Scott Leaves Alma Mater for Tulsa

[February 19, 2008]  NORMAL -- After a hall-of-fame playing career and seven years as an assistant coach, including the last three seasons as the defensive coordinator, it was inevitable: Galen Scott was going to leave Illinois State some day. That day came Monday, as head coach Denver Johnson announced that Scott had accepted a position as the linebackers' coach at Tulsa under second-year head coach Todd Graham.

"I've always taken great joy and pride in developing young coaches and helping them advance in the profession," said Johnson. "I have become very fond of Galen, and I hate to see him leave. But I'm extremely proud to send one of our coaches on to my alma mater at Tulsa. Galen will continue to accomplish great things in his career, and I'm very proud and happy for him."

In 2005, Scott was named the American Football Coaches Association Football Championship Subdivision Assistant Coach of the Year. For the last six seasons, he has coached the Gateway Football Conference's top tackler, as Kye Stewart claimed top honors in 2007; Cameron Siskowic led the league in 2005 and 2006; and Boomer Grigsby led the conference for three straight seasons (2002, 2003 and 2004).

Scott helped mold Grigsby into an unprecedented three-time Gateway Football Conference Defensive Player of the Year award winner and a consensus all-American. Scott continued his tutelage with Siskowic, who won the 2006 Gateway Defensive Player of the Year award. In each of the last six seasons, including Stewart in 2007, Scott coached a linebacker who was a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award, which is presented annually to the nation's best FCS defensive football player.

"Illinois State is obviously a very special place, but this is a great opportunity for my career," said Scott. "I appreciate everything that Coach Johnson has done for me, personally and professionally, and I wish him and the rest of the staff nothing but the best. I have been a part of ISU for 11 years, and I will always be a Redbird, so making this decision was not an easy one, but it shows how much I believe in Coach Graham and what he's doing at Tulsa."

Until 2004, Scott owned the career tackles record at Illinois State (579), but his protégé, Grigsby, set the standard by surpassing his mentor. In October 2007, Scott was elected into the Illinois State Athletics Hall of Fame.

During Scott's four-year playing career (1997-2000), he set ISU records for tackles in a game, season and career. He also helped the Redbirds to their only Gateway Football Conference Championship (1999) and a pair of appearances in the NCAA I-AA playoffs (1998, 1999).

He was named to four all-America teams and was only the fifth player in school history to earn all-America status in three different seasons. He also snagged all-Gateway Football Conference honors in each of his four seasons and was a member of the 1997 All-Gateway Newcomer team.

An honor roll student during his career, he set the single-game Illinois State tackle record of 27 and the season tackle record at 186. He was the first Illinois State player to exceed 500 tackles, and his final figure is 109 more than that posted by the previous record holder, Wilbert Brown.

Scott's single-game mark ranks No. 5 in Gateway Football Conference history, and his season total is No. 7. His career number ranks No. 3 in the conference.

Scott, 28, received both his bachelor's and master's degrees from Illinois State. He hails from Orlando, Fla.

[Text from file received from Todd Kober, assistant athletics director, media relations, Illinois State University]