Brad X. McCaslin is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach and former player. He was most recently the defensive tackles coach at the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo (commonly referred to as UB, University at Buffalo, and sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a public university, public research university in Buffalo, New York, Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. ...

. He was previously head coach at

Benedictine University Benedictine University is a Private university, private Catholic Colleges in the United States, Catholic university with campuses in Lisle, Illinois, and Mesa, Arizona, United States. It was founded in 1887 by the Benedictine monks of St. Proco ...

, and a long-time assistant at the

University of Nebraska Omaha The University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO) is a public research university in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded in 1908 by faculty from the Omaha Presbyterian Theological Seminary as a private non-sectarian college, the university was origin ...

prior to the discontinuance of football at that institution after the 2010 season. He also spent four seasons as a

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

under

Chris Creighton Christopher William Creighton (born February 7, 1969) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach at Eastern Michigan University, a position he has held since the 2014 season. Creighton has served as the head ...

Drake University Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. The University offers over 140 undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, education, Legal education, law, and pharmacy. Drake U ...

and

Eastern Michigan University Eastern Michigan University (EMU, EMich, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern) is a public university, public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Michigan State Normal School, it was the fourth normal ...

Playing career

McCaslin grew up in

Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne ( or ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Wyoming, most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming. It is the county seat of Laramie County, Wyoming, Laramie County, with 65,132 reside ...

, and played football at Cheyenne East High School. McCaslin's best friend at Cheyenne East was Aaron Keen, who also played on the football team and whose father was the head coach. The two's coaching careers would overlap several times in the following decades. He attended

Hastings College Hastings College is a private Presbyterian college in Hastings, Nebraska. History The college was founded in 1882 by a group of men and women seeking to establish a Presbyterian college. Academics The college offers more than 40 underg ...

Hastings, Nebraska Hastings is a List of cities in Nebraska, city in and the county seat of Adams County, Nebraska, Adams County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 25,152 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Neb ...

, graduating with a degree in 1995. At Hastings, he played

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

for head coach

Dan Kratzer Daniel Leon Kratzer (born July 7, 1949) is an American former professional football player and college coach. He played as a wide receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). Kratzer served as the head football coac ...

Coaching career

Nebraska–Omaha

Following his graduation from Hastings in 1995, McCaslin taught at Benson High School in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

, also serving as an assistant football coach. In 1997 he became a graduate assistant at the then-

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

(UNO) of the

North Central Conference The North Central Conference (NCC), also known as North Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, was a college athletic conference which operated in the north central United States. It participated in the NCAA's Division II. History The NCC ...

under head coach Pat Behrns, inaugurating a 14-year tenure at that institution. Also on the staff at that time was

Lance Leipold Lance Leipold ( ; born May 6, 1964) is an American college football coach who is the head football coach at the University of Kansas, a position he has held since 2021. He was the head football coach at the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater fr ...

, who would later hire McCaslin as an assistant at the

. McCaslin steadily ascended the coaching ranks at UNO on the defensive side of the ball, becoming

defensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line (D ...

coach in 2000 and

in 2005. He gained the title of associate head coach in 2007. McCaslin had hopes of eventually succeeding Behrns as head coach, reflecting later that "I felt like I was on a path...It was definitely a desire of mine to try and become the head coach down the road." Keen joined the staff in 2008 as offensive coordinator. McCaslin's career at UNO came to a halt in the spring of 2011 when the school decided to transition to

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

and join the

Summit League The Summit League, or The Summit, is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference with its membership mostly located in the Midwestern United States, from Minnesota in the east, to the Dakotas, Nebraska and Colorado to the West, and Mis ...

. As part of this change, UNO dropped football and wrestling.

Drake and Eastern Michigan

McCaslin briefly made a living in the Omaha area working in sales before moving back into coaching. He was a candidate for the head coaching jobs at two schools:

South Dakota School of Mines and Technology The South Dakota School of Mines & Technology (South Dakota Mines, SD Mines, or SDSM&T) is a public university in Rapid City, South Dakota. It is governed by the South Dakota Board of Regents and was founded in 1885. South Dakota Mines offers b ...

