Darrell Hazell Adds Four To Football Staff
1/7/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
KENT, Ohio — Kent State Head Football Coach Darrell Hazell began filling out his coaching staff Friday (Jan. 7) with the announcement that Brian Rock (offensive coordinator/quarterbacks), Marcus Freeman (linebackers), Thad Jemison (wide receivers) and Dennis Scuderi (tight ends/recruiting coordinator) are joining him in Kent.
"All four of these coaches are excellent teachers and great mentors who are high-quality character guys and hard workers," says Hazell. "They hit the ground running and are already out on the road recruiting as we work on assembling a freshman class for this fall."
Rock joins the Golden Flashes after having spent the last six years as the wide receivers coach at Purdue. Rock came to the Boilermakers from Western Michigan, where he was an assistant from 1992 to 2005, serving as the offensive coordinator for five seasons. Prior to his tenure with the Broncos, Rock was defensive coordinator at Saint Joseph's College in Rensselaer, Ind., from 1987 to 1991. He also coached the defensive backs and special teams. Rock was a graduate assistant at Bowling Green (also his hometown) in 1985 and 1986 and is a two-time graduate of the school, earning both his bachelor's (1985) and master's (1986).
Freeman spent the 2010 campaign as the defensive quality control assistant at Ohio State. A four-year letterman for OSU from 2004-08, the Huber Heights, Ohio, native earned second team All-Big Ten recognition while helping the Buckeyes to four Big Ten titles, three BCS bowls and two trips to the national championship game. Freeman was a fifth-round draft pick of the Chicago Bears, and spent time with the Bears, Buffalo Bills and Houston Texans before a medical condition ended his pro career. A 2007 Ohio State graduate with a bachelor's degree in sport and leisure studies, he earned Academic All-Big Ten and CoSIDA academic all-district honors.
Another Ohio State product, Jemison played wide receiver for the Buckeyes from 1980-83 before being selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 1984 NFL Draft. He brings nearly 20 years of experience coaching at the high school level, while also providing instruction and mentoring to students with learning and/or physical disabilities. He has spent the past seven summers working closely with Hazell as the top wide receiver instructor at the Buckeyes' football camps, in addition to participating last year in OSU's mentoring program with freshman football players. A native of Cincinnati, Jemison is a 2009 graduate of Ohio State.
Scuderi joins the staff after a three-year stint as the head coach at Absegami High School in Galloway, N.J. He spent three years at Rutgers, serving as the director of recruiting operations from 2007-08 and was a member of the player development staff in 2004. In between stints with the Scarlet Knights, he was the head coach at Middle Township High School. A native of Haddon Heights, N.J., he got his coaching start at Camden Catholic High School in Cherry Hill, N.J., serving as an assistant coach from 1999-03. Scuderi was a two-year letterwinner as a defensive back at Monmouth (1997-99) and went on to earn his bachelor's degree from Rowan in 2004.
Hazell was named Kent State's 20th head coach on Dec. 20 after spending the past seven seasons at Ohio State. He inherits a squad that went 5-7 overall and 4-4 in the Mid-American Conference in 2010.
