VolnJC
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Update> Bruce Feldman reports Pruitt will in fact hire Will Friend; as offensive line coach, not offensive coordinator though
Will Friend enters his third season as Colorado States offensive coordinator and offensive line coach in 2017, hired Dec. 24, 2014, as the first member of head coach Mike Bobos inaugural staff.
In 2016 Friend guided one of the most productive offenses in Colorado State history, and the most potent in the red zone, en route to a second straight bowl appearance. The Rams scored on 53 of 56 trips inside the 20 (94.6%) to rank 4th in FBS. CSU also ranked 12th in passing efficiency (157.04), 28th in scoring offense (35.3), 30th in total offense (462.5), 31st in rushing offense (217.8). Six players from Friends offensive unit earned All-Mountain recognition: Wide receiver Michael Gallup (1st team), guards Fred Zerblis (1st team) and Paul Thurston (honorable mention), center Jake Bennett (2nd team), quarterback Nick Stevens (honorable mention) and tackle Nick Callender (honorable mention).
The Rams were especially productive in the second half of the 2016 season, averaging 47.8 points and 533.8 yards per game over the last six contests. Friends offensive line was a strength of the team, which allowed just 1.0 sack per game, 8th-best in the nation. CSU allowed just one sack in the final six games of the season. Quarterback Nick Stevens ranked fifth in FBS (first in MW) with a 171.3 passer efficiency rating and the Rams ranked 12th in FBS with just seven interceptions thrown.
In his first season with the Rams in 2015, Friend helped lead Colorado State to a 7-6 record with an offense that ranked 47th nationally and third in the Mountain West. The unit featured five All-Mountain West honorees, including first team all-conference wide receiver Rashard Higgins and second team honoree Stevens.
Colorado States offensive line allowed just 1.31 sacks per game and 4.62 tackles for a loss per game, figures which ranked 22nd and 10th, respectively, in the nation. Stevens set passing records for a CSU sophomore with 2,679 yards through the air and 21 touchdowns (fifth-most in school history), and the Rams were one of only two FBS schools to have three running backs each record at least one game with 140 or more rushing yards (Dalyn Dawkins, Izzy Matthews and Jasen Oden, Jr.).
Friend had spent the previous four seasons at Georgia, beginning in 2011 as offensive line coach and adding the title of running game coordinator in 2013. With Bobo as offensive coordinator, Friend helped guide a Bulldogs offense that averaged 41.3 points per game, which ranked eighth nationally, and racked up 457.8 yards of total offense per game. Against teams ranked in the Top 25, UGA compiled a 3-2 record while scoring 34.4 points per game.
Additionally, the 2014 Bulldogs offense ranked in the top 15 nationally in rushing offense (257.0; 11th FBS), team passing efficiency (156.06; 9th FBS), completion percentage (67.4%; 7th FBS), fewest interceptions (6; 9th FBS), third-down conversion percentage (49.7%; 8th FBS) and fourth-down conversion percentage (80.0%; 3rd FBS). Friend and the offensive staff at Georgia also posted record-setting numbers in 2012 and 13, including single-season total offense (6,547 in 2012 and 6,294 in 2013); average yards per game (484.2 in `13 and 467.64 in `12) and touchdowns in a season (72 in 2012 and 58 in `13). He also coached three 2012 NFL draft choices - OT Cordy Glenn (2nd, Bills), C Ben Jones (4th, Texans), and OT Justin Anderson (7th, Colts).
Prior to his tenure at Georgia, Friend spent four seasons as offensive line coach at UAB (2007-10) where the Blazers average offensive output per game in 2009 and 10 represented two of the top three season marks in program history. The UAB offense registered 5,074 yards in 2010, the schools second-highest single-season total. The Blazers finished the 2010 campaign ranked No. 24 nationally in total offense (422.8 yards per game) and were 24th in passing offense (267.0). In 2009, UABs rushing average of 229.9 yards per game was the highest mark for the Blazers in school history and ranked No. 7 in the nation.
Friend spent the previous two years at Gardner-Webb (2005-06) as offensive line coach after two years as a graduate assistant coach at Georgia (2003-04). In his first season at Gardner-Webb, the Bulldog offense ranked No. 10 nationally in total offense as Friend saw three of his linemen earn All-Big South Conference honors. He also spent a year at Tuscaloosa Central High School (2002) and was the offensive line coach at West Alabama in 2001.
A two-time All-SEC and four-year starting guard at Alabama, Friend helped the Crimson Tide to the SEC Western Division title and berths in the SEC Championship Game in 1993, 94 and 96, with appearances in the Gator Bowl, Citrus Bowl (1996) and Outback Bowl (1997). Friend was named to Alabamas Team of the Decade for the 1990s.
Friend was a Parade Magazine All-America selection as a senior at Neshoba Central High in Philadelphia, Miss. He earned his B.S. degree in human performance from Alabama in 1998. He and his wife, the former Carrie Moon, have three children: Katie (12), Brooks (6) and Charlie (3).
