ALBANY, Georgia -- Albany State head football coach Gabe Giardina has completed the program's football staff. The announcement was made on Wednesday afternoon.
"I am extremely excited to be at full strength with the coaching staff," Giardina said. "Everyone is very excited to be a part of the Golden Ram Family. These guys have hit the ground running and are doing a great job of emphasizing the family environment that we are creating within our staff and in the locker room.
"The fastest four months in football just got a great kick into another gear having all these new faces and energy around."
On defense, Cory Peoples will serve as the program's defensive coordinator. Peoples spent three seasons as the defensive backs coach at Charleston Southern University. He played collegiately for the University of South Carolina (2001-2005) under head coach Lou Holtz.
"I had the pleasure of working alongside Cory for two seasons at Charleston Southern," Giardina said. "He was a vital part in making us into a Top 10 defense at the FCS level in 2015.
"His vision for player development falls in line with all the things that we want our defense to be about. He develops guys fundamentally and will do a great job of having our guys play hard.
"From a schematic point of view, Cory has been influenced by coaches from all different levels. He has had multiple NFL internship opportunities as well as FCS and NCAA Division II experience to draw from as he creates the next chapter of "Dirty Blue Defense.""
Joining Peoples as defensive coaches will be Collins Ukwu, Darius Buck and Nick Reveiz.
Ukwu will be the team's defensive line coach. He comes to ASU from Georgia State University where he was a defensive graduate assistant. He originally joined GSU in 2015 as a football operations intern. Ukwu played football at the University of Kentucky (2009-2012) and was a three-year starter at defensive end.
"Collins worked with the defensive line, under Trent Miles and saw Georgia State go to its first ever bowl game," Giardina continued. "He is an energetic, young coach with passion for developing young people both on and off the field.
"In addition to playing at the University of Kentucky, he also had opportunities with both the Minnesota Vikings and Montreal Alouettes. He is a great communicator and teacher."
Buck will assume the coaching duties for the safeties. He coached that position for two years as a graduate assistant at the University of South Alabama. Before going to USA, he was an assistant coach at Jones County Community College. Buck played football at Southwest Mississippi Community College (2008-2010) and Murray State University (2011-2012)
"Darius comes highly recommended by multiple people in my inner circle of coaching friends," Giardina said. "He is detailed and demanding and has already displayed a great knowledge of secondary play and player development.
"He already shows a wonderful ability to connect with young people and gets the most out of their ability."
Reveiz will be the program's linebackers coach after a four-year stint with NCAA Division II perennial power Carson-Newman University. He spent his first two seasons at CNU coaching running backs. Reveiz played for the University of Tennessee (2006-2010) and was a three-time Academic All-SEC selection and team captain.
"Under the late Ken Sparks, Nick has been mentored by one of college football's best program builders," Giardina said. "He also had a brief stint in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Nick embodies what it means to get the most out of young people and is a tenacious recruiter."
On the offensive side of the ball, Adam Hollifield (offensive line), Sean Lampkin (wide receivers) and Adam Miller (quarterbacks) will join offensive coordinator Isaac Newland.
Hollifield spent the last two seasons at Texas State University as a graduate assistant coach. He worked with the offensive line in 2016 after serving on the defensive staff in his first year. A native of Hoover, Ala., Hollifield played collegiately at the University of Alabama-Birmingham (2005-2008) before injuries ended his 2007 and 2008 seasons.
"Adam got his job by communicating his teaching and coaching progression the best out of several very good offensive line candidates," Giardina said. "He has a great ability for taking the complex and making it simple.
"Adam also has spent time under long time Georgia offensive line coaches Neil Calloway and Will Friend during his time at UAB. He understands the type of culture that must exist up front in order for us to be successful."
Lampkin was a member of the Charleston Southern coaching staff for three seasons before arriving at Albany State, serving as the video coordinator and assistant wide receivers coach. He played collegiately at Brevard College (2012-2014) and South Carolina State University.
"I have worked with Sean for the last four years at Charleston Southern," Giardina said. "Sean worked really hard as the assistant wide receivers coach under Willy Korn. He has a great understanding of our offense and the type of play making mentality we need on the perimeter.
"Sean is the son of high school coach Will Lampkin and has been shown the type of character and integrity it takes to coach and influence young people his whole life."
Miller played football at Johns Carroll University (2008-2011) and was an offensive graduate assistant for Florida International University in 2016. From 2012-2016, he served as the head coach and director of football at Coral Springs Charter School.
"Adam was a head high school coach in Miami, Florida at the age of 23," Giardina said. "He has a great energy and presence about him and will do a fantastic job teaching and mentoring our quarterbacks. Adam's creativity and passion will be great assets to our program."
For more information about Albany State Football, contact Stan McCormick at (229) 420-7013 or stanley.mccormick@asurams.edu.
ALBANY STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
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