Brian Stewart Hired to Coach Tiger Secondary
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Football
February 5, 1999
Brian Stewart, defensive secondary coach at San Jose State University the past two years and a former graduate assistant at the University of Missouri, is rejoining the Tiger football staff, Head Coach Larry Smith announced today.
He replaces Jon Hoke, who left Mizzou after five years last month to become defensive coordinator at the University of Florida. Stewart, 33, worked under Hoke as a graduate assistant coach at MU in 1996.
"Brian is one of the bright young coaches in the country today. He's on his way up," Smith said. "He'll add a lot to the Missouri football program."
This past season, San Jose State ranked 38th nationally in pass efficiency defense. As a recruiter, he was responsible for the Los Angeles area. He also was the team's liaison with NFL teams, coordinated the team's film exchange and was in charge of the summer jobs program.
Stewart coached the tight ends at Northern Arizona, his alma mater, in 1995. Before that, he coached for two years at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo - one year working with wide receivers and the other coaching running backs. In 1994, Cal Poly SLO won the American West Conference championship.
Stewart completed his playing days as a cornerback at Northern Arizona in 1986. He later had NFL training camp experiences with the Dallas Cowboys and Atlanta Falcons. He coached track on the high school level at Locke High in Los Angeles and led the boys' team to the L.A. city title in 1991. His girls' teams were city runners-up in both 1991 and '92.
Stewart completed his bachelor's degree in criminal justice and sociology at Northern Arizona in 1995. His cousin, Phil Freeman, played for Larry Smith at Arizona.
Director of Athletics Michael Alden also announced Friday that Donnie Sommer has been retained as the University's head strength and conditioning coach, a position he has held on an interim basis since August.
Sommer, who celebrated his 35th birthday earlier this week, is in his 10th year at the University of Missouri. He came to the Tigers as a graduate assistant strength coach and moved into a full-time assistant's position under former head strength coach Dave Toub six years ago. Toub is now MU's defensive line coach.
Sommer was a four-year starting offensive guard at Texas-El Paso from 1982-85 and was chosen to play in the 1985 Blue-Gray Game. Drafted by the Houston Oilers in the 10th round in 1986, he later played with the Buffalo Bills and Indianapolis Colts.
A native of Katy, Texas, Sommer holds a bachelor's degree from UTEP and earned his master's degree in human performance at the University of Missouri in 1991.
