BEARD ANNOUNCES COACHING STAFF ADDITIONS

SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State head football coach Ryan Beard has announced five additions to his staff for the 2024 season.
 
Joining the Bears are: cornerbacks coach Chris Franklin; tight ends coach and co-special teams coordinator Wesley Satterfield; running backs coach Ace Wales; inside linebackers coach Cort Dennison; and strength/conditioning coach Jackson Morris.
 
"First, I want to thank our departing coaches for their contributions to our football program," said Beard. "We strive to surround our young men with the best possible coaches on the market that are true developers of the overall student-athlete. The coaches we are welcoming to our football family are proven winners and developers of men. I'm very excited about the future of MoState football."
 
Beard also noted that current assistant coach Tramain Thomas will move to safeties for the 2024 campaign, while coach Michael Downing will move to outside linebackers coach and co-special teams coordinator.
 
The new team personnel will replace outgoing staffers Ronnie Fouch, Nelson Fishback, Kevin Elliott, Reggie Johnson and strength coach David Consiglio.
 
The new hires are contingent upon formal approval by the Missouri State University Board of Governors at its next scheduled meeting.
 
 
CHRIS FRANKLIN
Franklin comes to the Bears after spending the last three seasons at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond. Prior to that, he spent the 2019 season working with cornerbacks in a defensive quality control position at Western Kentucky where he helped the Hilltoppers to a 9-4 record and a victory in the 2019 SERVPRO First Responder Bowl. 
 
The Louisville native helped WKU produce a top-25 rated defense in 2019, as the Hilltoppers allowed just 20.1 points per game, which ranked No. 22 in the FBS ranks. WKU also ranked 24th in nationally in total defense with 335.5 yards allowed per game, and 28th with 200 passing yards allowed per game. '
 
During the 2017 and 2018 seasons, Franklin was the defensive backs coach and punt return coach at Arkansas Tech where he coached all-conference and All-America safety Cua Rose. He was at West Georgia where he worked with strong safeties (2015) and cornerbacks (2016) in two seasons as a graduate assistant. He helped the Wolves capture a Gulf South Conference championship in his first season and mentored two all-conference cornerbacks, including NFL free agent signee Marcus Sayles. In the spring of 2015, Franklin worked with EKU linebackers in a defensive quality control position.
 
A former standout defensive back at Western Kentucky, Franklin earned a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from WKU in 2009 with an emphasis in Technology. He and his wife Ashley have three sons, Caleb, CJ and Cameron, and one daughter, Amiya'h.
 
 
WESLEY SATTERFIELD
Wesley Satterfield joins the Missouri State staff after spending the previous two seasons as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Tennessee Tech (2022-23). During his tenure in Cookeville, Satterfield engineered an upgraded offensive attack that boasted a 75-yard-per game improvement in addition to an uptick in scoring by more than seven points per game.
 
Satterfield spent time at North Carolina for three seasons (2007-10), two years at Ohio State (2010-12), two seasons at Chattanooga (2012-13), two years at Southeastern Louisiana (2014-15), three seasons at Austin Peay (2016-18), then three more at Richmond (2019-21). His teams have played in three bowl games and won two conference championships, while three of his players have gone on to successful NFL careers with two more playing in the Canadian Football League.
 
After graduation, he joined Butch Davis' staff at North Carolina, assisting with the team's quarterbacks before joining Jim Tressel and Luke Fickell's staffs at Ohio State as an offensive/special teams GA. He coached in two bowl games at UNC in the Meineke Car Care Bowl in 2009 (vs. West Virginia) and 2010 (vs. Pitt) before a Sugar Bowl appearance with Ohio State in 2011 (vs. Arkansas) which led to a 12-1 overall record and No. 5 national ranking.
 
In 2012, Satterfield joined Russ Huesman's staff at Chattanooga, coaching tight ends and H-backs. Under his watch, tight end Faysal Shafaat was a third-team All-American and second-team All-SoCon selection. He then joined Ron Roberts staff at Southeastern Louisiana in 2014, coaching the quarterbacks and serving as the team's run game coordinator. While there, quarterback Bryan Bennett was named the Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Year and Walter Payton Award finalist. The school led the Southland in nearly every offensive category, including points per game (47.3), touchdowns (50), pass efficiency (163.6), rushing touchdowns (32) and fewest sacks allowed (4).
 
Under Satterfield's direction in 2016, Austin Peay put together the biggest offensive turnaround in Division I FCS, going from 12.3 points per game in 2015 to 24.4 in 2016. In 2017, the Govs were 8-4 and led the OVC in total offense and rushing yards (sixth in the FCS), while setting school records in total offense, points, yards per game, yards per play, touchdowns, rushing touchdowns, rushing yards and yards per carry.
 
