.
A 1998 graduate of Penn State University with a degree in Criminal Justice, Noble spent seven seasons in the NFL, including three with the Washington Redskins (2003-05) and four with the Dallas Cowboys (1999-2000). He was a three-year starter at defensive end for the Cowboys and received the Ed Block Courage Award while with the Redskins.
Noble also played in NFL Europe with the Barcelona Dragons, making the All-World team and playing in the 1999 World Bowl Championship.
A three-year starter at Penn State, Noble was the defensive MVP of the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, served as a team captain, and played on the 1994 undefeated Rose Bowl squad. He earned All-Big Ten second team honors under legendary football coach Joe Paterno. Noble and fellow assistant coach E.J. Sandusky were teammates for one season at Penn State, leading the Nittany Lions to the 1993 Blockbuster Bowl.
BRIAN KELLEY
Brian Kelley enters his first season of intercollegiate coaching as an assistant on head coach Bill Zwaan’s staff, helping out with the linebackers. No stranger to the Golden Rams, Kelley has been around West Chester University’s football program for the last five years, volunteering his time during spring drills since 2005. This will be Kelley’s first fall with the Golden Rams’ gridders.
Kelley is a nine-year veteran of coaching, spending his first eight seasons on the high school level at Unionville High School where he has served as both the defensive coordinator and special teams coach since 2002. He also helped coach in the Valor Bowl – a Chester County high school senior all-star game – from 2003 to 2005.
Kelley enters his 16th year at Patton Middle School in Kennett Square, Pa., teaching English in the 6th thru 8th grades. He is a noted historian on Shakespeare and his works, presenting Shakespeare & Co. for the National Institute on Teaching Shakespeare and even being published in Shakespeare Magazine put out by Georgetown University. He has also presented at national conferences on connecting modern history to Shakespeare and connecting young people to Shakespeare.
In both 2003 and 2005, Kelley was featured in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers. He also won the Unionville-Chadds Ford Service Award in 2004.
Kelley graduated from Temple University with a bachelor’s degree in Radio, Television and Film and earned his master’s from Temple as well in 1993 in English Education.
CHRIS BANTELL
Chris Bantell enters his first season as an assistant coach at his alma mater. He will assist with the defensive backs for the Golden Rams this fall. Bantell is in his second stint with the Golden Rams. He volunteered his time as an undergraduate assistant at West Chester University in the spring of 2008, before being hired as a graduate assistant at Widener University.
Bantell moves over from Widener where he mentored the linebackers while working on his master’s degree in Liberal Arts with a concentration in Education.
The Golden Rams posted a 9-4 record that season, which included a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern Division title and an appearance in the NCAA II playoffs. Bantell earned his bachelor’s degree in Professional Studies from West Chester University in 2009 with a minor in Athletic Coaching and Communications.
JOJO PATRICK
JoJo Patrick begins his first season at West Chester University as an assistant coach, helping out with the offensive line. He comes to the Golden Rams’ program from nearby Widener University where he spent last fall as an assistant coach with the Pride.
Patrick mentored the defensive line at Widener and spent two seasons at Valley Forge Military College before that, working with the special teams unit. He also gained experience working with linebackers as well as strength & conditioning while at Valley Forge.
Patrick is in the midst of his second season of coaching at the four-year intercollegiate level. His knowledge and expertise will be put to good use with a very experienced and talented offensive line. Patrick will assist current offensive line coach Nick Sama with the development of that unit in 2010.
