Feb. 7, 2012

By Zak Gilbert
Athletic Media Relations

FORT COLLINS, Colo. –Jim McElwain last week completed his first signing class as Colorado State’s new head coach. Now, he’s very close to completing his first Rams coaching staff.

McElwain at a press conference on Tuesday announced the hiring of four new assistant coaches, Marty English, Derek Frazier, Jeff Hammerschmidt and Alvis Whitted, in addition to the four he announced prior to signing day.

The CSU coaching staff and titles:

• Dave Baldwin, offensive coordinator
• Tom Ehlers, director of football operations
• Marty English, defensive line
• Derek Frazier, offensive line
• Tim Duffie, recruiting coordinator
• Jeff Hammerschmidt, special teams coordinator
• Rashad Harris, assistant strength and conditioning
• Mike Kent, head football strength and conditioning
• Billy Napier, assistant head coach/quarterbacks
• Tim Skipper, linebackers
• Alvis Whitted, wide receivers

McElwain will complete the staff once he finalizes contractual details with a defensive coordinator. Once that individual is hired, McElwain will determine the position coaching responsibilities of Duffie and Hammerschmidt.

English, who began his college coaching career at Northern Colorado in 1987, joins the Rams from Wyoming, where he’d served since 2003, including the last three seasons as the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator. In 2011, he played a key role in Wyoming’s 31 takeaways, which led the Mountain West and tied for 10th in the nation.

Frazier, who coached first-round draft selection Logan Mankins (New England Patriots) among other standouts, is a graduate of Rocky Mountain High School in Fort Collins. He launched his career in 1997, and spent the last six seasons at Fresno State.

Hammerschmidt, a first-team all-Pac 10 selection as a player at Arizona, joins the Rams from the same program, where he’d spent the past four seasons as an assistant coach, helping the Wildcats to the Holiday, Alamo and Las Vegas bowls.

Whitted, a nine-year NFL veteran selected in the 1998 draft by Jacksonville and then-head coach Tom Coughlin, played for the Jaguars, Falcons and Raiders, where he spent his final season, with McElwain on staff. He played in two AFC championship games as well as Super Bowl XXXVII. A former world-class sprinter at N.C. State, he joins the Rams after a season as an offensive quality control assistant at UCLA.