Jerry McManus is entering his third season with the Kent State University football team. After spending nine years as an offensive assistant coach at East Carolina University, McManus joined the coaching staff as assistant head coach and running backs coach on March 30, 2005. He also serves as co-special teams coordinator.

This season marks McManus’ 30th anniversary in the coaching profession. Prior to his tenure as running backs coach and punt team coordinator at East Carolina (1996-04), McManus spent nine years at his alma mater, Wake Forest University (1987-95). He also spent time on the coaching staffs at the University of Connecticut (1985-86), Tulane University (1983-84), the University of Pittsburgh (1982) and Virginia Tech (1978-79, ’81).

While at East Carolina, McManus coached three different running backs to back-to-back-to-back 1,000 yards seasons (2001-03) and played a key role in the development of All-American running back Leonard Henry, who spent time with the Miami Dolphins. Henry was a first team All-Conference USA selection after finishing sixth nationally in rushing in 2001. Both Art Brown and Marbin Townes earned All-C-USA second team honors after their 1,000-yard campaigns. In addition, he coached a pair of first team All-C-USA punters, including All-American Andrew Bayes.

During his tenure at Wake Forest, McManus coached receivers, quarterbacks and linebackers. A quarterback himself during his playing days with the Demon Deacons, McManus tutored four of the top eight passers in school history. He also helped the team to a victory in the 1992 Independence Bowl, one of four bowl games that he’s coached in.

In his final two seasons at Wake Forest he served as the program’s recruiting coordinator.

He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Virginia Tech, working with the defensive backs. He also coached in the defensive secondary at Pittsburgh, Tulane and Connecticut.

McManus has coached five players who have gone on to play in the NFL, among them Henry and wide receiver Ricky Proehl, Wake Forest’s all-time leading receiver.

A native of Dania, Fla., McManus received his bachelor’s degree in communications from Wake Forest. As a player he threw for over 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns, including two (three TD’s total) in a 1975 upset of nationally-ranked NC State.

He and his wife Robin have two daughters, Kelly and Katie, and a son, Ryan.
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Pete Rekstis enters his fourth season as the defensive coordinator for Kent State, while also working with the outside linebackers. To say the turnaround under Rekstis has been dramatic would be quite an understatement.

Last season, the Golden Flashes ranked second in the MAC and 25th in the country in total defense (297.9 ypg), while leading the conference in yards allowed per play (4.6, 16th in the nation), pass defense efficiency (99.9, 4th in the nation) and tackles for losses per game (8.0, 4th in the nation).

The 3-4 defense Rekstis preaches is one predicated on great pressure by the defensive line at the point of attack, a swarming corps of linebackers and strong, athletic defensive backs who seek out contact rather than hiding from it.

In 2005 Rekstis led a team that finished third in the MAC and 24th in the nation in pass defense, allowing just 190.5 yards per game while having only 15 touchdowns scored against them.

Rekstis led a dramatic and record-setting turnaround in his first season in charge of the Kent State defense. He oversaw a unit that had ranked 12th of 14 teams in total defense in the Mid-American Conference in 2003, finish first in the league and 15th nationally in total defense in 2004. The team also set a school record for quarterback sacks in a season with 34.

The Golden Flashes led the MAC in rushing defense that season, allowing just 2.9 yards per carry. Included in that total was a dominating performance at Buffalo when they held the Bulls to a record-low four net rushing yards. The Flashes also finished second in the league in pass defense and intercepted 15 passes.

For his efforts, Rekstis was named the Northeastern Ohio Assistant Coach of the Year by the Northeast Ohio Chapter of the National Football Foundation.

Prior to coming to Kent State, Rekstis coached the secondary at his alma mater, Youngstown State, from 1999-2003 and coordinated the Penguins’ defense the last three seasons. In 1999, Youngstown State posted a record of 12-3 and advanced to the Division I-AA national championship game. In Rekstis’ five years at YSU, the Penguins intercepted 74 passes, an average of nearly 15 per season. The Penguins ranked 14th in the nation in scoring defense in 2001, holding opponents to seven points or fewer five times. During his tenure at YSU, Rekstis tutored a pair of I-AA All-America defensive backs in Dwyte Smiley (1999) and LeVar Greene (2001).

Before returning to Youngstown State, Rekstis served as defensive coordinator and secondary coach at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tenn., from 1997-98 and as defensive coordinator at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., from 1994-96. In 1996, the Bears won the Freedom Football Conference title and earned a berth in the NCAA Division III playoffs. He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti from 1991-92.

