Stacy Collins (born September 10, 1975) is an

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

coach and former player. He is currently the special teams coordinator, outside linebackers, and nickels coach at

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State becam ...

. Collins served as the head football coach at the

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 ...

from 2012 through 2015.

Playing career

Collins played

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, pl ...

for

Western Oregon Western Oregon is a geographical term that is generally taken to mean the part of the U.S. state of Oregon within of the Oregon Coast, on the west side of the crest of the Cascade Range. The term is applied somewhat loosely, however, and is some ...

from 1993 through 1997, while completing his degree in

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explora ...

Coaching career

Western Oregon

Following his playing career, Collins joined the coaching staff at

as the

special teams coordinator In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

and linebackers coach from 1998 to 2001, while also completing his master's degree in education.

Vienna Vikings

Collins also served as the

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

for the

Vienna Vikings The Vienna Vikings is an American football club based in Vienna, Austria. Founded in 1983, the Vikings are known as one of Europe's most dominant clubs, having won the Eurobowl title five times (2004–2007 and 2013), as well being the runner ...

of the

Austrian Football League The Austrian Football League (AFL) is the highest level of American football in Austria founded in 1984. The Austrian Football League (AFL) has always been considered among the best and strongest leagues in Europe. The league plays by rules based ...

from 1999 to 2001. He also served a stint as the Interim Head Coach.

South Dakota Mines (first stop)

For the 2002 season, Collins was the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator at South Dakota Mines.

Western Washington

The following season, Collins returned to the West Coast. He spent two seasons (2003–2004) coaching the linebackers and coordinating the special teams at

Western Washington Western Washington is a region of the United States defined as the area of Washington state west of the Cascade Mountains. This region is home to the state's largest city, Seattle, the state capital, Olympia, and most of the state's residents. ...

. While here, Collins helped develop future

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL) punter

Michael Koenen Michael J. Koenen (born July 13, 1982) is a former American football punter. He was signed by the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent in 2005. He played college football at Western Washington. Early years Koenen attended Ferndale High ...

Idaho State

Collins moved on to

Idaho State , mottoeng = " The truth will set you free" , established = , former_names = Academy of Idaho(1901–1915)Idaho Technical Institute(1915–1927) University of Idaho—Southern Branch(1927–1947)Idaho Sta ...

for the 2005 and 2006 football seasons, coaching the linebackers for the Bengals.

Southern Oregon

Collins was the defensive coordinator at

Southern Oregon Southern Oregon is a region of the U.S. state of Oregon south of Lane County and generally west of the Cascade Range, excluding the southern Oregon Coast. Counties include Douglas, Jackson, Klamath, and Josephine. It includes the Southern ...

. He also served as the recruiting coordinator.

Central Washington

Collins spent 2008 through 2010 at

Central Washington Central Washington is a region of the U.S. state of Washington between the western and eastern parts of the state extending from the border with the Canadian province of British Columbia in the north to the border with the U.S. state of Oregon i ...

. He spent all three years as the special teams coordinator, while coaching the

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, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

in 2008 and 2009, and the

s in 2010.

Portland State

For the 2011 season, Collins served as the special teams coordinator for the

Portland State Vikings football : ''For information on all Portland State University sports, see Portland State Vikings'' The Portland State Vikings football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the Portland State University located in the U.S. state of Oreg ...

team.

South Dakota Mines (second stop)

In 2012, Collins returned to South Dakota Mines for his first head coaching opportunity. In his four seasons at the helm, Collins led the Hardrockers to two winning seasons, making the total winning seasons in 30 seasons three. Although also served as the special teams coordinator, Collins’ teams saw historic offensive success, breaking numerous offensive records with a wide-open, pass-heavy, explosive scheme. At the time of Collins’ departure, He was sixth on the all-time wins list at South Dakota Mines.

Utah State

Following his success at South Dakota Mines, Collins Joined Matt Wells’ Staff at

Utah State Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

as the special teams coordinator for the 2016 season. In 2017 and 2018, Collins transitioned to coaching the inside linebackers. Following Wells’ departure for

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas ...

prior to the 2019, Collins was retained by returning head coach

Gary Andersen Gary Lee Andersen (born February 19, 1964) is an American football coach who was most recently head football coach at Utah State University. Andersen has also been the head football coach of Southern Utah (2003), Wisconsin (2013–2014), and Or ...

. He moved to the offensive side of the ball coaching the

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. The ...

s, as well as taking over the special teams duties again. On January 15, 2020, it was announced that Collins would be promoted to co-coordinate the defense, and would switch positional responsibilities from running backs to defensive backs.

Boise State

In January 2021, Collins was hired by

Andy Avalos Andrew Avalos (born November 5, 1981) is an American football coach and former player. He is head football coach at Boise State University, his alma mater. He previously worked as an assistant at schools including Boise State and Oregon before re ...

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It became a ...

to coordinate the special teams and coach the "edge" outside linebacker position on defense. After spending two seasons as an assistant at Penn State, he returned to Boise State to serve under head coach

Spencer Danielson Spencer Danielson (born November 11, 1988) is an American football coach who is the head football coach at Boise State University. He previously served as an assistant coach at Boise State University and Azusa Pacific University. Danielson pla ...

in January 2024.

Personal life

Collins and his wife, Mandi, have four daughters, Kayla, Mackenzie, Kylee and Mackenna.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Boise State profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Stacy 1975 births Living people American football linebackers Boise State Broncos football coaches Central Washington Wildcats football coaches Idaho State Bengals football coaches Portland State Vikings football coaches South Dakota Mines Hardrockers football coaches Southern Oregon Raiders football coaches Utah State Aggies football coaches Western Oregon Wolves football coaches Western Oregon Wolves football players Western Washington Vikings football coaches People from Douglas County, Oregon Coaches of American football from Oregon Players of American football from Oregon American expatriate sportspeople in Austria American expatriate players of American football Austrian Football League coaches