(SDSM&T) in

Rapid City, South Dakota Rapid City is the county seat of Pennington County, South Dakota, United States. It is located on the eastern slope of the Black Hills in western South Dakota and was named after Rapid Creek (South Dakota), Rapid Creek, where the settlement deve ...

, and

Chadron State College Chadron State College (CSC) is a public college in Chadron, Nebraska, United States. It is one of three public colleges in the Nebraska State College System. It practices open admissions. The school opened in June 1911, although a previous ins ...

Chadron, Nebraska Chadron ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Dawes County, Nebraska, United States, in the Great Plains region. The population was 5,206 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city is home to an 11-story high-rise on the campus o ...

. At SDSM&T he would have succeeded the retiring Dan Kratzer, his former coach at Hastings. In the end, the jobs went to

Stacy Collins Stacy Collins (born September 10, 1975) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the Assistant Head Coach, Special Teams Coordinator, and Linebackers Coach Boise State University. Collins served as the head football coach ...

and Jay Long, respectively. McCaslin eventually landed at

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

, as defensive coordinator for the 2012 season, after reaching out to head coach

. McCaslin replaced Brian Ward, who had left to take a similar job with

Western Illinois University Western Illinois University (WIU) is a public university in Macomb, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1899 as Western Illinois State Normal School. As the normal school grew, it became Western Illinois State Teachers College. Once West ...

. Drake completed in the

Pioneer Football League The Pioneer Football League (PFL) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference which operates in the United States. The conference participates in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I Fo ...

(part of the NCAA

Football Championship Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Bowl Subdivision (F ...

) for football. McCaslin served as defensive coordinator for the 2012 and 2013 seasons; Drake's 2013 defense ranked fifth in the FCS in rushing. When Creighton departed Drake for the

head coaching job after the 2013 season, he brought McCaslin with him as his new defensive coordinator. Before the start of the 2014 season Eastern hired Keen, recently interim head coach at

Minnesota State University, Mankato Minnesota State University, Mankato (MNSU, MSU, or Minnesota State) is a public university in Mankato, Minnesota, United States. It is Minnesota's second-largest university and has over 145,000 living alumni worldwide. Founded in 1868, it is t ...

, as special teams coordinator. Eastern Michigan competed in the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...

(MAC) of the

Football Bowl Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

(FBS). McCaslin inherited a defense which had ranked in the bottom quarter of the FBS the previous year. Eastern Michigan struggled on both sides of the ball during Creighton's first two years, to the point that the faculty union and student government would question the viability of continuing the program in early 2016. The 2015 team had the worst defense in FBS. Eastern fired McCaslin after the season; Neal Neathery, another former Drake defensive coordinator, replaced him.

Buffalo and Benedictine

The University at Buffalo, also a school in the Mid-American Conference, hired McCaslin as a defensive analyst for the 2016 season under head coach and former fellow UNO assistant Lance Leipold. After two seasons in Buffalo, McCaslin accepted the heading coaching job at

Lisle, Illinois Lisle ( ) is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 22,390 at the 2010 census, and in 2019 the population was recorded to be 23,270. It is a south-western suburb of Chicago in the Illinois ...

, which competed in the

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is the lowest division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that do not offer athletic scholarships to student- ...

Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference The Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC), formerly the Northern Athletics Conference (NAC), is an intercollegiate athletic conference. It participates in the NCAA's Division III and began its first season in the fall of 2006. The N ...

. In his one season at Benedictine, McCaslin posted a 3–7 record. Following the season, McCaslin resigned and returned to Buffalo as defensive tackles coach.

Personal life

McCaslin married Erin R. Heikes in 1998. They have three children.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCaslin, Brad Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American football wide receivers Benedictine Eagles football coaches Buffalo Bulls football coaches Drake Bulldogs football coaches Eastern Michigan Eagles football coaches Hastings Broncos football players Nebraska–Omaha Mavericks football coaches High school football coaches in Nebraska Coaches of American football from Wyoming Players of American football from Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne East High School alumni