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Ross, who enters his third season on the ISU staff, will call all
the schemes for the Redbird defense, while continuing to serve as
the position coach for the ISU cornerbacks. He replaces Galen Scott,
who resigned to take the linebackers' coaching job at Tulsa. "I'm
really excited about David having more of a leadership role on this
staff," Johnson said. "He has 18 years of head coaching experience
and has been at all levels. He has a great understanding and is very
much in tune with what I want out of our defense. He will also
implement some changes as we go in a slightly different direction as
a defensive football team."
Ross is looking forward to the challenge.
"I'm extremely honored that Coach Johnson made the decision in
choosing me lead the defense," Ross said. "I have known Coach
Johnson for a very long time and we kind of hail from similar
backgrounds. I think the partnership that we can develop defensively
will help this football team tremendously. We have a lot of work to
do and I'm excited to (be) taking on that challenge. We are very
close here, but I think that my leadership and experience in the
defensive room will lead to defensive success and, ultimately, team
success."
In his first year at ISU, the Redbird defense collected 17
interceptions, the highest team total since 1989. This season, Ross
will be asked to turn around a defense that ranked fifth in the
Gateway Football Conference and No. 102 nationally with 427.9 yards
allowed per game.
In the five seasons before coming to Illinois State, Ross served
as the head football coach and athletic director at Bacone College
in Muskogee, Okla. He was the Warriors' first head coach since the
program's reinstatement after a 43-year hiatus. During that time, he
immediately established an NAIA program that was nationally ranked.
Ross started his coaching career at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M in
Miami, Okla., in the fall of 1982, coaching the defensive line. With
the Golden Norsemen, Ross and the team reeled off a pair of 10-1
seasons.
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In 1983, Ross accepted a graduate assistantship at Oklahoma State
under then-Cowboys' head coach Jimmy Johnson. Ross worked with the
quarterbacks under offensive coordinator Larry Coker. Once Johnson
left the Oklahoma State post, Ross worked on the defensive side of
the ball under new head coach Pat Jones.
In 1986, Ross returned to his alma mater, Central Methodist in
Fayette, Mo., as the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator.
In 1988, he was named the head football coach at his high school
alma mater, William Chrisman in Independence, Mo., at the age of 28.
After four years, Ross was named the head coach at Blue Springs
South High School, a startup program. In his second season the
Jaguars finished with an 8-3 record, before posting an undefeated
regular season and an 11-1 overall record in 1994.
The success as a prep head coach vaulted Ross back into the
collegiate ranks. He was named head football coach at Kemper
Military Junior College in Boonville, Mo., in 1995. During his five
years at Kemper, Ross produced 42 Division I players and a 33-19
record. However, in 1999, Kemper decided to drop the football
program.
Ross received his bachelor's degree in physical education from
Central Methodist in 1982 and his master's degree in sports
administration from the United States Sports Academy in 2005.
[Text from file received from Todd Kober, assistant athletics director, media relations,
Illinois State University]
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