Rekstis was a four-year starter at free safety at Youngstown State from 1987-90, where he played for current Ohio State University head coach Jim Tressel and helped the Penguins to a record of 32-16. As a senior co-captain in 1990, Rekstis led the Penguins to a perfect 11-0 regular season and a trip to the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs.

A native of Cleveland (Bay Village High School), Rekstis graduated from Youngstown State in 1991 with a bachelor’s degree in history. He and his wife Gina have three daughters, twins Jessica and Sara, and Natalie, and a son, Pete III.
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Matt Edwards
Assistant Coach

Courtesy: Associated Press
Release: 08/27/2006

Matt Edwards enters his second year as a full time member the Golden Flashes’ coaching staff, working once again as the defensive line coach.

In his first season in the position, Edwards coached Daniel Muir, who was a first team All-MAC honoree going on to sign a free agent contract with the Green Bay Packers.

In 2005, he worked with the defensive line and scout teams in his role as graduate assistant for defense.

Edwards joined the Kent State University football program in 2004 as the team’s video coordinator. In that role, he was responsible for directing game-day filming assignments, editing game tape and scouting video as well as producing the team’s annual highlight film and recruit highlight video.

Edwards was a four-year letter winner at Miami University on the defensive line. He was voted a team captain his senior season when he led his team and tied for 10th in the nation in quarterback sacks.

Prior to joining the Kent State staff, Edwards coached linebackers and assisted with special teams efforts at the College of Wooster during the 2003 season.

Edwards, a native of Cincinnati, graduated from Miami in December of 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in sport organization. He is currently nearing the completion of his master’s degree in sport and recreational management from Kent State University.

Edwards is engaged to Mary Thomas and resides in Stow.
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Scott Booker, a former four-year letter winner for the Golden Flashes, will begin his third season as a full-time assistant. After spending most of his first two years primarily with the cornerbacks, he will take over the mentoring of the entire defensive backfield in 2007.

Under his tutelage last season, Kent State ranked nationally in pass defense efficiency, pass defense and interceptions, standing first or second in the MAC in all three categories. In addition, defensive backs Andre Kirkland and Usama Young both garnered second team All-MAC accolades. Young then went on to drafted in the third round by the New Orleans Saints —becoming KSU’s first draft pick since 2000 and the sixth-highest selection in the history of the program, while Kirkland signed as a free agent with the St. Louis Rams.

With his help in 2005, the defense finished third in the MAC and 24th in the nation in pass defense, allowing just 190.5 yards per game. In addition, seven of the team’s 12 interceptions came from the cornerback position.

His prior experience on the staff included serving as a graduate assistant working with the defensive secondary in 2004, after being student assistant in 2003.

As a graduate assistant in 2004 he also assisted coaching the offensive scout team. He worked with the scout team and assisted with the linebackers as a student coach, while beginning his graduate degree program, as well.

As a player for the Golden Flashes, Booker was a four-year regular from 1999-2002 at safety as well as on several special teams units. He was selected to the Mid-American Conference All-Academic Team in 2001.

Booker graduated cum laude from Kent State in the spring of 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and was a co-winner of the athletic department’s Judy Devine Excellence in Leadership Award as a senior. He earned his master’s degree in sports studies in 2006 from Kent State as well.

Booker, a Pittsburgh, Pa. native and his wife, Jen, reside in Kent.
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Jason Nichols begins his third year with the Golden Flashes. Formerly an assistant football coach at Appalachian State University, Nichols joined the Kent State University coaching staff on Dec. 14, 2004, and works with the wide receivers.

Prior to joining the Kent State staff, Nichols spent three seasons at Appalachian State coaching a receiving corps that was one of the most prolific in school and Southern Conference history. Under Nichols’ guidance, Walter Payton Award finalist Davon Fowlkes set school and conference records for receptions, receiving yards and all-purpose yards in 2004, while leading NCAA I-AA in all three categories. In 2003, he guided a pair of 1,000-yard receivers and his 2002 unit combined for over 190 catches.

In addition, Nichols spent two weeks during the summer of 2004 with the Pittsburgh Steelers as an offensive intern, working primarily with the wide receivers.

Prior to his tenure at Appalachian State, Nichols was an assistant at Sacred Heart University for the 2001 season, coaching the first player to be drafted in Northeast Conference History, Devern Johnson, a sixth round pick by the Dallas Cowboys in the 2002 NFL Draft. Sacred Heart posted an 11-0 record and beat Duquesne University in the ECAC Bowl en route to the Division I-AA Mid-Major National Championship.

