BEREA, OHIO -- Baldwin-Wallace College Head Football Coach John Snell has completed his full-time offensive staff for the 2010 season by promoting Keith Grabowski to offensive coordinator and adding Mark Jochum as the Yellow Jackets' new offensive line coach.
Grabowski, 1992 graduate of the College, enters his second season on the Yellow Jacket coaching staff. He served as quarterbacks coach during his first season in 2009.
"Keith has done a great job in our program with recruiting and working with our quarterbacks and offense," said Snell. "He understands our offense and has experience calling plays. He has worked very hard over the past year to help improve our program and he certainly deserves the opportunity to be our offensive coordinator."
"We had a great offseason and we worked hard at putting together a system that fits our personnel," said Grabowski. "Personally, I am grateful and excited about the opportunity to lead the offense. With all of the work we did in the offseason, it feels like a natural progression to be able to step in and keep things moving forward."
In 2009, Grabowski guided then senior quarterback Anthony Gardner, who turned in an All-Ohio Athletic Conference season before signing to play professionally in France. The Yellow Jacket offense ranked fourth in the OAC at 378.4 yards per game and sixth in scoring at 24.6 points per game.
Prior to coming to B-W, Grabowski made head coaching stops at Brookside High School in Sheffield Village, Brush High School in Lyndhurst and Ashtabula Lakeside High School. He also was at the helm of the Amherst Steele football program from 2004-07 and was named the 2004 Southwestern Conference Coach of the Yearand Lorain County Co-Coach of the Year. Grabowski led the 2004 Comets to the second-best record in school history and the program's second playoff victory all-time. Grabowski coached on the Amherst staff for three seasons before taking over in 2004 and ran the football program at Fairview High School from 2001-2003.
Jochum, a native of Euclid, graduated from John Carroll University in 2002 and received the team's 'Unsung Hero Award' for his leadership and dependability as a senior offensive lineman. After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in elementary education, Jochum spent two seasons as an intern at JCU and served as offensive line coach, recruiting coordinator and assistant strength and conditioning coach. In 2005, he accepted a similar position at Franklin (Ind.) College and coached there for three seasons.
"Mark is a Cleveland St. Ignatius guy and he is very well respected as an O-line coach," noted Snell. "I spoke to six different people and they all described him as a tireless worker and a great O-Line coach. I have known him for a long time and he has done a great job wherever he has been. We feel that Mark will be an excellent addition to our staff and football family."
"B-W is a great fit for me," said Jochum. "I wanted to get back to my roots in Cleveland and still be able to coach at a top program like B-W. I'm excited to compete against a lot of the guys that I am familiar with in the toughest Division III conference (OAC) in the nation."
The Yellow Jackets open the season on Thursday, September 2 versus the College of Wooster at 7:00 p.m. on Tressel Field at The George Finnie Stadium in Berea. The game will be televised by regional cable giant SportsTime Ohio.
FOR MORE B-W Sports Information, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu or Assistant SID Nick Minerd by phone at 440-826-2780 and e-mail at nminerd@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest B-W athletics information at www.bw.edu/athletics and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter athttp://twitter.com/bwathletics.
