Iowa Wesleyan College

Iowa Wesleyan College has named Kent Anderson as the new head coach of its football program.

The 47-year-old Anderson is the 45th head coach in the 120-year history of Iowa Wesleyan’s football program. He replaces Jason Smelser, who left the Tiger program at the conclusion of the 2009 season.

“We are happy to welcome Kent Anderson as our new head football coach,” said Hampton. “Throughout the interview process terms like ‘dynamic’, ‘disciplined’, ‘experienced’ and ‘leadership’ continued to come through from those who interviewed him. He believes in students-first and has an extensive game plan on and off the field for his student-athletes, and we are glad to have him on board.”

Anderson comes to IWC with a unique background, having spent the past 15 years as a head coach in Germany. As a coach in the German Football League professional ranks, Anderson posted a 182-62-5 record and won eight national championships. He won titles with three different teams and was a six-time national coach of the year.

“I am just really excited,” Anderson said. “For me it’s coming home. It’s a different situation from what I’ve been doing but I’m excited to get back into college coaching and in my home state.”

Though he spent many years coaching in Germany, Anderson is hardly a stranger to southern Iowa. He is a native of Bloomfield, Iowa, and a graduate of Davis County High School, where he was all-state in football and basketball as well as a state champion in track & field. The son of Dennis and Barbara Anderson, he comes from a family with a background in coaching and administration. His father Dennis is well-known throughout Iowa as a long-time head coach and athletic director at Davis County High.

Anderson is also a 1985 graduate of Iowa State University, where he received a degree in general studies and was a wide receiver and special teams player and a three-year letter winner on the football team.

“I think one of my strengths is I have an understanding of Iowans, being from a small town,” Anderson said. “I understand what’s important, and that is education and being a good citizen. We’re really going to focus on the connection between the team and community.”

Upon his graduation from Iowa State, Anderson worked in the private sector for six years in sales. He then spent two years at the University of North Carolina working as a graduate assistant in the football program coached by Mack Brown, who is now the head coach at the University of Texas. Anderson coached wide receivers and the offensive line and was part of a UNC team that won the 1993 Peach Bowl, the Tar Heels’ first bowl win in nine years.

“One of the big influences in my career has been Mack Brown,” Anderson said. “He’s been a major force in helping me shape my coaching style and a major force in guiding my career.”

Anderson also spent one year as an assistant coach at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, coaching wide receivers and coordinating the team’s passing game. In 1994 he took over as head coach of the Braunschweig Lions in Braunschweig, Germany, and became the first coach in GFL history to take his team to the playoffs in his first year as coach.

While coaching in Germany, Anderson also oversaw many of his teams’ football operations, including recruitment/scouting of players from the NCAA, NFL and Europe, developing corporate sponsorship and marketing programs, budget operation and personnel decisions. Outside of football he also developed skills as a motivational speaker for a number of high-profile businesses in Germany.

Anderson is married to Friederike, an elementary school teacher. The couple will reside in Mount Pleasant.

 

Peter Jennings - OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR/QUARTERBACKS - 3rd year

Peter Jennings is in his third year as an assistant on the IWC coaching staff and will take over as offensive coordinator under new coach Kent Anderson while also coaching the team’s quarterbacks.

Jennings was promoted to offensive coordinator after coaching quarterbacks and wide receivers in his first year with the program and then handling the team’s quarterbacks last year. He joined the program in January 2008, and in his first year with the Tigers oversaw offensive units that included a 2,000-yard passer (Bryan Abihider) and a 1,000-yard receiver (Lawrence Moore) in the same year for the first time since 1991. Abihider was IWC’s first 2,000-yard passer since Wyatt Miller in 1998, while Moore was the first to gain over 1,000 yards receiving since Bruce Carter in 1991 and just the fourth in school history to accomplish the feat. Overall, in 2008 the Tigers’ ranked ninth in the Mid-States Football Association in passing offense, and the team’s 2,078 yards passing was the most by a Wesleyan team in 10 years.

