MSU's Staten a finalist for NMU head coaching job

EAST LANSING – Michigan State offensive line coach Mark Staten is one of five finalists for the Northern Michigan head coaching job, the Division II school released Monday.

Staten has been with Mark Dantonio since 2004 at Cincinnati and followed him as part of Dantonio’s debut staff in 2006 as a recruiting coordinator and tackles/tight ends coach from 2006-11. Staten shifted his coaching responsibilities to MSU’s full offensive line starting in 2012.

Since arriving at MSU, Staten has guided four offensive linemen (Jack Conklin, Dan France, Donavon Clark and Jack Allen) and three of his tight ends (Kellen Davis, Dion Sims, Garrett Celek) to NFL rosters or practice squads. As a player, the Miami (Ohio) graduate played parts of two seasons in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals and New England Patriots.

Staten is expected to interview for the job Tuesday, according to the school.

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The other four finalists for the Northern Michigan job are Kyle Nystrom (Ferris State co-defensive coordinator/inside linebackers coach), Nick Postma (Grand Valley State co-defensive coordinator/defensive backs coach/recruiting coordinator), Shane Richardson (UNC-Pembroke head coach) and Jason Woodman (Fairmont State head coach/offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach).

Nystrom is a 1988 MSU graduate and the son of Spartans legend Carl “Buck” Nystrom, himself a former assistant coach with the Wildcats. The younger Nystrom began his coaching career as a student assistant for George Perles in 1983 and was a graduate assistant at Northern Michigan.

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Former Lions coach and NMU graduate Steve Mariucci is the advisor for the school’s coaching search committee. Interviews are expected to conclude next Monday.

Contact Chris Solari:csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@chrissolari.

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