Brad Cornelsen is a former American football coach and player who is currently the offensive coordinator at Sam Houston State University. He was the former offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Virginia Tech from 2016 to 2021.
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Interim head coach/Offensive coordinator |
| Team | Sam Houston State |
| Conference | CUSA |
| Record | 0–0 |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | Texhoma, Oklahoma |
| Playing career | |
| 1995–1998 | Missouri Southern |
| Position(s) | Quarterback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1999 | Missouri Southern(SA) |
| 2000 | Northeastern State (SA) |
| 2001 | Northwest Missouri State (GA) |
| 2001–2002 | Oklahoma State (GA) |
| 2003–2006 | Illinois State (WR) |
| 2007 | Illinois State (QB) |
| 2008 | Oklahoma State (QC) |
| 2009–2011 | Northeastern State (OC) |
| 2012–2014 | Memphis (QB) |
| 2015 | Memphis (Co-OC/QB) |
| 2016–2021 | Virginia Tech (OC/QB) |
| 2023–2024 | Sam Houston (OC) |
| 2024–present | Sam Houston (Interim HC/OC) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 0–0 |
| Bowls | 0–0 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Awards | |
| |
Coaching career
editAfter playing quarterback for Division II, Missouri Southern,[1] Cornelsen began his career in coaching as a student assistant for his alma mater in 1999. In 2000 he served as a student assistant again this time for Northeastern State. In the spring of 2001 he worked as a graduate assistant for Northwest Missouri State under College Football Hall of Famer Mel Tjeerdsma. In the fall he went to Oklahoma State in the same capacity and remained there until the end of the 2002 season. In 2003 he became a part of the Redbirds staff[2] where he would stay until 2007. He spent his first four seasons at Illinois State as the wide receivers coach before spending his final season as the quarterbacks coach. In 2008 the Oklahoma native[3] returned to Oklahoma State as a quality control coach. In 2009 he was given the opportunity to be an offensive coordinator for Northeastern State. He remained with the Riverhawks until the end of the 2011 season. In 2012 he joined Justin Fuente's staff in Memphis as the quarterbacks coach, he previously worked with Fuente at Illinois State. In 2015 he was given a promotion and added the title of co-offensive coordinator,[4] where he coached quarterback Paxton Lynch. He was also nominated for the Broyles Award.[5] In 2016[6] he followed Fuente[3] to Virginia Tech and was named the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.[7][8] He was let go following the 2021 season.[9]
Cornelsen was hired on January 17, 2023, as the offensive coordinator for the Sam Houston State Bearkats.[10] He took over as interim head coach on December 1, 2024, after K. C. Keeler departed to become head coach at Temple University.[11]
Head coaching record
edit| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Houston Bearkats (Conference USA) (2024–present) | |||||||||
| 2024 | Sam Houston | 0–0 | 0–0 | New Orleans | |||||
| Sam Houston: | 0–0 | 0–0 | |||||||
| Total: | 0–0 | ||||||||
References
edit- ^ "Missouri Southern Athletics Inducts 2014 Hall of Fame Class". MSSU - MOSO Minute. September 26, 2014. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
- ^ Bitter, Andy. "The Denver Johnson 'pipeline': Tracing the Virginia Tech coaching staff's numerous ties to FCS program Illinois State". The Athletic. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
- ^ a b "Chance meeting at OSU connected Brad Cornelsen and Justin Fuente long before they got to Virginia Tech". The Oklahoman. December 25, 2017. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
- ^ Evans, Thayer (December 3, 2015). "Memphis's Cornelsen to become Virginia Tech OC". Sports Illustrated.
- ^ Barnett, Zach (November 25, 2015). "Broyles Award announces 2015 nominees". Footballscoop. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
- ^ Fischer, Bryan. "Grading New College Football Assistant Hires on Offense". Bleacher Report. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
- ^ Bitter, Andy (February 10, 2021). "How Brad Cornelsen evaluates Virginia Tech's 2021 quarterback situation". The Athletic. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
- ^ LaBlue, Ricky (June 22, 2020). "Justin Fuente's Revival of the Quarterback Position at Virginia Tech". Sports Illustrated.
- ^ Manning, Bryan D. (December 16, 2021). "Virginia Tech football lands its new quarterbacks coach". Gobbler Country. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
- ^ "Kats hire new offensive coordinator". gobearkats.com. January 17, 2023. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
- ^ Russo, Ralph D. (December 1, 2024). "Temple football hires Sam Houston's K.C. Keeler as next head coach". The Athletic. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 1, 2024.