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McBride Hires Three New Staff Members
12/29/2000 12:00 AM | Football
Dec. 26, 2000
SALT LAKE CITY -
Utah head football coach Ron McBride has filled the vacancies on his staff by hiring a new offensive coordinator, defensive backs coach and offensive line coach. Rob Spence is Utah's new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Spence has six years of experience as a collegiate offensive coordinator, most recently at Louisiana Tech. Rounding out the offensive staff is Alex Gerke, a former Ute player and graduate assistant coach. Gerke, who will be responsible for the offensive tackles and tight ends at the U., coached the offensive line at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo last year. On the defensive side of the ball, Bill Busch has been hired to coach the safeties. Busch has spent the last four years as New Mexico State's secondary coach. With Busch's hiring, defensive coordinator Kyle Whittingham will shift his position coaching responsibilities from the safeties to the linebackers.
McBride went for a blend of youth and experience in the 42-year-old Spence, who has already served as offensive coordinator at three colleges. He spent last year at Louisiana Tech, where he was co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. The three years previous to that (1997-99), Spence was offensive coordinator at Hofstra. He was also Hofstra's assistant head coach from 1998-99. His first collegiate offensive coordinator job was at Iona College, where he served from 1989-90. Between coordinator shifts, Spence was an assistant at Holy Cross (1991) and Maryland (1992-96). He coached the quarterbacks at both Holy Cross and Maryland, although he spent his first two years at Maryland coaching the Terrapin inside receivers and tight ends before taking charge of the quarterbacks in 1994. Spence has tasted success at all of his previous stops. Although Louisiana Tech finished the current season with a 3-9 record, it ranked No. 7 nationally in passing offense, averaging 309.6 yards per game, and No. 30 in total offense (412.9 ypg). In his three seasons at NCAA Division I-AA Hofstra, the school ranked in the top 10 in the nation in scoring and total offense. Spence was the offensive coordinator in 1990, when the Flying Dutchmen led the nation in scoring, passing offense and total offense en route to a 12-1 season. Holy Cross, another I-A school, went 11-0 in Spence's year there and ranked No. 3 in the nation. Spence did his undergraduate and graduate work at Iona, where he lettered as a halfback from 1978-81. He earned his bachelor's degree in social work in 1981 and his master's in education in 1990. The Middletown, Del., native is married to the former Susan Marie Larson. They have two daughters: Samantha and Sydney Rae.
Gerke spent last season as the offensive line coach at NCAA Division I-AA Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. One of his lineman, Dustin Kroeker, was a second-team All-America All-Independent selection. Gerke's line blocked for an offense that ranked 15th in Division I-AA in passing yards per game (271.2), and quarterback Seth Burford, who was sixth in the nation in passing efficiency. Prior to his Cal Poly appointment, Gerke spent two years (1998-99) as a graduate assistant on McBride's staff, coaching the tackles and tight ends. Gerke began his coaching career in 1985 at Salt Lake City's South High School. He then spent seven years (1986-92) as an assistant coach at Golden West College, returning to Salt Lake in 1994 and joining the staff at East High. He was an assistant coach at Hunter High from 1995-97 and also volunteered as a guest coach for the Saskatchewan Rough Riders in 1995. Gerke played offensive guard at the U. from 1982-83. He obtained his bachelor's degree in exercise and sport science from Utah in 1988. He is a native of Westminster, Calif.
Busch brings a solid defensive resume with him from New Mexico State, where he coached the secondary from 1997-2000. In 1999, the Aggie defense led the Big West Conference in pass efficiency defense and ranked 13th nationally. His secondary, which included first-team all-Big West selections Donald Malloy and Jascon Willis, tallied 16 interceptions in 1999. The Aggies ranked No. 65 nationally in pass defense this past fall. Prior to joining the Aggie staff, Busch was the co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach at Northern Arizona from 1995-96. The Lumberjacks were ranked in the top 10 in Division I-AA in 1996 and made the first round of the NCAA playoffs. In 1994, he helped coach the Wisconsin secondary as a graduate assistant. He also served as a graduate assistant at Nebraska (1990-93), where he worked with the secondary and the inside linebackers. His first coaching job was at Nebraska-Kearney, where he coached the defensive ends in 1989. Busch played collegiately at Nebraska Wesleyan in Lincoln, where he lettered as a wide receiver from 1984-87 and was a Dean's List student. He graduated with a bachelor of science degree in education and public relations in 1988. He earned a master's degree in educational administration from Nebraska-Kearney in 1990 and began work on a Ph.D. while at Nebraska. Busch, 35, is a native of Pender, Neb.
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