ELON, N.C. – Elon University head football coach Paul Hamilton announced today the addition of three assistant football coaches to his staff – Offensive line coach Louis Clyburn, defensive coordinator/outside linebackers coach Mark Collins and special teams coordinator/defensive backs coach Nick Toth.
Clyburn joins the Elon staff after working the past year as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Lenoir Rhyne College. He was previously an assistant coach at Duke University for five seasons (1999-2003), working with the offensive line as a graduate assistant his first two years before serving as the Blue Devils’ tight ends coach the next three. During his time at Duke, he coached a pair of tight ends to All-Atlantic Coast Conference status.
Before coaching the Blue Devils, Clyburn served as the tight ends coach at Southern Conference power Appalachian State for four campaigns (1995-98). While with the Mountaineers, he coached two-time all-league selection Frank Leatherwood to All-America distinction and worked as the assistant offensive line coach.
A 1994 graduate of Duke, Clyburn earned a bachelor’s degree in history and political science while collecting four varsity letters as an offensive lineman for the Blue Devils. He helped Duke to an 8-4 campaign his senior year, concluding with a trip to the 1994 Hall of Fame Bowl.
Collins steps onto the Elon campus after serving two years as an assistant at the University of Michigan, where he was a defensive quality control coach in 2003 and a graduate assistant helping with the offensive line in 2004. Previously, he was an assistant for Hamilton for four years (1999-2002) at East Tennessee State University, coaching the defensive backs in 1999, the outside linebackers in 2000, the defensive line in 2001 and the outside linebackers and special teams in 2002.
A 1997 East Tennessee State graduate, Collins received a bachelor’s of science degree in finance. He was a four-year letterman and four-year starter for ETSU, playing at outside linebacker as a senior after playing three campaigns at defensive end. Collins spent his first year after graduation as the defensive ends coach and junior varsity defensive coordinator at Cumberland College for the 1998 season.
Toth joins the Phoenix staff after serving as an assistant at Ohio University the past two years, coaching the tight ends and special teams in 2003 and the defensive line and special teams in 2004. He helped the Bobcats to finish second in the Mid-American Conference and 25th in NCAA-IA in total defense and coached defensive end Kevin Carberry to all-conference accolades in 2004.
Toth also served Ohio as a graduate assistant for two seasons (2000 and 2001), working with the defensive backs. In between his stints with the Bobcats, he worked as Dakota State University’s defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator for the 2002 campaign. While at Dakota State, Toth coached two members of the secondary to all-conference honors. He also led the Trojans to first in the conference and 16th in the country in pass defense that season.
Earning a pair of degrees from Ohio, Toth received a B.A. degree in political science with a minor in history in 1999 and a M.S.P.E. degree in athletic administration in 2002. The four-year starter and four-year letterman played running back for the Bobcats during his first two seasons and defensive back during his last two. His first year after graduation, Toth worked as the varsity defensive backs and special teams coach for Eastlake North High School in Cleveland, Ohio.
– ELON –
