Huntsville, TX – Doug Ruse helped Western Illinois to a win improvement and a berth in the FCS playoffs in his first season as its offensive coordinator in 2010.
It would seem hard to improve much upon Sam Houston State's offense after it reached the national championship game this past season, but Ruse is anxious to try to make the Bearkats climb higher.
Ruse has taken over at Sam Houston State as offensive coordinator under head coach Willie Fritz. The Southland Conference champion was 14-1 this past season, reaching the No. 1 ranking and losing only to North Dakota State in the national championship game.
They were the FCS scoring leader heading into their final game, but their 17-6 loss dropped them to a fourth-place finish at 36.9 points per game.
Ruse spent the last two seasons at Western Illinois. The Leathernecks finished 8-5 in his first season as offensive coordinator following a 1-10 finish the year before. They were 2-9 this past season.
He also has been an offensive coordinator at Northwest Missouri State, his alma mater, as well as Northwestern State and Arkansas State.
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