University of Houston Athletics
Briles Finalizes Football Staff
1/14/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Jan. 14, 2003
University of Houston head football coach Art Briles today announced the hiring of his final positional coach as well as the addition of two graduate assistants and a student administrative assistant.
Derrick Odum will be the Cougars secondary coach, while Jason Poston (offense) and Lane Tobola (defense) will assume the graduate assistant roles. Finally, Jon Loudermilk has signed on as one of Briles' student administrative assistants.
Odum comes to UH from Utah State University in Logan, where he spent three seasons coaching the Aggie secondary. During this past season under Odum's guidance, the Utah State pass defense improved 25 spots from the 2001 campaign. He also served a Minority Internship with the NFL's Tennessee Titans during the summer of 2002.
Prior to his stint with Utah State, Odum spent two years at the University of Montana in Missoula as one the Grizzlies' assistant coaches. At Montana he coached in the secondary and had all four of the backfield starters earn some sort of all-conference recognition in 1999. Safety Vince Huntsberger was the Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Year, while Jason Miller and Damon Parker were second team choices and Calvin Coleman was an honorable mention pick. In 1999, Montana was first in the league in pass efficiency defense.
Odum broke into the coaching profession at his alma mater, the University of Utah in 1995, when served two seasons as a defensive graduate assistant. While on the staff at Utah, Odum was a part of the 1997 Ute squad that played Wisconsin in the 1997 Copper Bowl.
As a player at Utah, Odum excelled in both football and baseball at the Salt Lake City school. Odum played cornerback at Utah from 1988-92 and also averaged 28.0 yards per kickoff return in 1992. He also was a centerfielder on the Ute baseball team for two seasons. A native of Irvine, Calif., Odum earned his degree in political science from Utah in 1992 and is currently pursuing his master's degree in sports psychology.
Poston arrives to UH from Springtown High School, where he coached wide receivers for the last five years. A 1998 graduate of Tarleton State University, Poston was a three-year letterman for the Texans. Poston played for Coach Briles as a high school standout at Stephenville High School.
As for Tobola, he played football at Texas A&M-Kingsville, where he was a four-year starter, as well as team captain and all-conference in 1998. After graduating from TAMUK, Tobola coached two seasons at his alma mater before spending last season assisting on the staff at Sam Houston State University.
Finally, Loudermilk steps into the administrative role after coaching at Tornillo High School in El Paso. Another former player of Briles' at Stephenville, Loudermilk played football at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, where he was a two-time all-conference defensive back. He graduated from HSU in 2001.
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