Nichols also spent the spring of 2001 as a graduate assistant at East Carolina University, where he also was a four-year letter winner and the school’s all-time leading receiver as a player from 1994-97. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business education from ECU.

While a student-athlete at East Carolina, Nichols played under Kent State head coach Doug Martin, who was the Pirates’ offensive coordinator. Nichols caught a school-record 152 passes in his career for 1,557 yards and played in back-to-back Liberty Bowls. He signed with the Hamilton Tiger Cats of the Canadian Football League and later played with the Carolina Cobras of the Arena Football League.
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Terry Tilghman begins his second season as the offensive line coach at Kent State. The Golden Flashes have seen immediate signs of improvement on the line under Tilghman, moving from last in the MAC in rushing in 2005 (45.9 ypg) to third last season (158.4).

Tilghman arrived in Kent after serving as the offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator at North Alabama from 2003-05. There he helped the Lions to a pair of NCAA Division II playoff appearances, reaching the tournament semifinals in 2003 and 2005.

At North Alabama he was responsible for coaching a unit that paved the way for one of the top offenses in the Gulf South Conference. In 2005, the Lions offense broke 26 school records and averaged over 411 yards and 36 points per game. He produced three all-conference lineman in 2003 when the squad broke 31 school records.

Prior to his stint at North Alabama, Tilghman coached for eight years at his alma mater, East Carolina University, most recently serving as the recruiting coordinator and director of football operations in 2002. In that capacity he acted as the liaison between the football program and the institution, organized scheduling, team travel, official visits, in-season and out-of-season meal plans, monitored financial aid and recruiting and assisted with compliance and eligibility issues.

Tilghman began his coaching career in 1995 as a graduate assistant at East Carolina assisting with the offensive line. He became a full-time assistant the following year and served as the assistant offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator for three seasons. He also coached the tight ends from 1999-2001. At East Carolina, he worked with five players who went on to play in the National Football League and helped the team to appearances in three straight bowl games (1999 Mobile (Ala.) Bowl, 2000 GalleryFurniture.com Bowl, 2001 GMAC Bowl).

Tilghman was a four-year letterman on the offensive line for the Pirates where he played under Martin when he was the offensive coordinator at ECU. He was a first-team Associated Press and Football News All-South Independent Team pick and received the Janet Overton Outstanding Senior Award in 1994. He was a member of both the 1991 Peach Bowl championship squad that finished 11-1 and ranked No. 9 and the 1994 Liberty Bowl team.

Tilghman graduated from East Carolina in 1995 with a bachelor’s degree in Exercise/Sports Science. He and his wife, Jennifer, have two sons, Terry II and Jacob, and a daughter, Jordan.
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Zane Vance returns for his fourth season on the Golden Flashes’ coaching staff after joining the program prior to the start of the 2004 season as the inside linebackers coach.

Vance came to Kent State following eight successful years as the special teams coordinator, linebackers and fullbacks coach with the Dobyns-Bennett H.S. football team in Kinsport Tennessee. During his tenure at Dobyns-Bennett, 1996-2003, the team captured the Big East Conference title in seven of eight seasons.

Prior to his position at Dobyns-Bennett, Vance served as head coach of the Unicoi County H.S. football team in Erwin, Tennessee from 1993-1995. In his time there he led his team to the playoffs for the first time in fifteen years.

He started his coaching career at his alma mater, East Tennessee State University. There he served as the defensive line coach from 1987-1991, where he was able to coach two future NFL players.

Vance was a letter winner at East Tennessee State University in 1984 where he earned a bachelor’s degree in physical physical education in 1986. He continued his education at Austin Peay State University, earning a master’s degree in health and physical education.

He and his wife Debbie have five sons, Nate, Taylor, Isaac, Seth and Luke. The family resides in Stow.
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Casey Wolf joined the Kent State University football staff prior to the 2003 season as the of Director of Football Operations.

Now in his fifth year in that role, he coordinates the daily operations of the football office, including overseeing the budget, coordinating team travel, game scheduling and serving as the liaison to the athletic department.

Wolf previously was the department’s promotions director from 2002-03 following two years as a graduate assistant in the athletics marketing office.

A native of Akron, he earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing from The Ohio State University in 2000 and a master’s in sport administration from Kent State in 2002.

Wolf and his wife, Jen, reside in Cuyahoga Falls and they welcomed their son, Landon, into the world on July 5, 2007.