Jennings is a December 2007 graduate of Illinois College in Jacksonville, Ill., where he received degrees in psychology and exercise science. From 2004-07 he was a four-year starting quarterback for the Blueboys, passing for 6,044 yards and 62 touchdowns. He holds the school record for passing yards in a single season and touchdowns in a career and was a three-year team captain at IC. Jennings also played basketball at Illinois College, starting for three seasons and averaging over 15 points and seven rebounds in the 2006-07 season.

Jennings is a native of Fort Madison, Iowa and a 2002 graduate of Fort Madison High School. In 2008 he married wife Kim, who is the head coach of the IWC women’s golf team. The couple lives in Mount Pleasant.

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Brad Linares - OFFENSIVE LINE - 1st YEAR

Brad Linares is in his second year as an assistant coach with the Iowa Wesleyan College football program.

Linares coached the Tigers’ wide receivers for the 2009 season and has assumed new duties for the upcoming 2010 season, taking over as offensive line coach and also leading the team’s strength and conditioning program in the off season. He was a volunteer assistant during the 2009 season and was hired on as a full-time assistant in January 2010 by new head coach Kent Anderson.

Linares joined the Tigers for his first-ever coaching job after playing college football at Illinois College in Jacksonville, Ill., where he was a teammate of fellow IWC assistants Peter and Michael Jennings. He is a 2007 graduate of IC and played as a fullback for the Blueboys from 2002-07. Linares was a two-time Honorable Mention All-Midwest Conference selection at his position. He saw limited action running the ball as a fullback, posting 38 carries for 148 yards and four touchdowns in his career. Linares also caught 55 passes out of the backfield for 395 yards and three touchdowns. He also was a captain for the team in his junior and senior years.

Linares is a native of Fort Madison and a 2002 graduate of Fort Madison High School, where he also played alongside Jennings. He currently lives in Mt. Pleasant.

Jaren Maybin - RUNNING BACKS - 1st YEAR

Jaren Maybin joins the IWC football coaching staff as a student assistant coach in 2010 and will coach the team’s running backs after a successful career playing that position.

Maybin will coach the Tiger running backs and also will serve as the team’s video coordinator. He moves over to coaching after playing for Wesleyan from 2006-09.

The Baltimore, Md. native just finished a career at IWC in which he established himself as one of the top running backs in school history. Maybin concluded his four years with 1,860 yards rushing and ranks fourth on Iowa Wesleyan’s all-time rushing yardage list. He also had 15 touchdowns rushing and added 47 receptions for 321 yards and a touchdown as well in his career. Maybin was a two-time All-Mid-States Football Association Midwest League performer. He was named First Team All-MSFA Midwest in 2008 after rushing for 970 yards, the seventh-highest single season total in school history, and then was named second team all-league in 2009 after rushing for 680 yards and six touchdowns.

While assisting as an IWC football coach, Maybin also will be finishing his degree from the college in Physical Education.

David Lukens - DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR - 1st YEAR

David Lukens is the newest member of the Iowa Wesleyan College football coaching staff and will take over as the Tigers’ defensive coordinator in 2010.

Lukens comes to IWC after a successful career as a high school coach in Southeast Iowa. He was previously the head coach at Davis County High School in Bloomfield, Iowa, for the past 16 years, where he took a program that was one of the weakest in the state and turned it into a perennial contender for postseason play. He was named Southeast Iowa Coach of the Year in 1997 and most recently was named District 6 Coach of the Year in 2009.

Lukens brings over 30 years of experience as a high school coach to IWC. He coached high school football for 25 years and also coached basketball, track and baseball in the past. Lukens also was a high school physical education teacher for 28 years and also taught weight training and social studies.

Lukens is a 1979 graduate of Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Wash., where he played football and baseball for four years. He has been married to wife Cyndi for 32 years, and the couple has three children: sons Kenneth (28), who lives in Louisville, Ky., and Mathew (25), a senior at Drake University in Des Moines, and daughter Annie Goode (24), who is married and lives in Atlanta, Ga.

