Rick Kindhart (Missouri State Sports Information) SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State head football coach Dave Steckel announced today that former Bears’ assistant coach Brenton Illum has returned to the program as its director of football operations.
Illum served as Missouri State’s special teams coordinator for the 2004 and 2005 seasons and was the defensive line (2005) and linebackers (2004) coach during his two-year stint under former coach Randy Ball.
“I’m a big fan of Stec and what he’s working to develop here,” said Illum. “We are excited to be back in Springfield and be a part of Bears football.”
Illum also served as the head coach at Evangel University in Springfield for six seasons (2010-15) and compiled a 27-32 record in his tenure at his alma mater. He was also Evangel’s interim director of athletics for 15 months in 2014 and 2015.
In his new role with Stec and the Bears, Illum will coordinate team logistics, travel, accommodations and transportation, as well as advising the head coach on a variety of matters.
“We’ve restructured our administrative assistant and operations positions to be able to make this happen, and we’re very excited to have someone with Brenton’s football knowledge on our staff,” said Steckel. “It’s great to have a guy who understands the inner workings of our football program, has an administrative background and possesses great organizational skills.”
Now in his 19th year as a full-time coach, Illum served as defensive line coach at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph for the 2016 season. He also has previous assistant coaching stops at Western State Colorado University (2006-09), Fort Lewis College (2001-03) and Evangel (1995-2000). He has 13 years of experience a collegiate defensive coordinator.
He earned his undergraduate degree from Evangel in physical education in 1999 after a car accident cut his playing career short.
Illum’s wife, Molly, is the head volleyball coach at Reed’s Spring (Mo.) High School. The couple has a daughter, Aspen.
