SIU football coach Nick Hill said Friday that John Van Dam will be the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach next season.

Van Dam played quarterback at Michigan State from 2003 to 2008 and was a backup to Kirk Cousins, Nick Foles, Brian Hoyer and Drew Stanton, who all played in the NFL this season. He was then a graduate assistant at Alabama for coach Nick Saban.

Hill said Van Dam was his first choice for the job. He said the pair will work closely together running the offense, but Hill will call the plays.

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“[Van Dam] comes from a tree of great coaches,” he said. “He is a guy that I wanted.”

Most recently Van Dam was a Program Assistant at Florida in 2015 after serving as an offensive quality control assistant at Michigan in 2014.

Michigan defeated Florida 41-7 Jan. 2 in the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl. The Gators were ranked No. 19 entering the game after finishing the regular season 10-2. They lost to eventual NCAA Champions Alabama 29-15 in the Southeast Conference Championship game.

Brent Meske can be reached at [email protected] or at 536-3333