John Erik Campbell (born January 21, 1966) is an American

gridiron football Gridiron football,"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Ret ...

coach and former player. He is currently the passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach for the Bowling Green State University football team. Campbell played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

from 1984 to 1987. He has held coaching positions at the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

(1989–1990),

Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State, State or BSU) is a public university, public research university in Muncie, Indiana. It has two satellite facilities in Fishers, Indiana, Fishers and Indianapolis. On July 25, 1917, the Ball brothers, indust ...

(1991–1993) and

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

(1994), Michigan (1995–2007), the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

(2008–2012), and the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(2013–2014). He was the assistant head coach at Michigan under

Lloyd Carr Lloyd Henry Carr Jr. (born July 30, 1945) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Michigan from 1995 through the 2007 season. Under Carr, the Michigan Wolverines compiled a record ...

from 2003 to 2007.

Early years

Campbell is a native of

Gary, Indiana Gary is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The city has been historically dominated by major industrial activity and is home to U.S. Steel's Gary Works, the largest steel mill complex in North America. Gary is located along the ...

, who played football and ran track at Gary's Theodore Roosevelt High School. He was also an all-state player in football and an All-American in track while in high school. He has been inducted into both the Indiana High School Track and Field Hall of Fame and the Indiana High School Football Hall of Fame.

University of Michigan

He attended the

where he played for Bo Schembechler on the

Michigan Wolverines football The Michigan Wolverines football team represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins in college football history. The team is known for its ...

team from 1984 to 1987. He started five games at

free safety Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...

as a freshman in 1984. As a sophomore in 1985, Campbell switched to the offensive squad and saw action as a wide receiver. He also returned 14 punts in 1985 for 120 yards, an average of 8.6 yards per return. Campbell moved back to the defensive squad in 1986, starting 11 games at cornerback and two at free safety on a team that won the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

championship with a No. 8 ranking in the final AP poll. As a senior in 1987, Campbell started seven games at cornerback and five games at free safety. Campbell totaled 98 tackles, five interceptions and 17 punt returns for 132 yards (7.8 yard average) in four years at Michigan. He graduated in 1988 with a bachelor of arts degree in general studies.

Coaching career

Campbell began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Michigan during the 1988 season. He next accepted a position as an assistant coach at

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

, coaching the

Midshipmen A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...

running backs from 1989 to 1990. He also held coaching positions at

(running backs coach, 1991–1993) and Syracuse (1994). In February 1995, Campbell returned to his alma mater as an assistant football coach at Michigan. He was a member of Michigan's coaching staff for 13 years from 1995 to 2007. At Michigan, Campbell coached wide receivers and punt returners. He was also the team's assistant head coach from 2003 to 2007. He set an NCAA record by coaching a 1,000-yard receiver for eight consecutive years from 1998 to 2005. During his tenure at Michigan, he coached receivers

Braylon Edwards Braylon Jamel Edwards (born February 21, 1983) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Michigan, earned unanimous All-American honors, and was recognize ...

, David Terrell,

Marquise Walker Marquise Walker (born December 11, 1978) is a former professional American football wide receiver and punt returner who signed to play in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Michigan where he se ...

Amani Toomer Amani Askari Toomer (born September 8, 1974) is a former American football wide receiver and punt returner who played his entire career for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He registered over 1,000 receiving yards each ...

, Mercury Hayes,

Tai Streets Tai Lamar Streets (born April 20, 1977) is a former professional American football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected with the second pick of the sixth round of the 1999 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers. H ...

Marcus Knight Marcus Larae Knight (born June 19, 1978) is an American football coach and former wide receiver who is currently the wide receivers coach at Ball State University. He played college football at Michigan and professionally as a wide receiver a ...

Jason Avant Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea. He w ...

, Mario Manningham,

Adrian Arrington Adrian Jarrard Arrington (born November 7, 1985) is a former American football wide receiver. He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the seventh round of the 2008 NFL Draft and was called up from the team's practice squad before week 17 of ...

