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SOU tabs McClure as new defensive guru ASHLAND - Former Southern Oregon football player and position coach Shay McClure has returned to Ashland as the school's new defensive coordinator, Raiders head football coach Jeff Olson announced Tuesday . The 31-year-old McClure, who lettered as an SOU defensive back from 1992-94 and served as defensive backs coach in 1995 and '96, spent the past three seasons as the defensive coordinator, strength and conditioning coordinator and fitness center manager at Occidental College in Los Angeles. He replaces Roger VanDeZande, who departed earlier this month for a similar position at North Central (Ill.) College. "It's great to be back," McClure said. "I've always loved this area and this program, and I'm looking forward to the opportunity of working with coach Olson again." McClure, a 1995 SOU social science graduate, originally departed Ashland in 1997 in order to become the defensive backs coach and special teams coordinator at NCAA Div. I-AA University of San Diego, a role he occupied for two years. At Occidental, he crafted a defense that helped the NCAA Div. III Tigers post an 8-1 record and capture the 2001 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship. The squad featured a third-team All-American linebacker (Josh Jansen, the 22nd overall pick in 2002 Canadian Football League draft) as well as a conference MVP and second-team All-American defensive lineman. Occidental, which went 1-8 in each of the three seasons prior to McClure's arrival, posted the school's first winning season since 1994 with a 5-4 mark in 2000. He coached three all-stars during his previous Raider coaching stint, including honorable mention safety Dave Burleson, who went on to play in the CFL, and former Ashland High star Brian Luman, who was a second-team All-American safety for McClure at USD. "I'm thrilled Shay is back on the coaching staff," Olson said. "He is an extremely talented young coach, and his dedication and work ethic helped a program (Occidental) go from worst to first in a very short period of time." McClure inherits seven returning defensive starters and 21 letterwinners from last year's SOU team that posted a 9-2 record, advanced to the NAIA quarterfinals and ranked in the national top-eight for both rush and total defense. "SOU has a great group of players coming back," McClure said. "My style differs from (VanDeZande's) a bit, but the ideal strategy is always to do whatever best fits our personnel." McClure and his wife Stacey, who is also a SOU graduate, have a 15-month-old daughter, Taryn. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.