Keeping track of the staff (Update) – Paul Petrino completes staff

(Kris Cinkovich will join Petrino at Idaho as offensive coordinator and receivers coach. He previously coached receivers at Arkansas – Photo credit 247sports)

Idaho coach Paul Petrino met with the media Wednesday afternoon to discuss his first few weeks on the job, recruiting and of course the staff he’s assembling. Turns out the staff is complete.

Kris Cinkovich has been confirmed by Petrino as offensive coordinator. Cinkovich has ties to the family having coached under father Petrino at Carroll College and most recently under Bobby Petrino at Arkansas. Cinkovich coached receivers at Arkansas for three seasons and UNLV for four seasons prior to that. All of that was preceded by a highly successful high school coaching career in the Las Vegas area.

Cinkovich will also coach receivers while at Idaho. Petrino said the two will share in the play-calling decision making process with Cinkovich viewing the action from the Press Box (more on that in the video below).

Petrino also confirmed former Cincinatti cornerback Mike Mickens as cornerbacks coach. Mickens was most recently a defensive assistant under Butch Jones at Cincinatti which followed a short stint playing professionally in the NFL and Canada.

Rounding out the staff was the retention of Patrick Libey who will stay on to coach Special teams, arguably Idaho’s best phase of the game from the last two seasons. The kicker to his retention (…get it?) will be him moving to defensive line coach from coaching safeties.

Offensive line coach Jon Carvin has spent his last three seasons as an offensive graduate assistant coach at Illinois, spending two of this seasons under Paul Petrino when he was OC there.

Jason Schumaker is a former fullback for the Kansas Jayhawks last playing for them in 2002 and has spent his time since then mostly at smaller schools, but most recently on staff for a year at Arkansas as Director of High School relations. He’s coached at Eastern New Mexico, Saint Mary’s (Kansas), Dana College and Midlands. He held coaching roles that range from offensive line coach, offensive coordinator, tight ends coach, to head coach for one season at Dana before the school was forced to close due to financial reasons.

“He’s coached every position on the offensive side of the ball at a small college level,” Paul Petrino said. “That’s how I was brought up. When you have to do that, you become a better teacher and you know how to do things.”

Mike Anderson, the former Idaho linebacker, has spent the last four seasons on staff for Washington since Steve Sarkisian arrived on the scene in Seattle. He’s gone from defensive graduate assistant and assistant linebackers coach to assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach for Football and Football Defensive Assistant (Washington’s head strength coach is former Vandal Ivan Lewis).

Anderson was last at Idaho in 2008 holding a similar role on former coach Robb Akey’s staff, prior to that he was on staff at Washington State.

“I like his passion,” Petrino said. “He’ll be a great teacher. That’s the biggest thing I was looking for – guys who will be great teachers and motivators. And he has a lot of connections in the Northwest.”

Bryce Erickson, the son of two-time Idaho coach Dennis Erickson, was born in Moscow when his father was an assistant coach at Idaho.

Petrino apparently likes his ability to recruit, and the state of Oregon has increasingly became better than past years in high school talent. Erickson spent last season as head coach of South Albany high school in Oregon.

“I met Bryce out on the road recruiting quite a bit,” Petrino said. “I’ve always heard great things about him as a recruiter so that was intriguing to me.”

Erickson has experience as an FBS assistant, coaching running backs at Arizona State under his father.

Defensive coordinator Ronnie Lee spent a year at Indiana State coaching running backs and special teams, but has spent the better part of his coaching career since 1989 working with defensive backs, which includes 1992 with the Vandals when Petrino was on staff as an assistant himself.

He’s no stranger to the Palouse, having played his collegiate ball across the border at Washington State. He then followed Dennis Erickson to Miami for his first year of coaching, where he was a graduate assistant on the 1989 national champion hurricanes.

His stops include Colorado State (1993-2000 DBs), San Jose State (2001-2002 DBs, DC), Wisconsin (2003-2005 DBs), Michigan (2006 DBs), and Minnesota (2007-2010 Co-DC, DBs).

Complete staff

Offensive Coordinator/WR – Kris Cinkovich
Defensive Coordinator/Safeties – Ronnie Lee
Special Teams coordinator/D-line – Patrick Libey (retained)
Quarterbacks – Bryce Erickson
Offensive line – Jon Carvin
Running backs – Jason Schumaker
Tight Ends – Al Pupunu (retained)
Linebackers – Mike Anderson
Cornerbacks – Mike Mickens