JONESBORO — Arkansas State football coach Gus Malzahn will retain interim coach David Gunn as an assistant coach for the 2012 season. Gunn is serving as the interim coach in preparation for the team’s Jan. 8 GoDaddy.com Bowl against Northern Illinois.
Gunn spent time at Watson Chapel in two coaching stints between 1987 and 1996. He served as the linebackers and wide receivers coach his first three years there, returning in 1991 as the Watson Chapel boys head track coach and running backs and defensive backs coach.
From there, Gunn was the head coach at Little Rock McClellan, where he coached from 1997-2001. He took the Crimson Lions to the playoffs twice in that stretch.
Next season will be Gunn’s 11th as an assistant coach at Arkansas State. He has been the running backs coach for the last 10 years, and was named the Director of Player Development for this past season.
In those 10 seasons, Gunn has coached three All-Sun Belt Conference selections and two of the top three all-time rushers in Arkansas State history. He has had a running back named the Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Year and the league’s Freshman of the Year.
Malzahn will spend the next few weeks filling out his coaching staff. On Friday, he named Rhett Lashlee the Red Wolves’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Gunn and Lashlee are the first two members of Malzahn’s staff to be hired at this point.