University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Golden Eagle Football Announces Wide Receivers Coach
2/8/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Feb. 8, 2007
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Southern Miss Head Football Coach Jeff Bower has announced the employment of Michael Grant as the Golden Eagles wide receivers coach and that Courtney Messingham has been promoted to running backs coach. The appointment is subject to approval by the IHL Board of Trustees.
"I am pleased with the addition of Michael to our coaching staff," Bower said. "He is an outstanding coach who came highly recommended by numerous people and brings a lot to our program. He brings impressive credentials and years of successful coaching experience here to Southern Miss. I was very impressed with his knowledge of the game and his personal skills when he was here during his interview. I'm looking forward to him being a member of the Golden Eagle family."
Bower also was pleased and gave good reviews of the job Messingham has done in his two years with the Golden Eagles.
"Courtney has done an excellent job and deserves this promotion," Bower said. "He works hard as a coach and a recruiter and has a good rapport with the coaches and players. I look for more of the same as he takes on his new role."
Messingham has had five different receivers finish with 300 or more yards receiving during the past two seasons and registered 27 touchdown receptions. They also registered catches of 20 yards or more 48 times during that period for an average of 24 a year. The strides that the receiving corps made over the past two seasons might not show up in the stat sheets, however, when you look at the production by the Southern Miss running game, you can see the effect the blocking by the receivers down field had on it.
This fills the opening on the staff left void when former Running Backs Coach Derrick Nix left to take a coaching position with the NFL's Atlanta Falcons.
Grant comes to Southern Miss after coaching at Iowa State (1998-2006), James Madison (1997) and Nebraska (1993-97). He played and coached in 13 bowl games and was a member of the staff that won two national championships. As an assistant coach, his teams participated in the Fiesta Bowl (1996), Orange Bowl (1994, 97), Insight.com Bowl (2000), Independence Bowl (2001, 2004), the Humanitarian Bowl (2002) and the EV1.net Bowl (2005)
He spent the past six years as the wide receivers coach at Iowa State. Beside working with the receiving corps and recruiting responsibilities, he was the lead coach for the kickoff cover unit. Other areas he was involved in included serving as liaison with NFL scouts and the weight room program, including offseason and summer conditioning, handling freshman orientation and life skills program during fall camp, assisting with housing and training table and program correspondence.
Grant's wide receivers at ISU broke every receiving record in the school's history. He had three players named first-team All-Big 12 in 2005 and one of his receivers became the all-time leading receiver in the history of ISU and another became the all-time leader in touchdown receptions.
Prior to that, he coached the running backs (2000), outside linebackers (1999) and defensive backs (1998) at Iowa State. He coached first-team All-Big12 running back Ennis Haywood, who became the seventh ISU back to post two 1,000-yard rushing seasons and his running backs went two years without a fumble. While coaching the Outside linebackers, one of the players he mentored went from being a back-up quarterback to the starting outside linebacker, finishing fifth on the team in tackles and earning an tryout with the Philadelphia Eagles. While coaching the defensive backs, the secondary went from No. 107 in the nation to No. 29 in his first year with the position. The pass efficiency defense went from 153.3 to 111.5 the next season and the secondary increased in interceptions and decreased in touchdowns given up.
Grant brings years of successful special teams experience as well. The special teams at Iowa State was ranked in the Top four of the Big XII Conference each year. During his tenure at Iowa State, he was the lead coach of the kickoff cover from 1998-2006, and PAT block team (1999) and assisted with the punt team (1998-2006), the punt return team (1998-2006) and the kickoff return (1999).
He went to Iowa State after serving as the tight ends/wide receivers coach (1997) at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va. He was a graduate assistant coach, (1994-95) working with the receivers at Nebraska, spent a year as a student assistant recruiting coordinator (1993-94) and three years as the liaison to the football booster and athletic clubs (1994-97), also at Nebraska.
From 1993 until 1996, he was a coach or facilitator at football camps, workshops and clinics in Nebraska, New Jersey and Florida. He also garnered experience working with Nebraska's Public Relations Office (1992-93) and served as the executive producer of the Tom Osborne Show (1993-94).
Grant graduated from Nebraska in 1993 with a bachelor's degree in communication studies, in 1995 with a bachelor's degree in journalism with an emphasis in advertising and has currently completed the course work for his master's degree in mass communication. While a student, he earned a spot on the 1991 Phillips 66 Academic All-Big Eight Honor Roll and was the recipient of the Student-Athlete Academic Honor Medallion, The Reader's Digest Scholarship, the Omaha World Herald Scholarship and the Bobby Reynolds Scholarship.
While playing at Nebraska from 1988-92, he lettered three years as a quarterback and was a member of teams which earned three Orange Bowl invitations and made appearances in the Fiesta and Citrus Bowls.
Grant and his wife, Nina, have a daughter (Mireia). Nina is the director of multicultural programs in ISU's College of Agriculture.
