JIM CRAFT
Former Portland State Coach
Named Offensive Coordinator
Former Portland State Coach
Named Offensive Coordinator
Craft Joins Pacific Football As Offensive Coordinator
Pacific's first full-time assistant for the football program comes to Forest Grove after nine seasons at Portland State under Tim Walsh and Jerry Glanville
FOREST GROVE – The Pacific University football program has taken the next major step in the building of the Boxers’ program with the hiring of the first of two full-time assistant coaches, naming Jim Craft as offensive coordinator.
Craft brings a significant level of NCAA Division I FCS experience and local knowledge to Pacific, joining the program after nine seasons at Portland State University, including serving the last season as the program’s offensive coordinator.
“I am very excited for Jim to join the staff,” said Pacific Head Football Coach Keith Buckley. “We get someone who is an experienced offensive coordinator and someone who has experienced different offensive systems. He will be able to put to use what he learned under Tim Walsh and Mouse Davis. That package will allow us to build a complete and dynamic offense.”
Craft was elevated to offensive coordinator for Portland State in 2009 by then Head Coach Jerry Glanville after the retirement of run-and-shoot master Mouse Davis. As the program’s play caller, Craft was charged with coordinating the offensive insertion calendar, game preparation and designing the offensive scheme. Among the season highlights was the selection of quarterback Drew Hubel to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District VIII Football Team.
Craft plans to run many aspects of a West Coast Offense, with some run-and-shoot flairs that he learned under Davis. “The offense is exciting because we will run a multitude of sets,” Craft said. “Over the first couple of years we will constantly be evaluating and finding what we have for the best chance of success.”
The first challenge will be drawing athletes to the new Division III program. That will be a specialty for Craft, who also spent the last three years as the Vikings’ recruiting coordinator. “Recruiting will be exciting because it’s a unique challenge to get the kind of student-athletes we are looking for,” Craft said. “We need guys who know the challenge that we are presenting to them, both on the field and in the classroom, and are ready to step up and accept it.”
Before being elevated to offensive coordinator at Portland State, Craft spent one season as the offensive line coach and one season as the wide receivers coach. Under previous Head Coach Tim Walsh, Craft spent five seasons as the tight ends coach and one year as quarterbacks coach. He also assumed the duty of special teams coordinator for four seasons. He coached Portland State all-conference performers Scott Weaver, Adam Whitehead and Tony Curtis. Curtis is a current member of the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs.
As special teams coordinator, Craft saw the 2005 Vikings lead the Big Sky Conference in punt return average and ranked in the top 20 in the nation in both punt return average and kickoff return average. The Vikings were second in punt coverage in 2004, 19th in punt returns and 22nd in kickoff returns.
Prior to joining the Portland State staff, Craft spent the 1999 and 2000 seasons as the tight ends coach at Lewis & Clark College.
Craft played his collegiate football at Portland State from 1995 to 1998, catching 57 passes and scoring nine touchdowns. He earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Portland State in 1998 and a master’s in teaching in 2003. Craft, 33, resides in Tualatin with his wife, Kelley, daughter Kayla (7) and son Tyler (3).
Posted by Blake Timm (timmbr@pacificu.edu) on Jan 6, 2010 at 12:14 PM