, Steve Breaston, and

Ronald Bellamy Ronald Bellamy (born December 28, 1981) is an American football coach and former wide receiver, who is the current wide receivers coach for the Michigan Wolverines. He played college football at Michigan from 1999 to 2002. He was originally sign ...

. He also coached Charles Woodson as a punt returner, and Steve Breaston set a Big Ten record with 1,599 career punt return yards (12.6 yards per return) with Campbell as his position coach. In December 2007, incoming Michigan head coach

Rich Rodriguez Richard Alan Rodriguez (; born May 24, 1963), also known as Rich Rod, is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach at Jacksonville State University. Rodriguez previously was the head football coach at Salem Uni ...

announced that he had fired all nine assistant coaches, including Campbell. In February 2008, Campbell was hired by the

as its wide receivers and tight ends coach. Upon hiring Campbell, Iowa head coach

Kirk Ferentz Kirk James Ferentz (born August 1, 1955) is an American football coach. He is the current head football coach at the University of Iowa, a position he has held since the 1999 season. From 1990 to 1992, Ferentz was the head football coach at the ...

said, "Erik's a student of the game and a great young coach. We're thrilled to have him on our staff." Starting in 2010, his responsibility was limited to wide receivers. In 2010, two Iowa wide receivers (

Derrell Johnson-Koulianos Derrell Johnson-Koulianos (born February 24, 1987) and sometimes nicknamed DJK, is an American football player and was a wide receiver for the Iowa Hawkeyes during the 2007-2010 seasons. Currently, he is a free agent. During the 2007 season, John ...

and

Marvin McNutt Marvin McNutt, Jr. (born July 4, 1989) is a former American football wide receiver. After playing college football for Iowa, where he became the all-time leader in receiving touchdowns and yardage (single season & career), he was drafted by the ...

were both selected for All-Big Ten honors. Johnson-Koulianos set Iowa's career record for receiving yards with Campbell as his position coach. In 2011, Marvin McNutt was selected as an All-American receiver, as he compiled 1,315 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns. McNutt also broke Johnson-Koulianos' school record with a career total of 2,861 receiving yards. Campell also coached

Tony Moeaki Anthony Moeaki (born June 8, 1987) is a former American football tight end. He played college football at Iowa. He was selected in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs, and also played for the Buffalo Bills, Seattl ...

during the 2009 season. In February 2012, ''

The Daily Iowan ''The Daily Iowan'' is an independent, 6,500-circulation student newspaper serving Iowa City and the University of Iowa community. During the 2020–2021 academic year ''The Daily Iowan'' transitioned from printing daily to producing a print ed ...

'' published a "point/counterpoint" debate on the proposed promotion of Campbell as the team's new

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

. In 2015, Campbell joined the Michigan Wolverines football support staff as a football operations assistant under new head coach Jim Harbaugh. Campbell and Harbaugh were teammates at Michigan from 1984 to 1986. On April 20, 2017, Campbell was named to the

Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football The Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team represents the University of Delaware in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) college football. The team is currently led by head coach ...

staff under new head coach

Danny Rocco Daniel Christopher Rocco (born July 16, 1960)''1995 University of Texas Football Media Guide'' p. 94 is an American football coach. He is currently the head coach of the VMI Keydets. Rocco has previously been the head coach of the Liberty Flames, ...

, after having served as the wide receiver coach at the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...

the previous season.

Personal life

Campbell's wife, Lori, died of a

brain aneurysm An intracranial aneurysm, also known as a brain aneurysm, is a cerebrovascular disorder in which weakness in the wall of a cerebral artery or vein causes a localized dilation or ballooning of the blood vessel. Aneurysms in the posterior circ ...

in March 2001, at age 30.

References

External links

Bowling Green profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Erik 1966 births Living people American football safeties American football wide receivers Ball State Cardinals football coaches Bowling Green Falcons football coaches Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football coaches Iowa Hawkeyes football coaches Michigan Wolverines football coaches Michigan Wolverines football players Montreal Alouettes coaches Navy Midshipmen football coaches Syracuse Orange football coaches UConn Huskies football coaches Sportspeople from Gary, Indiana Players of American football from Gary, Indiana African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople