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As a distinguished player for Hillsdale College, Keith Otterbein has the unique opportunity to be the head coach at a school where he played. In 2007, Otterbein took the program on a major step forward, leading the Chargers to an 8-3 record, their best this decade.
Restoring success and a winning attitude to the football program have been ongoing goals of Otterbein's, and the team has shown improvement in both areas throughout his six-year tenure at his alma mater.
Otterbein has certainly known a great deal of success throughout his playing and coaching career. And entering his 28th season of coaching the sport, he feels ready to put the many lessons and philosophies he’s learned from his mentors to use for the Chargers.
Otterbein was an award-winning linebacker for Hillsdale from 1975-78, earning NAIA Honorable Mention All-American honors after his senior season. He also won the Ralph Miller III Award three times, and award that’s given to the Chargers’ best linebacker.
A proud four-time winner of the Plaid Open, Otterbein has maintained a winning mentality in every coaching position he’s held. He began his career at Hillsdale in 1980 before moving on to Central Michigan University.
While coaching under College Football Hall of Fame coach Herb Deromedi, Otterbein was able to learn the coaching ropes and establish a series of philosophies that serve him well to this day.
“One thing Herb told me was to write everything down. When you come to a gray area, refer back to that, those written philosophies you have. That’s what you believe in,” Otterbein said. “Over the years, maybe some of the X and O’s stuff changes, but not why I entered the profession.”
Otterbein knows exactly what kind of player he wants wearing the Charger lightning bolt.
“We want our student-athletes to have academic success while learning many valuable lessons offered in intercollegiate athletics, so, 20 years from now, they’re better prepared to be positive contributors to their communities.”
He wants his players to earn a degree, represent the school in a first-class manner, and to contend for, and hopefully win, a GLIAC championship, something that has eluded Hillsdale since 1992.
As he enters his fourth season at the helm of the Chargers, Otterbein can draw upon a wealth of coaching experience that has seen him enjoy tremendous success at several levels. Otterbein’s first head coaching stint started at Ferris State University in 1986, where he spent nine successful seasons with the Bulldogs.
Otterbein won 60 games in his nine seasons at Ferris, including an impressive 30-4-2 mark in his final three seasons, 1992-94. Thanks to that success, Otterbein was named the Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference’s Coach of the Year twice. He also led FSU to three straight trips to the NCAA Division II playoffs.
Otterbein moved on to join Bill Lynch’s staff at Ball State University in 1995, where he helped lead the Cardinals to a Mid-American Conference title in his second year. He served as the Cardinals’ recruiting coordinator and running back coach through the 2001 season. Otterbein’s football career reached full circle, in a way, with his December 2001 appointment as the Chargers’ head coach.
The GLIAC (the league the MIFC evolved into) changed a great deal during Otterbein’s time at Ball State. The league is now considered elite among the nation’s Division II colleges. In 2004, four GLIAC teams finished ranked in Division II’s Top 25, with three (Grand Valley, Northwood and Michigan Tech) teams qualifying for the playoffs. That challenge, with many tough teams on the schedule, is one of the things that drew Otterbein to his alma mater.
“That’s a big challenge, to find enough players who are good enough to play here, and who want to play at a small liberal arts college,” he said. “When you look at this school, we have easy things to sell. We have a 99.5 percent job placement after graduation, and when you look at the kind of education we can offer, we know we are always going to work with a classy group of kids who will be competitive in this league.”
In addition to his Coach of the Year honors, Otterbein netted several honors as a player. He was named a National Football Foundation Hall of Fame Scholar-Athlete. While at Hillsdale, he received the Ora C. Kimball Award for athletics, and the Leonard Urbanik Award for scholarship, leadership and ability.
Otterbein and his wife Amy have three children, all of whom are close to him and Hillsdale athletics in several ways. His son Steve (22) is a graduate assistant coach at Eastern Michigan University, and his daughter Alyssa (21) will be a senior at Hillsdale College in the Fall of 2008. His youngest child, Brad (20), is a quarterback on the Charger team.
Barry Fagan, Offensive Coordinator
From his days as a wide receiver at Penn State University to his current position as offensive coordinator for the Chargers, coaching has been a love and passion for Barry Fagan.
Fagan’s coaching career has had several stops, with a few of them coming in his current home conference of the GLIAC. He worked with head coach Keith Otterbein on successful teams at Ferris Sate University. While at Ferris in 1995, Fagan coached an offense that averaged 39 points per game and advanced to the Division II national semifinals.
He then went on to become the head coach at Wayne State University, a post he held from 1997-99.
Fagan led the offensive unit to record-breaking success at Hillsdale in 2007. Under his daily tuteledge, quarterback Mark Nicolet was named Second-Team All-American and broke seven school records during the season. Wide receive Aaron Waldie also shattered several records, and will be one of Fagan's primary weapons as the 2008 season approaches.
He’s also made coaching stops at the University of Wisconsin, Lousiana State University, Shippensburg (Pa.), Miami (Ohio) and Clarion University (Pa.).
But no matter where his career has taken him, the thrill of game day is a feeling Fagan feels just as intensely today. “It’s like a chess game,” Fagan said. “You spend the week analyzing your opponent, and watching it come to fruition is just a great feeling.”
Fagan first caught the coaching bug while attending high school in Pennsylvania. At Penn State, where he played from 1974-76, he learned under one of the best coaches--Joe Paterno. Fagan played on three bowl teams at Penn State but saw his playing career cut short by a knee injury, suffered before his senior season.
After graduating from PSU in 1978, Fagan immediately joined the coaching ranks, starting out as an assistant coach at Peters Twp. High School, where he remained until 1983. In between his college stops, Fagan spent the 1996 season as the head coach of West Bloomfield (Mich.) High School. But out of all of his stops, Fagan said he takes as much pride in coaching at Hillsdale as anywhere he’s been.
“It’s a first-rate program all the way,” he said. “You know you’re going to be dealing with a high quality of kids who have good character and who are accountable. Having been a head coach and having worked with Keith before, I feel like I can give some insight and present some options to the program.”
Barry and his wife, Amy, have one daughter, Maura, who is seven years old.
Craig Blanchard, Defensive Coordinator
Many of the football teams with which Craig Blanchard has been involved during his life have been rivals of Hillsdale. He serves as the Chargers’ defensive coordinator after spending four seasons as the team’s defensive backs coach. He carries the titles of assistant head coach as well as recruiting coordinator. Blanchard played his high school ball at nearby Jonesville High School, where he led the state of Michigan in rushing as a senior in 1976.
From there, Blanchard went on to play at Grand Valley State University, where he starred as a tailback and defensive back. Blanchard netted First Team All-Conference honors for Grand Valley in 1979 and 1980, his final two seasons with the Lakers. He also led the team in interceptions both seasons. Blanchard’s first college coaching stint at Hillsdale occurred between 1982 and 1984, when he was the defensive backs coach under Dick Lowry. In his first season, his unit set a school record for interceptions in a season with 32. Blanchard coached the defensive backs at Eastern Michigan University in the 1986 season before taking a similar position at Saginaw Valley State for six years. Blanchard earned his bachelor's degree in 1981 from Grand Valley State.
He resides in Hillsdale with his wife Melanie who is a home health nurse at the Hillsdale Community Health Center. They have four children: Lauren (22), Kathryn (21), Michael (19) and Aaron (14). Lauren is a senior at Adrian College, where she plays softball. Kathy also plays softball and will be a senior at the University of Indianapolis. Michael is a sophomore on the Charger football team, and plays wide receiver.
Nate Shreffler, Offensive Line
It’s not difficult for Nate Shreffler to remember what it was like to be a football player--a Hillsdale College player. Shreffler, who enters his ninth season as the offensive line coach, played for the Chargers from 1989-1992. He was a part of the last Hillsdale team to win a league championship, and he hopes he can lead a tough and experienced group to that height this year.
“I’ve always seen Hillsdale as a place I want to be, both as a player and as a coach,” Shreffler said. “I understand what the kids go through and the demands placed on them. It helps both ways that I’ve been there. A lot of them even have the faculty members I did when I was here.”
Shreffler has spent time coaching the game at many levels. After receiving his degree in secondary education from Hillsdale, Shreffler coached junior high football in Glendale, Ariz. before returning to the college game.
He served two years coaching the offensive line at Olivet College, and one season at the University of St. Francis in Ft.Wayne, Indiana before returning to his alma mater, where players he’s coached have enjoyed tremendous success.
In 2003, Shreffler helped guide First Team All-GLIAC lineman Silas Johnson to a spot in the Cactus Bowl, an all-star game for Division II players.
His offensive line also enjoyed a banner season in 2002, when tailback Kevin Clive finished first in the country in all-purpose yards and third in the nation in rushing. The 2008 season represents Shreffler's ninth on the coaching staff, the longest current tenure of any position coach.
Shreffler and his wife, Jill, reside in Hillsdale with their daughters Emma, Sarah and Grace.
Aaron Shreffler, Defensive Line
Aaron Shreffler will enter his third season in charge of Hillsdale's defensive line, making him a part of the same coaching staff as his older brother Nate.
Shreffler is the brother of current Chargers’ offensive line coach Nate Shreffler. Aaron Shreffler comes to Hillsdale after spending one season as the offensive line coach at Georgia Southern University. He spent the prior seven seasons with St. Francis (Ind.) coaching both the offensive and defensive lines.
Shreffler played center for Ohio University from 1992-97, but was recruited to play for Hillsdale when he was a prep standout at Celina (Ohio) High School. While at Celina, Shreffler won several individual awards, including All-Region and All-Northwest Ohio.
Shreffler will coach one of Hillsdale's deepest positions on the roster in 2008, with all four starters on the defensive line returning from 2007.
John Lindley, linebacker coach, enters his fourth season on the Hillsdale College coaching staff in 2008. During his tenure with the Chargers, Lindley has coached Tom Korte to two straight First-Team All-GLIAC seasons.
Lindley comes to Hillsdale after spending the 2004 season at Tiffin University as the offensive line coach.
In a coaching career that has spanned more than 20 seasons, Lindley is experienced at finding and coaching talent in the state of Michigan. Lindley has coached at Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan Universities, as well as New Jersey City University. He also spent three years as the offensive line coach at Michigan Tech before going to Tiffin.
His respect for head coach Keith Otterbein and the Hillsdale program are the two things that drew Lindley to the job as Chargers’ linebacker coach.
“When my former teams played Hillsdale, they were always tough, hard-nosed guys,” Lindley said. “I didn’t know much about the school then, but I have since learned that my philosophy is very much in line with the school’s. It’s just a perfect fit.
"We will be known as the most aggressive linebackers in football."
When it comes to coaching his players, Lindley steps into a position that has been well-known for Hillsdale in recent years.
Rob North, a 2004 graduate, and Josh Mott, a 2005 graduate, were each All-Amercian selections either pre-season or after the season. Both were linebackers and embodied that intensity Lindley wants his current players to bring to the field every day in practice.
Lindley received his bachelor’s degree from Michigan Tech, and has a Master’s Degree in Urban Education from Jersey City State College.
Lindley is single and resides in Hillsdale.
Returning to the Charger coaching staff for the 2007 season is Dr. John Willson, who will resume his duties as kicking coach for the Hillsdale football program.
Dr. Willson previously served on the coaching staff on two separate occasions, working for current head coach Keith Otterbein as well as former coach Jack McAvoy.
Dr. Willson was elected to the Hillsdale College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005, and was the founding coach of Hillsdale College's women's track and cross country programs.
Pat Hornak, H-backs and Tight Ends; Director of Football Operations
A familiar face with the Charger football program has a new position, as Pat Hornak will be coaching the team's H-backs and tight ends this season. He enters his second season coaching those positions, in addition to his ongoing duties as the team's director of football oeprations and video coordinator.
Hornak played football for Hillsdale from 2000 to 2001 and, since then, has served in various coaching roles on the staff. Hornak has spent the past three seasons as the team's video coordinator and equipment manager. He's also very active for the team on game days, helping with general set-up at home games and all video work for away games. In his role as student coach during that time, Hornak has specialized in working with the offensive and defensive lines.
A 2000 graduate of Grand Haven High School, Hornak has also been active on campus, serving as the head resident advisor in Simpson Hall on the college's campus, as well as the Men's Council president from 2003-2005. Hornak graduated from Hillsdale in May 2006. In July 2007, Pat also assumed the duties of H-backs and tight ends coach.
Jack Hepinstall, Jr., Equipment Manager
Jack Hepinstall, Jr., a key member of the Chargers’ staff, begins his 24th year as the equipment manager. Addressed as “Hep” by many athletes, he is responsible for repairing equipment as well as general support on game days.
Prior to joining the Chargers’ staff, he worked for nine years as an assistant football coach at Hillsdale High School and is a member of the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association.
Currently employed at Hillsdale Tool and Manufacturing, Hepinstall and his wife, Julie, reside in Hillsdale with their daughter, Emily, and son, Alec. He is a graduate of West High School in Macomb, Illinois, where he played high school football.
201 Oak St. Hillsdale, MI 49242 • Tel: 517-437-7364 • Fax: 517-607-3310
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