JOURNAL SPORTS
NATCHITOCHES – When football coaches talk about “sudden change,” what happened Sunday at Northwestern State is not what they have in mind.
Coach Brad Laird’s fifth season with the Demons will operate with a new-to-the-role offensive coordinator. Cody Crill, who was hired in January after a highly-successful four-year stint as OC at Southland rival Incarnate Word, resigned Sunday.
Offensive line coach and run game coordinator Beau Blair was immediately promoted by Laird. Blair also joined NSU in January from New Mexico Highlands where he was the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach. In his only season as OC, Blair’s offense produced five all-conference players, including wide receiver CJ Sims, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year.
New Mexico Highlands led the RMAC in passing offense and was second in total offense, ranking in the top 25 nationally in Division II.
In the previous two seasons (2019-20), Blair worked with Crill at UIW in the Cardinals’ high-powered offense.
Coaching differences did not lead to the change. Crill is returning to his hometown of San Angelo, Texas, to handle care of his father, who is said to be seriously ill.
“We appreciate the time we had with coach Cody Crill on our staff,” Laird said. “We tried to work things out, but ultimately this decision is best for Cody and his family. We constantly talk about family, even having family meetings every night during fall camp. We talk about ‘love,’ and I love coach Crill for what he has meant to me over the last eight months.”
Crill missed NSU’s first preseason scrimmage when he had to return home to attend to his parents. Blair called the offense on Aug. 12 as the Demons threw for 504 yards in an impressive performance.
Crill was not coaching a position group. Blair will continue to work with the offensive line, with the potential for an addition to the staff to assist him in that role.
Blair spent two seasons as offensive line coach at Incarnate Word under Crill. Blair helped mold his O-line into a unit that blocked for a top-20 FCS passing offense while helping UIW average 5.1 yards per carry and record a single-game school record 402 yards rushing.
Blair was a graduate assistant offensive line coach at Houston in 2018, helping the Cougars rank fourth nationally in scoring offense (46.4 ppg) and sixth in total offense (538.6 yards per game) despite ranking 128th of 130 teams in time of possession.
A Gilmer, Texas, native, Blair began his collegiate coaching career at Southeastern University in Lakeland, Fla., coaching tight ends and assisting with the offensive line. The Fire was the No. 1 NAIA scoring offense in 2017 and No. 2 in total offense.
Blair spent two seasons as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Jacksonville (Texas) High School where he also was the strength and conditioning coordinator and head powerlifting coach. With Blair on staff, Jacksonville broke an eight-year playoff drought and produced a quarterback who rushed for 2,150 yards.
Blair began his coaching career at Diboll (Texas) High School as the offensive line coach and strength and conditioning coordinator, helping Diboll improve from a 1-9 mark to 5-5 in his lone season.
Photo by GARY HARDAMON, Northwestern State