The Hartsville, Tenn., native was a quarterback, defensive back, punter and kicker for his father, Clint Satterfield, at Trousdale County High from 1999 to 2002, before enjoying success at the college level as a four-year standout at Sewanee – the University of the South – from 2003 to 2006. He earned SCAC Offensive Player of the Year in 2005 and All-SCAC accolades in 2005 and 2006. He earned his degree in American History at Sewanee in 2007 and was a member of the Order of Gownsmen academic honor society.
 
 
ANTHONY "ACE" WALES
Wales spent the 2023 season at the University of Louisville where he served as a graduate assistant for the Cardinals staff. He was part of a 10-4 season that culminated in a 7-1 record in the ACC, an appearance in the ACC title game against Florida State and a trip to the Holiday Bowl in San Diego to play USC.
 
Prior to his time in Louisville, he was on the coaching staff at his alma mater, Western Kentucky, where he was a recruiting coordinator and quality control assistant during the 2022 campaign.
 
Wales was a high school head coach at Iroquois High School in Kentucky in 2021 before returning to the collegiate ranks. He also spent time as a high school assistant from 2018-2020 at Iroquois, Louisville Central and Evangel Christian School.
 
The Louisville native earned All-CUSA second-team honors in 2015 and Preseason All-CUSA distinction in 2016 where he also appeared on the Doak Walker Watch List for the Hilltoppers. He led the nation in rushing touchdowns (27) and points per game in 2016 to earn team MVP honors after leading WKU to conference titles in 2015 and 2016.
 
Wales finished his illustrious prep career at Central High School in Louisville ranked third in KHSAA history in career rushing yards with 8,213 yards while racking up 114 touchdowns and back-to-back 3A state titles in 2010 and 2011. He rushed for 2,784 yards in his senior season and earned first-team all-state and district player of the year.
 
He holds graduate (2022) and undergraduate (2016) degrees from WKU with his bachelor's in Interdisciplinary Studies with an emphasis in Business.
 
 
CORT DENNISON
Dennison comes to Missouri State after serving as as a defensive quality control assistant at Utah during the 2023 season.
 
Prior to his return to his hometown of Salt Lake City, Dennison spent two stints at Louisville where served as defensive coordinator from 2019 until 2021. He also served four years on the Louisville staff from 2014-17 in a variety of coaching roles, including defensive graduate assistant (2014), director of on-campus recruiting (2015), assistant secondary coach and recruiting coordinator (2016), and inside linebackers coach and co-special teams coordinator (2017).
 
Highlighting his time at Louisville, he coached ESPN Freshman All-America LB Dorian Etheridge in 2017 who had a team-high 83 tackles in his rookie season. In 2016, Dennison led the Cardinals to a No. 14 national ranking in total defense (322.2), No. 22 ranking in interceptions (15), and No. 37 in pass defense (207.1).
 
Dennison also coached one season at the University of Oregon as an outside linebackers coach for the 2018 Redbox Bowl champions. He mentored NFL Draft selections Justin Hollins and Jalen Jelks who both earned first-team All-Pac 12 accolades during his stint there.
 
He was a football legend at Judge Memorial High School in Salt Lake City where the standout tight end and linebacker was named Utah Athlete of the Year by The Salt Lake Tribune his senior year. He went on to a collegiate career at Washington where he started all 13 games at inside linebacker as a senior (2011), including a 15-tackle performance in the Alamo Bowl against Baylor. He earned All-Pac-12 second-team honors after posting 128 tackles in his final season. 
 
He graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in Communications in 2011. He later earned his Masters in Sports Administration from Louisville (2015).
 
 
JACKSON MORRIS
Morris comes to Missouri State after spending the fall of 2023 at Tulane as an assistant strength and conditioning coach while working primarily with the Green Wave baseball and football programs.
 
He served from 2019 to 2023 as associate director of strength and conditioning at Mercer University in Macon, Ga., where he was the secondary strength coach for football and primary for men's soccer and baseball. He also implemented the program's first nutrition program. While at Mercer, Morris also assisted in the department's facility maintenance, continuing education coordinator and coordinator of graduate assistants and interns.
 
He completed his Masters in Kinesiology from Georgia Southern in 2018 where he advanced from intern to full-time assistant strength and conditioning coast during his time in Statesboro. He was the primary strength coach for women's golf and rifle, while assisting baseball, swimming, track and men's soccer.
 
Morris also holds an undergraduate degree in Physical Health and Education from Georgia Southern (2017). He is currently pursuing his doctorate from the American College of Education in Leadership Studies.