Oklahoma State Hires Todd Monken as Offensive Coordinator
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State head football coach Mike Gundy announced today that Todd Monken has been hired as the school’s new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Monken returns to college football after four years coaching receivers with the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League. He had recently been named quarterbacks coach at Jacksonville for the 2011 season.
“It’s a great opportunity to serve as offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State,” Monken said. “I was there with (former head coach) Les Miles and the program has had tremendous success under Coach Gundy. My family loves Stillwater and I have always enjoyed coaching college football.”
Monken coached receivers at Oklahoma State from 2002 through 2004 and among his pupils was two-time All-American Rashaun Woods. He then headed to Baton Rouge to coach receivers and serve as the passing game coordinator at Louisiana State (2005-2006), before joining Jacksonville.
“Todd is a really good fit for what we need,” Gundy said. “He’s been in the Big 12 and and he’s coached at places that have won at a high level. He’s an experienced, intelligent coach who will be able to come in and help us pick up where we left off. We’re excited to have him join our staff.”
Prior to arriving in Stillwater in 2002, Monken helped direct one of the nation’s top passing attacks while at Louisiana Tech. He coached running backs one year and receivers one year as Tech averaged 313 yards through the air in 2000 and 2001 to rank among the top 10 passing offenses in the country in both seasons.
Monken coached at Eastern Michigan for seven seasons (1993-1999) and served as the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator his final two seasons.
He is a native of Wheaton, Ill., and played quarterback at Knox College while earning a degree in economics. He earned a master’s degree at Grand Valley State, where he began his coaching career (1989-90). He also had a coaching stop (1991-92) at Notre Dame.
Monken and his wife, Terri, have one son: Travis.
Q&A With New Oklahoma State Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken
STILLWATER, Okla. – New Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Todd Monken took time out on Wednesday to talk about his move to Stillwater. The highlights:
On why he is returning to Oklahoma State and the college game:
“It’s a great opportunity to serve as offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State. I was there with Les Miles and the program has had tremendous success under Coach Gundy. My family loves Stillwater and I have always enjoyed coaching college football.”
On what he knows about Oklahoma State’s current coaches and players:
“I was there with Coach Gundy and Joe DeForest and there are other people in the program that I am familiar with like Mack Butler, Gary Calcagno and Dale Patterson. My wife and I came up to Stillwater last spring and we saw the new facility and how the program has changed. I am not as familiar with the current players other than from what I have seen on some of the film we got with the Jaguars.”
On what he plans to do offensively at Oklahoma State:
“I want to blend what this team has done with what I’ve done to make this Oklahoma State’s offense. We want to have flexibility with it. With all of the returning starters, it would be silly to break up what they already have going. When I was at Louisiana Tech, we were no-huddle. When I was at Oklahoma State under Les, it was power running and going straight ahead. The key is to be flexible.”
On taking over an already-productive offense:
“Dana Holgorsen did a great job and I’m just trying to come in and find what fits best. Even before Dana was there, Oklahoma State didn’t lack in offensive productivity. It’s never been an issue under Coach Gundy. The biggest thing is just to have an identity where this is Oklahoma State’s offense and we know what we want to do.”
Updated 02-11-2011
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