Beard Adds Three to Football Staff

SPRINGFIELD — Missouri State football coach Ryan Beard has put the finishing touches on his staff for the upcoming season with the addition of new hires Donte Ellington and Brad Jarman and the promotion of Alex Murphy.
 
Ellington will serve as assistant coach for wide receivers and co-special teams coordinator. Jarman returns to his alma mater as the new director of football operations, while Murphy will transition from a defensive quality control position to the newly-created director of high school relations on Beard’s staff.
 
“I am really excited to have these outstanding young coaches joining our staff on a full-time basis and helping us achieve our goals,” said Bears head coach Ryan Beard. “They each bring a high energy level and love for the game. Most importantly, they understand and support what we’re doing at Missouri State and they have a strong desire to be part of something special here. We are honored to have them on board.”
 
The hires are contingent upon final approval by the Missouri State University Board of Governors at its next scheduled meeting.
 
Individual coaching capsules are below:
 
 
Donte Ellington
 
Ellington comes to Springfield after spending the last year as wide receivers coach at Tennessee Tech where he also served as the pass-game coordinator and NFL liaison for the Golden Eagles. He also has two previous FCS stops on his resume, including a season at Eastern Kentucky in 2019 and the 2020 season at Abilene Christian. At Abilene Christian, Ellington’s receivers ranked third in the Southland Conference in completion percentage, fourth in passing and fourth in passing first downs.
 
Ellington began his coaching tenure at San Jose High Academy from 2005 to 2014, serving as both the offensive and defensive coordinators, and an assistant track and field coach. Following stops at Menlo College, Garden City Community College and Independence Community College, he took his first NCAA job with Division II’s Midwestern State, serving as the co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach for the 2017 and 2018 seasons. There, seven wide receivers set school records, compiling over 6,000 yards and 60 touchdowns in two seasons.
 
Originally from San Jose, Calif., Ellington has coached five players who have gone on to the National Football League.
 
He attended San Jose City College and later earned his degree from Northwood University in 2008.
 
 
Brad Jarman
 
Jarman returns to Missouri State after spending the last two years building up his college coaching resume at three different levels.
 
He served as an assistant linebackers coach at Coe College in Iowa for the spring of 2021, working with special teams and video coordination duties as well. From there, he worked at Eastern Illinois for the 2021 season, assisting with the defensive line and assisting in FCS-level recruiting for several key areas, including Missouri, Arkansas and Iowa.
 
Jarman spent much of the 2022 calendar year at Akron where he worked with defensive backs for the Zips. He also assisted with recruiting of the safety position, including specific assignments to the state of Missouri.
 
A native of Springfield, Jarman is a 2018 graduate of Missouri State and went on to earn his master’s from MSU in 2021. While on campus, he worked as a student assistant on the football staff from 2015 to 2018 under coach Dave Steckel and then earned the position of defensive graduate assistant coach from 2018 to 2021 under Steckel and Bobby Petrino. In that capacity, Jarman also served as the team’s video coordinator and assisted with state and local recruiting and was part of the 2020-21 MVFC co-championship staff.
 
 
Alex Murphy
Murphy joined the Bears football program in June 2021 as a director of quality control for the defensive unit and has recently worked on-campus recruiting as well. During his tenure in Springfield, Murphy has assisted with defensive line duties (2021) and the linebackers group (2022).
 
A 2018 graduate of Western Carolina, Murphy served on the football staff at WCU for three years, providing support on special teams and tight ends. He mentored five all-conference selections and helped the team average 44.06 yards per game, which led the SoCon and ranked 20th nationally.
 
Murphy went on to serve as football operations intern at Appalachian State in 2018 before two seasons at Concord (W.Va.) University where he was a linebackers coach and assisted with recruiting efforts in two states.
 
He spent the 2020 season at Greensboro (N.C.) College before coming to Springfield in June of 2021. At Greensboro, Murphy was a special teams coordinator and linebackers coach with significant recruiting responsibilities.
 
 
 

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