Eastern Michigan Athletics
Football
McCaslin, Brad
vs
Northern Illinois
Oct 11 (Sat)
TBA
Brad McCaslin
- Title:
- Assistant Coach/Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
- Email:
- bmccasli@emich.edu
- Phone:
- 734.487.2160
Entering his second year at EMU is Brad McCaslin, who came to Ypsilanti after spending two years at Drake University. McCaslin will serve as the team’s defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach.
A proven winner, McCaslin has been a part of teams that have posted winning records in 15 of his 17 seasons. During that span, the squads won seven conference championships and posted a 65.6 winning percentage (126-66).
In his first season in Ypsilanti, McCaslin’s defense showed vast improvement on the field, as the squad recorded more tackles-for-loss (63), pass breakups (36), fumbles forced (9), fumbles recovered (6), and kicks blocked (6) than it did in all of 2013.
Individually, junior defensive lineman Pat O’Connor earned first team All-MAC honors while redshirt-junior linebacker Great Ibe claimed a spot on the league’s second team. O’Connor became just the second EMU player to lead the conference while sitting at No. 44 nationally with 7.5 sacks.
In 2013, McCaslin’s defense helped the Bulldogs to a top-15 national ranking in first down defense (third - 173), rushing defense (fifth - 94.9 yds/gm), scoring defense (10th - 19.5 ppg) and total defense (11th - 319.6 yds/gm). In the team’s final four games in 2013, Drake’s defense allowed just 14.3 points per game and 241 yards per game. Additionally, the defense forced 12 turnovers during that span while holding opponents to just 33.3 rushing yards per game.
The Bulldogs had a pair of defenders earn All-Pioneer Football League First Team honors in linebacker John Hugunin and defensive back Mike Ratelle after the pair earned second team honors in 2012. Hugunin led the PFL in tackles with 10.3 tackles per game and ranked 13th nationally. All told, he racked up 113 total tackles (67 solo) with a pair of fumble recoveries. Ratelle reprised his role as one of the top safeties in the PFL with 65 tackles, the second most on the team, and a team-high three interceptions and eight passes broken up. His 11 total passes defended ranked fourth in the PFL while his three interceptions were tied for sixth.
Part of the squad’s resurgence was that McCaslin charged his defense with the task of forcing three turnovers per game. The Drake defense forced 32 turnovers during his two-year stint in Des Moines, Iowa, with 21 resulting in points for the Bulldogs, four others ending games, and two others ending the first half.
McCaslin joined the Drake football program as defensive coordinator in February of 2012 and immediately helped make Drake one of the top defenses in the PFL. During his first season, the Bulldogs ranked second in the PFL in total defense by surrendering just 329 yards per game and having two Bulldogs pick up All-PFL accolades, including PFL Defensive Player of the Year Tyler Moorehead, who ranked in the top 10 in the league in sacks.
Prior to his stint under Creighton at DU, McCaslin coached for 14 seasons at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, including spending the last six as the Mavericks’ defensive coordinator (2005-10). He also served as associate head coach his final four seasons before UNO dropped its football program.
As defensive coordinator at UNO, McCaslin oversaw a dramatic improvement across the entire unit. The 2007 Mavericks ranked first in the North Central Conference in scoring defense (16.8), turnover margin (+14) and rush defense (97.2). Their red zone defense also improved from worst to first in the NCC from 2006 to 2007. UNO players collected all three NCC Defensive MVP awards in 2007.
McCaslin began his tenure at Nebraska-Omaha as a graduate student assistant coach for three seasons (1997-99) before becoming a full-time assistant in 2000, in charge of the defensive line. McCaslin’s units were quickly among the strongest in the conference.
Among his star pupils was All-American Chris Cooper, a sixth-round draft pick who has spent nine seasons in the National Football League. He also coached Buck Rasmussen, who earned a Super Bowl ring in 2005 with the New England Patriots, and Kenny Onatolu, who played with the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League before being signed by the Minnesota Vikings prior to the 2009 season.
McCaslin spent four seasons as the team’s recruiting coordinator in addition to his defensive line duties, from 2001-05. In 2009, UNO finished third in the Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletic Association in total defense and had the second-best rushing defense to go along with the league’s third-best passing defense.
A native of Cheyenne, Wyo., McCaslin was a stand-out wide receiver at Hastings College from 1990-94. While there, he set the school record for most receptions in a game. After graduating, he taught and coached at Benson High School in Omaha, Neb. for two years before becoming a graduate assistant at UNO.
McCaslin and his wife, Erin, have three children, Gabrielle, Kelton, and Bodey.
The Brad McCaslin File
Name: Brad McCaslin
High School: East H.S. - Cheyenne, Wyo.
College: Hastings College - Bachelor’s degree in Business - 1995
Family: Wife-Erin; Children - Gabrielle, Kelton, and Bodey.
Coaching Experience
Year School Position
2014-Pres. Eastern Michigan University Assistant Coach/Defensive Coordinator/LB
2012-13 Drake University Assistant Coach/Defensive Coordinator
2008-11 University of Nebraska-Omaha Associate Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator
2005-08 University of Nebraska-Omaha Assistant Coach/Defensive Coordinator
2001-05 University of Nebraska-Omaha Assistant Coach/Defensive Line/Recruiting Coord.
