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| HEAD FOOTALL COACH ERIK RAEBURN COURTESY: SSU ATHLETICS |
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SAVANNAH, Georgia -- Savannah State head football coach Erik Raeburn has announced the hiring three new assistant coaches to the football staff.
The new staff members include: Bill Rychel, Chad Williams and Nathan Scola.
Rychel will be the offensive coordinator and coach the offensive line; Williams will serve as defensive coordinator and coach the linebackers; and Scola will oversee the defensive backs.
Prior to SSU, Rychel served as head football coach at Notre Dame College for the 2015 season. Rychel was promoted to head coach after spending six seasons as offensive coordinator/assistant head coach for the Falcons football program.
"I'm excited to bring Bill on the staff," said Raeburn. "He's been a head coach on the Division II level and having head coach experience will be an asset to our program."
Prior to moving to College Road, the Cleveland, Ohio native worked at Ohio Northern University, where he coached for three seasons (2006-08), finishing his time with the Polar Bear's as co-offensive coordinator.
Before his time at ONU, Rychel was the offensive line coach, offensive coordinator and assistant head coach for Tri-Sate (now Trine) in Indiana, in 2004 and 2005. Before that, he was the offensive line coach and assistant strength and conditioning coordinator for Coe College (Iowa).
Rychel graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in physical education from Mount Union University in 2001 and received a master's degree in teaching from Coe in 2004.
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Williams, comes to Savannah State from West Alabama where he was named the special teams coordinator and secondary coach in March 2016.
"I'm really excited to have Chad in charge of our defense," stated Raeburn. "He has worked at some of the best programs in the state of Georgia. The relationships he has made will help our defense improve and play at a high level."
Prior to being hired at West Alabama, Williams spent the 2015 season as defensive coordinator at Valdosta State and before that, he spent the 2014 season as special teams coordinator and linebackers coach at West Georgia. The Birmingham, Ala., native has also had coaching stops at Middle Tennessee State (2013-14) where he was a graduate assistant linebackers coach, Jacksonville State (2013) where he oversaw the linebackers and Morehouse (2012-13) where he was the secondary coach.
Williams played in the National Football League as a defensive back with the Baltimore Ravens (2002-06), San Francisco 49ers (2006-07) and Kansas City Chiefs (2007).
Williams earned a Coaching and Sports Administration degree at Southern Mississippi, where he was a two-time All-Conference USA safety.
Scola, spent the 2014 and 2015 seasons as an assistant coach at Wabash, working with the tight ends and also serving as the strength and conditioning coach.
"I'm really excited to bring Nathan to Savannah State," said Raeburn. "He played for me and was one of the very few players elected as captain for their junior and senior years. The energy he brings and his work ethic will be a great addition to our staff."
As a player, Scola earned All-America and North Coast Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year honors. He participated in the 2014 USA Football Bowl. He was named one of the team captains and the starting middle linebacker for the winning Admirals all-star team. Scola also received the London Fletcher Award as the Outstanding NCAA Division III linebacker participating in the game. The Apache Junction, Ariz., native finished his career in sixth place for all-time tackles for loss in Wabash history and was named the team MVP. Before that, he did several internships at his alma mater. He worked as a volunteer football coach, worked with the athletic equipment office, Dean of students and President's Office and the Admissions office.
Scola graduated Cum Laude from Wabash in 2014 while majoring in Rhetoric and minoring in English.
Raeburn has some history with Rychel and Scola.
Raeburn was an assistant coach at Mount Union while Rychel was a player and later hired him as an assistant when he became head coach at Coe. Raeburn was the head coach at Wabash while Scola was a player and later hired him as an assistant after he received his degree.
SSU's 2016 football season will kick off on Sept. 3 when the Tigers travel to Statesboro, Ga., to take on the Georgia Southern Eagles.
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