Baylor head coach Matt Rhule announced the first five members of his new football staff Friday, with the addition of Francis Brown, Evan Cooper, Sean Padden, Mike Siravo and David Wetzel to the Bears’ football program.
Padden will serve as Baylor’s director of football operations, titles and job duties for the others will be announced at a later date.
Four of the five – Brown, Cooper, Padden and Siravo – are following Rhule from his staff at Temple University, where they led the Owls to back-to-back 10-win seasons and the 2016 AAC Championship. Wetzel, president of the Texas High School Football Coaches Association, joins Baylor after 25 seasons coaching high school in the state.
Wetzel’s hiring represents a homecoming for the 1991 Baylor graduate (also earned master’s degree in 1994). He joins his alma mater after 13 seasons (2004-2016) as head coach and athletic coordinator at Ronald Reagan High School in San Antonio. He served as the president of the Texas High School Football Coaches Association at the time of his hiring. Wetzel led RHS to undefeated district football championships in each of his last four seasons.
Prior to Reagan, Wetzel spent four seasons (2000-2003) as head coach at Killeen (Texas) High School. He was head coach/A.D. at Hyde Park Baptist High School in Austin in 1998 and 1999. He began his coaching career as an assistant at CE Ellison High School in Killeen from 1992 to 1997. Wetzel lettered two seasons at receiver for Baylor in 1990 and 1991 under legendary head coach Grant Teaff. He and his wife Shana are the parents of three boys, Garren, Skyler and Chase.
Padden spent the last four seasons at Temple under Rhule serving in a similar role, the last two as Associate AD/Chief of Staff. He spent eight years coaching at the collegiate level at Fordham, Columbia, Albany and Albright (where he worked with Rhule in 1998). He also has experience coaching at the high school level. Padden lettered three seasons at Catholic University.
Two members of Rhule’s defensive staff at Temple, which boasted the nation’s No. 3 defense in FBS this regular season (allowed just 275.9 total yards per game) join him in Waco in Brown and Siravo.
Brown coached defensive backs for the Owls for four seasons under Rhule, and was on staff for two seasons prior under head coach Steve Addazio. He coached the cornerbacks, including multiple-year All-AAC honorees Sean Chandler and Tavon Young.
Prior to joining Temple, Brown coached at Paul VI High School in New Jersey, and spent time as a trainer at Nexxt Level Sports. He is a former All-SoCon cornerback and team captain at Western Carolina, where Rhule was on the coaching staff. Brown spent time with the Cincinnati Bengals following his graduation. He and wife Teara are the parents of two sons, Francis Jr. and Brayden.
Siravo spent five total seasons at Temple, the last four under Rhule as well as the 2006 season with then-head coach Al Golden. He coached linebackers for the Owls, and served as defensive run coordinator and recruiting coordinator during the AAC Championship season in 2016. At TU, Siravo coached two-time All-American and 2015 Bednarik Award and Nagurski Trophy winner Tyler Matakevich, who also won AAC Defensive Player of the Year honors.
Prior to joining Rhule’s staff at Temple, Siravo coached six years (2007-2012) at Boston College as defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator. He coached linebackers and served as recruiting coordinator at Columbia from 2003 to 2005. Siravo began his career as a graduate assistant at Boston College from 1998 to 2000. He was a two-year letterman at linebacker at B.C. under head coaches Dan Henning and Tom O’Brien. He and his wife Alison are the parents of three children, William, Evelyn and Henry Michael.
Cooper spent four seasons on Rhule’s staff at Temple, his final two serving as director of player personnel. He previously served as director of external operations and as a defensive graduate assistant. He had a brief off-season stint at Miami under then-head coach Golden.
He began his career as a defensive backs coach at Westminster Academy in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. A four-year letterman at Temple, Cooper played defensive back for head coaches Bobby Wallace and Golden.
