ULM football announced the hiring of two new assistant coaches in Jerry McManus and Mario Price.
McManus will coach the Warhawk tight ends after serving as the offensive coordinator at New Mexico State in 2012. Prior to his time at New Mexico State, McManus coached at Kent State, working for Doug Martin, who served on the same staff with ULM head coach Todd Berry under Steve Logan at East Carolina.
Price—who played one season for Berry at Army before finishing his career at Baylor—was promoted from graduate assistant to inside receivers coach.
Before coming to ULM, Price coached the receivers coach at Millsaps College in Jackson, MS, and at Texas A&M-Commerce.
With these latest hires, ULM has now completed its coaching staff for the 2013 season.
After cornerbacks coach Tony Gilbert was fired following the regular season, defensive coordinator Troy Reffett moved from linebackers to cornerbacks coach. Tight ends coach Travis Niekamp shifted to the defensive side of the ball, taking over the linebackers.
The Warhawks will have nine full-time assistant football coaches for the first time since 2011.
ROSTER CHANGES
ULM has released its 2013 spring depth chart, and it included several changes to the roster.
With a roster stocked full of receivers, Tyler Cain and Cortney Davis have been moved to running back. Punter Caleb Gammel is also on the move, switched to wide receiver.
On defense, Allen Tatum and Devon White have made the move from safety to linebacker. In the trenches, Elliot Hilliard switches from offensive line to the defensive front and nose tackle Emmanuel Jefferies will line up at tight end in 2013.
Freshmen Wesley Hicks and Quincy Hardwell have also been dismissed from the team for failure to comply with team rules.
SCHEDULE UPDATE
The departure of Middle Tennessee and Florida Atlantic from the Sun Belt has left Warhawk football scrambling to find a 12th opponent to fill out the 2013 schedule.
The original plan was to play six home games at Malone Stadium next season, but the latest round of conference realignment has put that in doubt.
After two home nonconference contests with Grambling and Tulane, ULM will play only three Sun Belt games at home, leaving them looking for another out-of-conference opponent to fill out the home schedule.
Head coach Todd Berry said he’d like to find a 6th home game, but not at the expense of missing a chance to play a quality opponent.
“You want to create those unique match ups like the Baylor game did last year,” Berry said. “I think there’s some good opportunities for us out there.”
Middle Tennessee and Florida Atlantic are the latest schools to defect from the Sun Belt to Conference USA, joining Florida International and North Texas.
ULM opens the 2013 season on Aug. 31 at Oklahoma.
