Fort Hays State University Men's Football

Brown enters his sixth season as head coach at Fort Hays State in 2016. He has guided FHSU to 30 wins in five years and coached Fort Hays State to a bowl appearance in 2015 with an 8-4 mark, tying the school record for wins in a season. Brown guided FHSU to its highest placing in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association in 2015 with an 8-3 mark, finishing third in the standings. The Tigers earned a spot in the Mineral Water Bowl in Excelsior Springs, Mo. It marked the first postseason game for FHSU Football since the 1996 season. The Tigers have shown steady progress under Brown, posting a one-win improvement in each of his seasons at the helm. After finishing with a 4-7 mark in his first year (2011), the Tigers finished 5-6 in 2012, 6-5 in 2013, 7-4 in 2014, and 8-4 in 2015. The most impressve feat of the eight-win 2015 season was all wins were in MIAA play, arguably the nations premier Division II conference. FHSU joined the conference in 2006 and the MIAA has produced the national champion in NCAA Division II football four of the last seven seasons. Brown, now 30-26 overall, came to Fort Hays State from Washburn University, where he served as the defensive coordinator and defensive secondary coach from 2002-2010 and assistant head coach in 2010. FHSU enjoyed its most All-MIAA selections under Brown in 2015 with 13. Brown has now coached 53 All-MIAA selections at Fort Hays State, including seven first-team selections. Brown has coached eight All-Americans at FHSU. That list includes linebacker Alex Whitehill, punter Ethan Kosjer, safety Micheal Jordan, linebacker Brock Long, running back Shaquille Cooper, quarterback Treveon Albert, offensive lineman Matt Erbert, and safety Daniel Lindsey. Three of the eight (Whitehill, Kosjer, and Long) have earned first team honors. Whitehill and Kosjer earned All-America honors in Browns first year at the helm in 2011, while Jordan earned his honor in 2014. Long, Cooper, Albert, Erbert, and Lindsey all gained All-America status in 2015, the most selections in a season during Fort Hays States NCAA Division II era. Whitehill is also one of two players to earn CoSIDA Academic All-America honors in Browns tenure. Jesse Trent was a three-time Academic All-America selection from 2012-14. Brown also coached two players at FHSU that have signed with NFL teams, which includes safety Nathan Lindsey and wide receiver Ed Williams. Williams has spent two seasons with the Green Bay Packers, signing with the team once again in 2016. Before coming to Hays, Brown helped Washburn compile a 62-41 record in his nine-year span with the program, which included two NCAA playoff appearances and two bowl wins. In his time at Washburn, Brown coached the 2009 and 2006 MIAA Most Valuable Defensive Players and guided two players selected in the NFL Draft (defensive tackle Trey Lewis-6th round 2007, and cornerback Cary Williams-7th round 2008). Brown also coached six All-Americans, 20 all-region and 41 All-MIAA selections at Washburn. His defense led the MIAA in turnovers gained in three of his final four seasons there, including a school record-tying 23 interceptions in 2007. Brown joined the Washburn coaching staff after spending three years as the secondary coach at Liberal High School where he helped the team to a mark of 37-5 in his time. Brown, a native of Liberal, Kansas, is a 1996 graduate of Pittsburg State University where he recorded 470 tackles in 43 starts in his career at free safety. He is one of only three Gorillas to earn All-American honors three times. He was a unanimous All-American First Team selection his senior season and was named the CNN Division II National Player of the Year in 1995. He was also named to the NCAA Quarter Century Team for all players from 1975 to 1999 at free safety. He had a record 21 tackles in the NCAA Division II National Championship as a freshman against Jacksonville State. Brown was inducted into the Pittsburg State Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006 and the MIAA Hall of Fame in 2015. He and his wife, Daphne, have two sons, Hunter and Hayden.

