Head Coach
Erik Raeburn

765 • 361 • 6300
raeburne@wabash.edu

Raeburn comes to Wabash after eight years as head football coach at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he posted a 57-26 record. Prior to arriving at Coe, Raeburn was an assistant coach at his alma mater, Mount Union College, where he served as offensive line coach and offensive coordinator. He will also serve as the offensive line coach for the Little Giants.

At Coe, Raeburn coached 65 All-Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference players, 40 All-Americans, and two Academic All-Americans. He guided Coe to its first IIAC title in school history in 2002, and followed with conference championships in 2004 and 2005. He was the 2002 IIAC Coach of the Year and Regional Coach of the Year. He led the Kohawks to their first-ever playoff appearance in 2002, advancing to the second round, and also led Coe to the playoffs in 2005.

Raeburn earned his bachelor of science degree in mathematics from Mount Union College and is currently pursuing his master’s degree. As an assistant coach under Larry Kehres at Mount Union, he helped the Purple Raiders six Ohio Athletic Conference Championships and three NCAA Division III National Championships (1996, 1997, 1998).

Raeburn replaces Chris Creighton, who departed in December to become the head coach at Drake University. In 2007, Wabash won its third straight North Coast Athletic Conference championship and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Division III playoffs. The Little Giants return 13 starting players from last year’s 11-2 squad.

Raeburn and his wife, Elizabeth, reside in Crawfordsville with their children, Cade, Elle, and Reese.

Erik Raeburn’s Coaching Record

Head Coach, Coe College Kohawks
2007 — 7-3 overall — 5-3 IIAC (3rd)
2006 — 7-3 overall — 5-3 IIAC (3rd)
2005 — 9-2 overall — 7-1 IIAC (1st) NCAA III Playoffs, first round
2004 — 7-3 overall — 6-2 IIAC (1st, tie)
2003 — 5-5 overall — 3-5 IIAC (6th, tie)
2002 — 10-2 overall — 8-1 IIAC (1st, tie) NCAA III Playoffs, second round
2001 — 6-4 overall — 6-3 IIAC (3rd, tie)
2000 — 6-4 overall

Assistant Coach, Mount Union College Purple Raiders
1999 — 12-1 overall — NCAA III Playoffs, Semi-Finalists
1998 — 14-0 overall — NCAA III National Champions
1997 — 14-0 overall — NCAA III National Champions
1996 — 14-0 overall — NCAA III National Champions
1995 — 12-1 overall — NCAA III Playoffs, Third Round
1994 — 10-2 overall — NCAA III Playoffs, Second Round

Jake Gilbert
Defensive Coordinator/
Linebackers

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gilbertj@wabash.edu

Jake Gilbert enters his third season as an assistant coach at Wabash, his first as defensive coordinator. He spent two seasons as the offensive line coach for the Little Giants, helping Wabash to NCAC titles in 2006 and 2007.

Gilbert is no stranger to the sidelines of Hollett Little Giant Stadium after playing for three seasons as a defensive tackle, earning Hewlett Packard All-America Honorable Mention honors as a junior. He ranks ninth in Wabash history in career quarterback sacks with 16-1/2. He is fifth in career sack yards with 137. His 10-1/2 sacks as junior is fifth on the single season records list. He accounted for 82 sack yards that season, fourth-best in Wabash history.

Coach Gilbert spent six seasons as the head football coach at North Montgomery High School, where he compiled a 30-36 record. He coached four All-State and 10 Academic All-State players. He also served as a sponsor of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and coordinator of the CHARACTER COUNTS! program.

He was a teacher and assistant coach at his high school alma mater, Ben Davis High School, for two years. While playing at Ben Davis Gilbert was named team captain, MVP, all-state, and was an Indiana All-Star.

Gilbert and his wife, Christina, live in Crawfordsville with their sons, Logan, Jackson, and Tyson.

Josh Hoeg
Offensive Coordinator/
Quarterbacks

765 • 361 • 6287
hoegj@wabash.edu

Josh Hoeg joins the Wabash football program as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He spent the past two seasons as quarterbacks coach at Lake Forest College, where his offensive unit set the school record for touchdown passes and tied the mark for completions. The Foresters’ team averaged 25.5 points and 358.1 yards per game. He also served as the assistant tennis coach for two seasons at Lake Forest.