Will Friend enters his third season as Colorado States offensive coordinator and offensive line coach in 2017, hired Dec. 24, 2014, as the first member of head coach Mike Bobos inaugural staff.
In 2016 Friend guided one of the most productive offenses in Colorado State history, and the most potent in the red zone, en route to a second straight bowl appearance. The Rams scored on 53 of 56 trips inside the 20 (94.6%) to rank 4th in FBS. CSU also ranked 12th in passing efficiency (157.04), 28th in scoring offense (35.3), 30th in total offense (462.5), 31st in rushing offense (217.8). Six players from Friends offensive unit earned All-Mountain recognition: Wide receiver Michael Gallup (1st team), guards Fred Zerblis (1st team) and Paul Thurston (honorable mention), center Jake Bennett (2nd team), quarterback Nick Stevens (honorable mention) and tackle Nick Callender (honorable mention).
The Rams were especially productive in the second half of the 2016 season, averaging 47.8 points and 533.8 yards per game over the last six contests. Friends offensive line was a strength of the team, which allowed just 1.0 sack per game, 8th-best in the nation. CSU allowed just one sack in the final six games of the season. Quarterback Nick Stevens ranked fifth in FBS (first in MW) with a 171.3 passer efficiency rating and the Rams ranked 12th in FBS with just seven interceptions thrown.
In his first season with the Rams in 2015, Friend helped lead Colorado State to a 7-6 record with an offense that ranked 47th nationally and third in the Mountain West. The unit featured five All-Mountain West honorees, including first team all-conference wide receiver Rashard Higgins and second team honoree Stevens.
Colorado States offensive line allowed just 1.31 sacks per game and 4.62 tackles for a loss per game, figures which ranked 22nd and 10th, respectively, in the nation. Stevens set passing records for a CSU sophomore with 2,679 yards through the air and 21 touchdowns (fifth-most in school history), and the Rams were one of only two FBS schools to have three running backs each record at least one game with 140 or more rushing yards (Dalyn Dawkins, Izzy Matthews and Jasen Oden, Jr.).
Friend had spent the previous four seasons at Georgia, beginning in 2011 as offensive line coach and adding the title of running game coordinator in 2013. With Bobo as offensive coordinator, Friend helped guide a Bulldogs offense that averaged 41.3 points per game, which ranked eighth nationally, and racked up 457.8 yards of total offense per game. Against teams ranked in the Top 25, UGA compiled a 3-2 record while scoring 34.4 points per game.
Additionally, the 2014 Bulldogs offense ranked in the top 15 nationally in rushing offense (257.0; 11th FBS), team passing efficiency (156.06; 9th FBS), completion percentage (67.4%; 7th FBS), fewest interceptions (6; 9th FBS), third-down conversion percentage (49.7%; 8th FBS) and fourth-down conversion percentage (80.0%; 3rd FBS). Friend and the offensive staff at Georgia also posted record-setting numbers in 2012 and 13, including single-season total offense (6,547 in 2012 and 6,294 in 2013); average yards per game (484.2 in `13 and 467.64 in `12) and touchdowns in a season (72 in 2012 and 58 in `13). He also coached three 2012 NFL draft choices - OT Cordy Glenn (2nd, Bills), C Ben Jones (4th, Texans), and OT Justin Anderson (7th, Colts).
Prior to his tenure at Georgia, Friend spent four seasons as offensive line coach at UAB (2007-10) where the Blazers average offensive output per game in 2009 and 10 represented two of the top three season marks in program history. The UAB offense registered 5,074 yards in 2010, the schools second-highest single-season total. The Blazers finished the 2010 campaign ranked No. 24 nationally in total offense (422.8 yards per game) and were 24th in passing offense (267.0). In 2009, UABs rushing average of 229.9 yards per game was the highest mark for the Blazers in school history and ranked No. 7 in the nation.
Friend spent the previous two years at Gardner-Webb (2005-06) as offensive line coach after two years as a graduate assistant coach at Georgia (2003-04). In his first season at Gardner-Webb, the Bulldog offense ranked No. 10 nationally in total offense as Friend saw three of his linemen earn All-Big South Conference honors. He also spent a year at Tuscaloosa Central High School (2002) and was the offensive line coach at West Alabama in 2001.
A two-time All-SEC and four-year starting guard at Alabama, Friend helped the Crimson Tide to the SEC Western Division title and berths in the SEC Championship Game in 1993, 94 and 96, with appearances in the Gator Bowl, Citrus Bowl (1996) and Outback Bowl (1997). Friend was named to Alabamas Team of the Decade for the 1990s.
Friend was a Parade Magazine All-America selection as a senior at Neshoba Central High in Philadelphia, Miss. He earned his B.S. degree in human performance from Alabama in 1998. He and his wife, the former Carrie Moon, have three children: Katie (12), Brooks (6) and Charlie (3).
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