MIAMI (Feb. 18, 2016) – Head Coach
Ron Turner announced on Thursday the addition of
Kirk Doll to his coaching staff. Doll will coach special teams.
Doll brings a wealth of coaching experience, having spent the past 36 years coaching at college football's highest level with eight programs and in the professional ranks with two organizations. He has coached on teams that played in 17 bowl games and a pair of American Football Conference (AFC) playoff contests.
"I'm excited about Kirk (Doll) joining our staff as the special teams coordinator," Turner said. "He brings a lot of experience to the table. He's coached offense, defense and special teams. He's been in the NFL as well as with a lot of different colleges, working alongside some really strong people. He'll bring some new ideas, some fresh thoughts, and some expertise to our staff."
Doll comes to FIU after serving as East Carolina's special teams coordinator and running backs coach the past four seasons. During that time, he directed ECU's first 2,000-yard rushing season since 2009 (only the program's fourth since 1989) and completed an overhaul of the Pirates' special teams units that produced upper tier national statistical rankings despite working with a first-year punter (twice), placekicker and deep snapper.
"I'm excited about reconnecting with Coach Turner," Doll said. "We coached together at Texas A&M a few years back and I've always had a lot of respect for Coach Turner and his wife, Wendy. It's good to know someone when you come into a new situation. I have been around Coach (Steve) Shankweiler and his son, Kort, as well as Coach (Ron) Cooper. There are some guys I have some familiarity with and am looking forward to working with them. My focus now is to study the players and see how we can get them in the right places to be successful."
His lengthy and accomplished coaching career was deservedly recognized by his hometown in the spring of 2015 when he was inducted into the Wichita (Kan.) Sports Hall of Fame & Museum on April 18.
Before accepting the offer to return to his alma mater, Doll spent the 2011 season as San Jose State's special teams coordinator and running backs coach. The Spartans' kicking game thrived under his guidance as kicker Jens Alvernik finished second nationally in field goals per game and punter Harrison Waid ranked 26th in the FBS with a 42.79 average.
His decorated coaching career began at Wichita State in 1975 as a graduate assistant and continued with full-time appointments as offensive line coach at Tulsa (1980-84), outside linebackers coach at Arizona State (1985-87) and linebackers coach at Texas A&M (1988-93) before handling various responsibilities, including assistant head coach duties, at Notre Dame from 1994 to 2001.
He helped Louisiana State to a two-year mark of 21-6 as assistant head coach and linebackers coach in 2002 and 2003. The 2003 Tigers, which were guided by head coach Nick Saban and coordinators Jimbo Fisher and Will Muschamp, rolled to a 13-1 record and the BCS championship after a 21-14 victory over Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl.
Doll's reputation as a special teams mentor was validated in the National Football League when he served Denver in that capacity from 2004 until 2006. In each of his three seasons in the Mile High City, the Broncos had a winning record and advanced to the 2005 AFC championship game.
He returned to Texas A&M for two more seasons (2008-09) as tight ends coach/special teams coach and had a one-year stint as special teams coach for the Omaha Nighthawks of the United Football League in 2010 before joining the San Jose State staff.
Doll earned a bachelor's degree from ECU in 1973 before adding a second undergraduate degree from Wichita State in 1977.
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The 2016 FIU football season kicks off on Thursday, Sept. 1, as the Panthers host the Indiana Hoosiers.
For FIU football ticket information, contact the University Credit Union Box Office at 305-FIU-GAME (348-4263).
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Pete Pelegrin's in-depth coverage of FIU Athletics on his official blog, The Prowl, at
www.FIUSports.com.
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium. About FIU:
Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offer more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $8.9 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