Hoeg graduated from Coe College in 2004 with a bachelor of science degree. He played wide receiver for Head Coach Erik Raeburn, helping the Kohawks to an Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship in 2002 and a berth to the NCAA Division III football playoffs. The team recorded the first playoff win in Coe College history with a 21-18 victory over UW-LaCrosse in the opening round. Hoeg was named team captain in 2003 and led the team with an average of 21.4 yards per reception as a senior.

He remained at Coe as a graduate assistant coach as part of a Kohawk program that finished 25-8 over three seasons with two IIAC championships and one NCAA playoffs appearance. He coaches four All-IIAC receivers, including two first-team selections. The Coe offense averaged 28.8 points and 389.3 yards per game while Hoeg served as wide receivers coach. He earned a master of arts in teaching at Coe before leaving for the position at Lake Forest College.

Hoeg, who will also serve as an assistant track and field coach at Wabash, resides in Crawfordsville.

Steve Rogers
Special Teams Coordinator/
Defensive Backs Coach

765 • 361 • 6035
rogerss@wabash.edu

Steve Rogers begins his first season as the defensive backs coach at Wabash. He joins the Little Giants after three seasons as an assistant coach at Bluffton University. Rogers was the offensive line coach for two years at Bluffton and was the Beavers’ special teams coordinator and defensive line coach for one season.

Rogers spent four seasons at MacMurray College as the defensive coordinator and secondary coach before taking the postion at Bluffton. He was part of the Highlanders’ 2001 Illini-Badger Football Conference championship run and NCAA playoff team. Rogers coached the 2001 Illini-Badger Outstanding Defensive Player. He was also the head junior varsity coach at MacMurray.

A 1994 graduate of Mount Union College with a bachelor of arts degree, Rogers served as a student assistant wide receivers coach for the Purple Raiders’ first national championship team in 1993. He spent two seasons as a graduate assistant coach at Defiance College, working as the running backs coach in 1994 and the offensive line coach in 1995. Rogers earned a master of arts degreee from Defiance in 1996.

He took a position as an assistant football coach at Arizona Western College in 1996, serving as linebackers coach for two seasons. Rogers became the defensive coordinator and secondary coach in 1998, the same season the Matadors won the Western States Football League championship and earned a berth to the Empire State Bowl. Arizona Western repeated as conference champs in 1999.

Rogers will also serve as the long jumpers and hurdlers coach for the track and field team. He and his wife, Donnell, reside in Crawfordsville with their son, Jack.

Steve House
Defensive Line

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houses@wabash.edu

House has been coaching football players since graduating from Ball State University in 1964. He enters his 23rd season as an assistant at Wabash College.

House was an all-conference guard and linebacker at Connersville High School and was a two-year letterman as a member of the Ball State football team. He started his coaching career at Centerville High School, where his football teams posted a record of 15-9-2. He moved to Greensburg High School in 1967, becoming the winningest football coach in school history over his ten-year career as head coach.

House joined the Wabash staff as a volunteer in 1983 as running backs coach. After a two-year hiatus, House returned to Wabash in 1990 to work with the defensive line. His defensive linemen helped set a Wabash record for sacks in a season with 48 in the 2000 season. House spent two seasons (2000 and 2001) as an assistant to Wabash baseball coach Tom Flynn. House was also a baseball assistant in 1998 for the Little Giants.

House also works as the Student Activities Director. He and his wife, Judy, reside in Crawfordsville. Their son, Kelley, graduated from Wabash in 1990 after starting three seasons at linebacker for the Little Giants.

Ashton Northern
Running Backs

northera@wabash.edu

Northern will be reunited with his former head football coach this season. A four-year player for Coach Raeburn at Coe, Northern earned All-Conference honors as a junior by rushing for more than 100 yards in each of his final four games. He was the second-leading rusher in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, averaging over 93 yards per game. He ran for 1,196 yards as a senior, receiving All-Conference, All-Region, and All-America honors.

Northern spent last season coaching running backs at his alma mater, Thomas Jefferson High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Two of his running backs — Terrell McBride and Cody Northern — earned First Team All-Conference honors. McBride became the first J-Hawks player to rush for over 1,000 yards in nine seasons.