Joe Stubbs - DEFENSIVE BACKS - 4th year

Joe Stubbs is back for his fourth season with the Tigers in 2009. He is in his third year of coaching the team’s defensive backs after serving as wide receivers coach in his first year.

Last year Stubbs coached a defensive backfield that played a big role in the Tigers being the top pass defense in the Mid-States Football Association and one of the top pass defenses in the NAIA. Wesleyan allowed 145.3 yards per game through the air, which ranked sixth in the country.

Stubbs, a native of Macon, Ga., returned to the IWC football program after a successful playing career with the Tigers from 1998-2002. He played numerous positions for the team throughout his career, including quarterback, running back, wide receiver and free safety, as well as being a return man on special teams. He finished his career with 3,174 all-purpose yards, including 946 yards rushing, 161 yards receiving and 2,067 yards on punt and kickoff returns. He also passed for 1,070 yards during his four seasons at IWC.

Stubbs was named to the MSFA Midwest League First Team as a senior running back in 2002, a year in which he accounted for 518 rushing yards, 434 passing yards and 119 receiving yards. He also received MSFA Midwest League honorable mention accolades during his sophomore and junior seasons.

Stubbs is married to wife Stephanie and has two sons: Joe Jr. and Carlos, who was born in October of 2008. The couple lives in Mount Pleasant.

Michael Jennings - WIDE RECEIVERS - 1st YEAR

Michael Jennings has joined the IWC football coaching staff as an assistant and will help coach the Tiger wide receivers in 2010.

Jennings is the younger brother of IWC offensive coordinator Peter Jennings and is a 2010 graduate of Illinois College. He played for the Blueboys the past four years and finished his career with 254 receptions for 3,332 yards and 39 touchdowns. He holds every single-game, season and career receiving record in school history as well as a number of Midwest Conference single-game, season and career marks. He was a two-time First Team All-Midwest Conference selection and also received a number of All-America awards in his last two years, including being named Third Team Little All-America in 2008 after a season in which he caught 110 passes for 1,416 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Jennings played with brother Peter for two years at Illinois College, catching passes from Peter when he was the Blueboys’ quarterback, and also was a teammate of Wesleyan assistant coach Brad Linares. Michael Jennings received his degree from Illinois College in May, graduating with a degree in biology-exercise science. A native of Fort Madison and a 2006 graduate of Fort Madison High School, he currently resides in Donnellson.

Jeremy Spinneweber - WIDE RECEIVERS - 1st YEAR

Jeremy Spinneweber is in his first season as an assistant coach for the Tigers and will help coach the team’s wide receivers.

Spinneweber is a former IWC player who had a well-traveled college career, playing two different stints for the Tigers. He caught seven passes as a freshman wide receiver in 1999 and played with current Tigers assistant Joe Stubbs that year before leaving Wesleyan. He transferred to Murray State University in Kentucky for a time and later spent some time starting his own business before coming back to IWC in the fall of 2006 to play football and finish his degree. He played for the Tigers in 2006 and 2007, when he was coached by former teammate Stubbs, and finished his Wesleyan career as a three-time letter winner with 20 catches for 186 yards and one touchdown.

Spinneweber graduated from Iowa Wesleyan in August of 2009 with a degree in history. A native of Pittsburgh, Pa., he currently resides in Mount Pleasant.

Matthew McDow - LINEBACKERS - 1st YEAR

Matthew McDow is another new member of the IWC football coaching staff and is coaching the defensive line.

McDow is a former Tiger player who was a two-time letter winner in 2000 and 2001 before missing his final season in 2002 due to injury. A native of Daphne, Ala., he played both on the offensive and defensive lines and was a teammate of IWC assistant coach Joe Stubbs.

Along with coaching the football team, McDow is returning to IWC to finish his degree in history and political science while he also is employed at MetroGroup Marketing Services in Mount Pleasant. He is married to wife Holly, a teacher and alum of Iowa Wesleyan, and the couple has two children, son Alexander (4) and daughter Lily (2). The family resides in Fairfield.