Kent State Football Coaching Staff Complete; 2011 Schedule Released

Kent State University's new football coach has had freedom to hire his coaching staff despite a university-wide hiring freeze that started in December.

Hazell, a former Ohio State University Buckeyes football staffer, is expected to improve the team's standings in the MAC, which have been less than stellar in recent years. Hazell was named Kent State’s 20th head coach on Dec. 20. The team  finished 5-7 overall and 4-4 in the Mid-American Conference in 2010.

The university released its 2011 football schedule with Hazell's final three appointments last week. Here's the university statement:

Kent State Head Football Coach Darrell Hazell announced that Jeff Burrow, Brian George and Dave McMichael have joined the Golden Flashes staff.

Burrow will mentor the safeties, George will coach the defensive line and McMichael will handle the tight ends.

The hiring of the trio rounds out Hazell’s staff of nine assistant coaches.

“Jeff, Brian and Dave are talented coaches who will be excellent mentors for the young men in our program,” Hazell said. “This group has strong ties to the Midwest and brings a wealth of experience to Kent State. I’m very pleased to finally have the entire staff in place.”

A native of Sylvester, GA, Burrow arrives at Kent State after spending the 2010 campaign as the secondary coach at Indiana State. Prior to that, he spent one year as the assistant secondary coach at Marshall and two seasons as the wide receivers coach at Jacksonville State, where he  mentored a pair of all-conference honorees.

George spent the past six seasons as the co-defensive coordinator at Indiana, while mentoring the Hoosiers’ defensive tackles the last two years. Under his tutelage, the Hoosiers set the school record with 42 sacks in 2007 en route to earning a bid to the Insight Bowl; and posted the fourth-highest mark with 31 sacks in 2008 — the top two-year total in school history. The St. Paris, OH, native arrived in Bloomington after a seven-year stint at Miami (Ohio) in which he worked his way from video coordinator (1998) to graduate assistant (1999-00) to defensive line coach (2001-03) to co-defensive coordinator (2004).

McMichael brings 35 years of collegiate coaching experience to the Kent State staff, most recently as the tight ends coach and co-special teams coordinator at West Virginia in 2010. He spent the previous nine seasons at Connecticut, helping build the Huskies into a Big East title contender as the tackles and tight ends coach. Prior to his time in Storrs, the Kettering, OH, native held the same position with the Mountaineers from 1983-00.

The 2011 Golden Flashes Football Schedule:

Sept. 3, at Alabama

Sept. 10, Louisiana, Home

Sept. 17, at Kansas State

Sept. 24, South Alabama, Home

Oct. 1 at Ohio University

Oct. 8, at Northern Illinois

Oct. 15, Miami, Home

Oct. 29, Bowling Green, Home 

Nov. 4, Central Michigan, Home

Nov. 12, at University of Akron

Nov. 19, Eastern Michigan, Home

Nov. 25, at Temple

Dec. 2 Friday Marathon MAC Championship Game, Detroit