SIU football head coach Nick Hill has added another assistant to fill out his coaching staff for the 2016 season.

Carl Franks, who has 19 years of assistant coaching experience, has been hired as the cornerbacks coach.

“He’s played and coached under [defensive coordinator Kraig] Paulson before,” Hill said. “He knows the defense well.”

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Franks was an all-conference safety at the University of Montana from 1992 to 1993 under Paulson, who was the defensive backs coach at the time. 

Franks followed Paulson to Utah State University to become a coach in 2000, where he served as defensive backs coach and special teams coordinator until 2002.

Hill said Franks stood out from the other candidates because he’s played the position at a high level and has a lot of coaching experience.  

After his stint at Utah State with Paulson, Franks moved to Northern Arizona University, where he served as defensive backs coach for five seasons.

In 2009, he was hired to Western Illinois University as defensive backs coach and contributed to a first- and second-ranked pass defense in 2010 and 2012, respectively. 

Franks was hired in 2013 to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, of the Canadian Football League, and served as defensive backs coach there for one season.

During his time at Northern Arizona and Utah State, Franks coached nine players to 15 All-Big Sky selections and two Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year awards. 

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Jacob Gaertner can be reached at [email protected] or at 618-536-3303.