2000-01 University of Nebraska-Omaha Assistant Coach/Defensive Line
1997-99 University of Nebraska-Omaha Graduate Assistant Coach
1995-97 Benson High School Teacher/Coach
1990-94 Hastings College Student-athlete
Coaching Honors
Posted winning records in 15 of his 17 seasons
Seven Conference Championships: 1998, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2012
2007 Season – 10-0 Regular Season Record / 9th in NCAA Division II Rush Defense
2000 Season – 10-1 Regular Season Record - 2nd in NCAA Division II Rush Defense and Scoring Defense
A proven winner, McCaslin has been a part of teams that have posted winning records in 15 of his 17 seasons. During that span, the squads won seven conference championships and posted a 65.6 winning percentage (126-66).
In his first season in Ypsilanti, McCaslin’s defense showed vast improvement on the field, as the squad recorded more tackles-for-loss (63), pass breakups (36), fumbles forced (9), fumbles recovered (6), and kicks blocked (6) than it did in all of 2013.
Individually, junior defensive lineman Pat O’Connor earned first team All-MAC honors while redshirt-junior linebacker Great Ibe claimed a spot on the league’s second team. O’Connor became just the second EMU player to lead the conference while sitting at No. 44 nationally with 7.5 sacks.
In 2013, McCaslin’s defense helped the Bulldogs to a top-15 national ranking in first down defense (third - 173), rushing defense (fifth - 94.9 yds/gm), scoring defense (10th - 19.5 ppg) and total defense (11th - 319.6 yds/gm). In the team’s final four games in 2013, Drake’s defense allowed just 14.3 points per game and 241 yards per game. Additionally, the defense forced 12 turnovers during that span while holding opponents to just 33.3 rushing yards per game.
The Bulldogs had a pair of defenders earn All-Pioneer Football League First Team honors in linebacker John Hugunin and defensive back Mike Ratelle after the pair earned second team honors in 2012. Hugunin led the PFL in tackles with 10.3 tackles per game and ranked 13th nationally. All told, he racked up 113 total tackles (67 solo) with a pair of fumble recoveries. Ratelle reprised his role as one of the top safeties in the PFL with 65 tackles, the second most on the team, and a team-high three interceptions and eight passes broken up. His 11 total passes defended ranked fourth in the PFL while his three interceptions were tied for sixth.
Part of the squad’s resurgence was that McCaslin charged his defense with the task of forcing three turnovers per game. The Drake defense forced 32 turnovers during his two-year stint in Des Moines, Iowa, with 21 resulting in points for the Bulldogs, four others ending games, and two others ending the first half.
McCaslin joined the Drake football program as defensive coordinator in February of 2012 and immediately helped make Drake one of the top defenses in the PFL. During his first season, the Bulldogs ranked second in the PFL in total defense by surrendering just 329 yards per game and having two Bulldogs pick up All-PFL accolades, including PFL Defensive Player of the Year Tyler Moorehead, who ranked in the top 10 in the league in sacks.
Prior to his stint under Creighton at DU, McCaslin coached for 14 seasons at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, including spending the last six as the Mavericks’ defensive coordinator (2005-10). He also served as associate head coach his final four seasons before UNO dropped its football program.
As defensive coordinator at UNO, McCaslin oversaw a dramatic improvement across the entire unit. The 2007 Mavericks ranked first in the North Central Conference in scoring defense (16.8), turnover margin (+14) and rush defense (97.2). Their red zone defense also improved from worst to first in the NCC from 2006 to 2007. UNO players collected all three NCC Defensive MVP awards in 2007.
McCaslin began his tenure at Nebraska-Omaha as a graduate student assistant coach for three seasons (1997-99) before becoming a full-time assistant in 2000, in charge of the defensive line. McCaslin’s units were quickly among the strongest in the conference.
Among his star pupils was All-American Chris Cooper, a sixth-round draft pick who has spent nine seasons in the National Football League. He also coached Buck Rasmussen, who earned a Super Bowl ring in 2005 with the New England Patriots, and Kenny Onatolu, who played with the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League before being signed by the Minnesota Vikings prior to the 2009 season.
McCaslin spent four seasons as the team’s recruiting coordinator in addition to his defensive line duties, from 2001-05. In 2009, UNO finished third in the Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletic Association in total defense and had the second-best rushing defense to go along with the league’s third-best passing defense.
A native of Cheyenne, Wyo., McCaslin was a stand-out wide receiver at Hastings College from 1990-94. While there, he set the school record for most receptions in a game. After graduating, he taught and coached at Benson High School in Omaha, Neb. for two years before becoming a graduate assistant at UNO.
McCaslin and his wife, Erin, have three children, Gabrielle, Kelton, and Bodey.
The Brad McCaslin File
Name: Brad McCaslin
High School: East H.S. - Cheyenne, Wyo.
College: Hastings College - Bachelor’s degree in Business - 1995
Family: Wife-Erin; Children - Gabrielle, Kelton, and Bodey.
Coaching Experience
Year School Position
2014-Pres. Eastern Michigan University Assistant Coach/Defensive Coordinator/LB
2012-13 Drake University Assistant Coach/Defensive Coordinator
2008-11 University of Nebraska-Omaha Associate Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator
2005-08 University of Nebraska-Omaha Assistant Coach/Defensive Coordinator
2001-05 University of Nebraska-Omaha Assistant Coach/Defensive Line/Recruiting Coord.
2000-01 University of Nebraska-Omaha Assistant Coach/Defensive Line
1997-99 University of Nebraska-Omaha Graduate Assistant Coach
1995-97 Benson High School Teacher/Coach
1990-94 Hastings College Student-athlete
Coaching Honors
Posted winning records in 15 of his 17 seasons
Seven Conference Championships: 1998, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2012
2007 Season – 10-0 Regular Season Record / 9th in NCAA Division II Rush Defense
2000 Season – 10-1 Regular Season Record - 2nd in NCAA Division II Rush Defense and Scoring Defense
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