Northern is single and resides in Crawfordsville.

Drew Nystrom
Tight Ends

nystromd@wabash.edu

Nystrom joins the Wabash coaching staff for his first season. A four-year letter winner and three-year starter for the Bowling Green State University football team, he earned Second Team All-Conference honors as a senior offensive lineman. Nystrom helped the Falcons to the 24th-best passing offense in the nation. He also received the BGSU Top Offensive Lineman Award in 2007.

He was a finalist for the Bowling Green Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award, and was a 2007 Academic All-Conference selection. Nystrom was also an ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Second Team Academic All-District IV pick in 2005.

Nystrom is single and resides in Crawfordsville.

Adrian Pynenberg
Defensive Line

pynenbea@wabash.edu

Pynenberg is no stranger to Wabash football. A four-year letterwinner as a linebacker, he started every game of his career while setting career records for total tackles (451) and tackles for losses (73-1/2). He posted single-season records for tackles (168) and tackles for losses (26-1/2) as a senior to earn consensus All-America honors while becoming the first Wabash football player to become a three-time All-American. Pynenberg was also named a Gagliardi finalist and was a two-time North Coast Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year. He made a career-best 21 tackles at Ohio Wesleyan, two shy of the Wabash single-game record.

He earned three varsity letters in football at Oswego High School in Illinois, where he was the captain of the Panthers’ IHSA Class 7A Football Championship team. Pynenberg tied the IHSA title game record for solo tackles with eight against Libertyville. The team’s defensive MVP, he received All-Conference, All-Area, All-State, and Academic All-State honors.

A two-time ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District V selection, Pynenberg was a psychology major and will complete the student teaching portion of his education concentration this fall. A member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, the Sphinx Club, he also participated in the 2007 Wabash Business Immersion Program. He received the Frank H. Sparks Award for All-Around Student Achievement and the Pete Vaughan Athlete of the Year Award.

Pynenberg is single and resides in Crawfordsville.

Mike Warren
Defensive Backs

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warrenm@wabash.edu

Warren enters his first season as an assistant for the Little Giants in 15 years after coaching for one season after graduating in 1993. He currently
works as the associate director of alumni and parent relations at Wabash in addition to volunteering for the
football team.

A three-year letter winner in football and four-year letter winner in baseball, Warren received First Team All-Conference honors in football as a junior and senior. He finished with eight career interceptions as a defensive back, tying him for 14th-place on the Wabash all-time list. He made 130 tackles, recovered two fumbles, and forced two more. Warren grabbed six interceptions as a senior, tying him for sixth-most in a single season at Wabash.

A First Team All-Conference baseball player as a senior, he played in 123 games for the Little Giants. He posted a 3.76 earned run average with a 6-4 record on the mound in his final season, while hitting five doubles, three triples, and one home run in 91 at-bats.

Warren is a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity and the Sphinx Club. He has served as a coach in the North Montgomery Youth Football and Baseball Leagues, is an IHSAA football official, a member of the Purdue Montgomery County Extension Board, and the Rocky Ridge Golf Club.

Warren and his wife, Kim, live in Crawfordsville with their sons, Kaleb and Kai.

Eugene "Willy" Will
Wide Receivers

wille@wabash.edu

Will begins his second season for the Little Giants as a wide receivers coach. He spent two seasons at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater as an assistant for both of the Warhawks’ national runner-up teams before joining the Wabash staff in 2007.

He earned his master’s of science at UW-Whitewater, while also working in the academic advising and testing office. A three-year letterman as a member of the Flyers’ football team, Will majored in sports management at Dayton. He graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in 2005.

A native of Nappanee, Indiana, Will was a three-year letterwinner and two-time all-state selection as a defensive back and wide receiver at Northwood High School. He currently resides in Crawfordsville.

Nate Powell
Student Assistant

powelln@wabash.edu

Powell is in his second season as a student assistant coach. He began his Wabash career as a player before injuries sent him to the sidelines.

He earned three varsity letters as a football player at Merrillville High School where he was captain as a senior and earned All-State and Academic All-State honors. Powell also lettered in wrestling (4) and track (2).

A member of Sigma Chi fraternity, Powell is a psychology major and plans to enter the field of sports psychology after graduating. He is the son of Pamela Powell.