Harris enters his fifth season at Fort Hays State as the teams defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach in 2016. Prior to Fort Hays State, Harris spent 10 seasons as an assistant coach at Washburn University, where he served as the defensive coordinator in 2011. Harris spent nine years together with Fort Hays State head coach Chris Brown on the coaching staff at Washburn. In his time at FHSU, Harris has coached 23 All-MIAA selections on defense with a total of 15 over the last two years. He helped the Tigers to a winning record in each of the last three seasons and an appearance in the Mineral Water Bowl in 2015. Harris coached Brock Long and Daniel Lindsey to All-America status in 2015. Long set a new FHSU record for tackles (171) and tackles for loss (21.5) in a season, while tying for second on the single-season sacks list (10). Long earned All-America First Team selections by two organizations and was a finalist for the Cliff Harris Award (Small College Defensive Player of the Year). Lindsey earned honorable mention All-America status at the bandit position with 85 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, an interception, and four blocked kicks. Harris spent 10 seasons on the coaching staff at Washburn. He was the defensive coordinator and coached safeties for the Ichabods in 2011 when the team won a school-record 10 games and their first playoff game in school history. The 2011 defense set a new school record for sacks in a game with nine against Truman and ranked 17th in the nation in turnover margin. During his tenure, he also spent time coaching the Ichabod linebackers and special teams. While at Washburn, Harris coached seven of the top 10 tacklers in Ichabod history and two All-American linebackers, Grant Gould and Zach Watkins. Harris also coached seven all-region picks and 22 All-MIAA selections at Washburn including Watkins, who was the 2006 MIAA Freshman of the Year and 2009 MIAA and Southwest Regional Defensive Player of the Year. Prior to coaching at Washburn, Harris spent one season as a graduate assistant for the 2001 NCAA Division II Champion North Dakota Fighting Sioux, coaching the tight ends. In 2000, Harris was the defensive coordinator at William Aberhart High School in Calgary, Alberta where he helped coach the team to a city championship. Harris played in the Canadian Football League from 1995-2000 for the Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He was a linebacker, special teams captain and special teams MVP in 1998 for Hamilton and was a member of two Grey Cup champion teams. Harris played collegiately at Pittsburg State University from 1992-1994, earning all-conference second team honors in 1993 and all-conference first team honors in 1994. As a senior, Harris was a team captain and most valuable defensive player two times at linebacker. He recorded 295 tackles in his career, which ranks ninth on the Pittsburg State all-time tackles list. He recorded 17 in the 1992 NCAA national championship game against Jacksonville State. Before transferring to Pittsburg State, Harris was an All-America honorable mention and all-conference first team choice at Independence (Kan.) Community College. He was also the team captain and chosen as the teams Most Valuable Player. A native of Calgary, Alberta, Harris graduated from Pittsburg State in 1995 with a bachelors degree in Physical Education. He has also earned his masters degree in Sports Psychology from the University of North Dakota. Coopers father, Wayne, is in the Canadian Football Leagues Hall of Fame and the NCAA College Football Hall of Fame. He and his wife Summer have two daughters, Piper and Collins.

McCray enters his ninth year as a member of the Fort Hays State coaching staff and 2016 marks his seventh year serving as the assistant head coach, while also coaching the Tiger wide receivers. In his time at FHSU, McCray has coached seven wide receivers to postseason accolades. Anthony Smith was an All-MIAA selection in 2009 and O.J. Murdock and Cordarol Scales were All-MIAA selections in 2009 and 2010. In 2010, Murdock was named to the All-MIAA Second Team and earned an All-American selection by D2football.com and Don Hansens Football Gazette. Both Murdock and Scales were invited to the 2011 Cactus Bowl (Division II All-Star Game) and Murdock followed that up with appearances in the East-West Shrine Game and NFL Scouting Combine. Cornelius Gallon was an All-MIAA selection for FHSU in 2012 and Keaton Callins and Tanner Hageman each earned All-MIAA honors in 2013. Most recently, Ed Williams earned All-MIAA First Team and all-region honors in 2014. Among the receivers to earn postseason accolades, Murdock, Scales, and Williams were signed by NFL teams. Murdock (Tennessee Titans) and Scales (New York Jets) each signed in 2011, while Williams (Green Bay Packers) signed in 2015. Prior to his time at FHSU, McCray coached two other receivers that spent time in the NFL, Brian Clark and Greg Lee, and also coached former NFL linebacker Oliver Hoyte. McCrays receivers have also left their mark on the Fort Hays State record book. In 2010, Murdock set the single-season record for receiving yards with 1,290 on 60 receptions. His average of 21.5 yards per catch tied for the highest in a single season in FHSU history. In just two seasons under McCrays tutelage, Murdock amassed 1,987 receiving yards, good for seventh in the schools history, and 20 touchdowns, which ranks third all-time. Most recently, Keaton Callins posted the third-most receiving touchdowns in a season at FHSU with 11 in 2013, and Ed Williams posted the fifth-most receiving yards in a season at FHSU with 946 in 2014. McCray has helped the Tigers to a big turnaround over the last five years. The Tigers have shown a one-win improvement every year since 2011 and the program has had a winning record in each of the last three seasons. A native of Miami, Fla., McCray came to the program from Florida Atlantic University, where he was an intern coach during the spring of 2008.  McCray has 10 years of experience coaching football and track and field in Tampa, Florida, where he also worked as a high school teacher. McCray played collegiate football at Clinch Valley College in Virginia. He earned a bachelors degree in Social Science from the University of South Florida.