Brock D. Spack (born January 5, 1962) 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 wi ...

coach. He is the head football coach at

Illinois State University Illinois State University (ISU) is a public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of th ...

, position he has held since December 2008. Previously, he was the defensive coordinator at

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mone ...

under

Joe Tiller Joseph Henry Tiller (December 7, 1942 – September 30, 2017) was an American football player and coach. He was the head coach at the University of Wyoming from 1991 to 1996 and Purdue University from 1997 to 2008, with a career record of know ...

College career

Spack 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, ...

at Purdue from 1980 to 1983, earning first-team All-Big Ten and honorable mention All-America honors as a sophomore. He was a three-year starter and currently ranks fifth on the Boilermakers' career tackles list with 384. He graduated from Purdue in 1984 with a bachelor's degree in social studies and earned a master's degree in physical education from Eastern Illinois University in 1990.

Coaching career

After graduation, he was a graduate assistant in football at Purdue for the 1984 & 1985 seasons, where he worked with

(defensive coordinator) and

Jim Colletto Jim Colletto (born October 4, 1944) is a former American football player and coach. He attended Monterey High School (1958–1962) where he was an all conference baseball and football player and starter on the varsity basketball team. At UCLA Col ...

(offensive coordinator) under head coach

Leon Burtnett James Leon Burtnett (May 30, 1943 – June 1, 2021) was an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at Purdue University from 1982 to 1986, compiling a record of 21–34–1. He was a sales professional at Central Chevrolet ...

. When Jim Colletto was hired to replace Fred Akers after the 1990 season, he retained Brock as a defensive coach from 1991–1994. For the 1995 season, Joe Tiller hired Brock Spack as defensive coordinator at Wyoming, where he coached two seasons before following Joe Tiller to Purdue in 1997 and remained defensive coordinator until 2008. In the 2008 season,

Danny Hope Charles Daniel Hope (born January 7, 1959) is an American football coach and former player. He served as the head football coach at Eastern Kentucky University from 2003 to 2007, and Purdue University from 2009 to 2012, compiling a career colle ...

was hired to return to Purdue to become head coach in 2009 upon Joe Tiller's retirement. Spack had interviewed for the position, but Hope had the edge with head coaching experience that Spack lacked. Spack coached with Hope during the 2008 season under Tiller and had indicated his intention to stay on Hope's staff, but ultimately, when offered a head coaching position at Illinois State, Spack decided to leave his alma mater starting with the 2009 season. During the 2021 season, Spack became the winningest coach in

Illinois State Illinois State University (ISU) is a public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of th ...

history; passing Edwin Struck's mark of 86 wins. A native of Rockford, Ill., Spack and his wife, Aimee, a former Purdue cheerleader, have two children, Alicia who played softball for Purdue and Brent, who was a linebacker for Illinois State.Brock Spack Profile – Illinois State University Official Athletic Site

Head coaching record

References

External links

Illinois State profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spack, Brock 1962 births Living people American football linebackers Eastern Illinois Panthers football coaches Illinois State Redbirds football coaches Purdue Boilermakers football coaches Purdue Boilermakers football players Wabash Little Giants football coaches Wyoming Cowboys football coaches Sportspeople from Rockford, Illinois Coaches of American football from Illinois Players of American football from Illinois