UNI Football Hires Former NFL Players Paup, Griffin
8/3/2018 8:07:00 PM | Football
Share:
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Mark Farley has made three additions to UNI football's staff for the upcoming season set to kick off at Montana Sept. 1.
Former NFL standout and Panther great Bryce Paup will be returning to the football staff after having served three years with the Panthers as defensive line coach from 2013 to December 2016. He will continue that role at UNI.
Bryce Paup
In Paup's first year at UNI, the Panthers finished second in the Missouri Valley Football Conference in tackles for loss and third in team sacks. Xavier Williams earned All-America honors.
Under Paup's direction, UNI's defensive line earned top-15 rankings in his second year of coaching. He led the defensive line to a No. 3 ranking in FCS football in team sacks. Williams earned spots on four All-America teams and competed at the Senior Shrine Bowl and later earned a spot with the Arizona Cardinals. Williams is now playing for the Kansas City Chiefs.
In his final year with the Panthers as a coach, he guided Karter Schult to a 17-sack season, helping him earn the 2016 FCS Defensive Player of the Year Award. Schult went on to get some NFL experience.
Paup had an 11-year career in the NFL, earning defensive MVP honors in 1995 for the Buffalo Bills. He played for Green Bay, Buffalo, Jacksonville and Minnesota. While a student-athlete at UNI, Paup earned second team All-America honors. He and his wife, Denise, have six children.
Quentin Griffin comes to UNI from Missouri Southern State to coach the Panther running backs.
Quentin Griffin
He was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the 2003 NFL Draft. He also played for the Kansas City Chiefs. Griffin wrapped up his college career at Oklahoma with 5,275 all-purpose yards and 3,938 rushing yards from 199-2002. He remains as the sixth all-time rusher and fourth in all-purpose yards in school history.
Griffin was a Heisman Trophy candidate in 2002. He is a Texas native.
Kate Deakins will take over as the director of operations for UNI football. Deakins earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education from UNI in May 2017. She is pursuing a master's in post-secondary education student affairs.
The Maxwell, Iowa, native will manage all operations of the football office including operating budget, team travel, quality control, NCAA compliance and recruiting related matters. She will help hire, train, supervise and mentor team managers and video staff. She also will work closely with the freshmen to coordinate academic affairs.
Kate Deakins
Deakins also will help perform market analysis to design schedule to maximize strength of schedule and manage external relations, alumni and fundraising efforts.
UNI FOOTBALL PREVIEW
The Panthers will be building off last year's squad, which earned an 8-5 record and defeated three top-10 foes on its way to the program's 19th FCS playoff berth. The Panthers also succeeded on the postseason award's stage, after seven different players earned All-American honors, which was the most since 2007.
The team opens with Montana and Iowa on the road, Sept. 1 and Sept. 15. UNI opens the home season on Hall of Fame weekend in the UNI-Dome 4 p.m. Sept. 22.
