Fifty-Four FBS Bowl Games Highlight Resumes of Uremovich's New Football Staff
December 31, 2024 | Football
MUNCIE, Ind. -- Counting six FBS bowl games that he has coached in himself, new Ball State football coach Mike Uremovich welcomes a staff of 14 coaches and a chief of staff who have combined to participate in 54 bowl games -- 52 of which have come since 2010.
Collectively, the staff has combined to win 27 conference championships and boasts 71 seasons of playoff or bowl competition, counting all college divisions.
Uremovich, defensive coordinator Jeff Knowles and offensive pass game coordinator Craig Harmon each boast six FBS bowl games with three of those (nine combined) coming together while the trio coached side-by-side-by-side at Northern Illinois and Temple in consecutive years (2017, 2018, 2019). In each of those seasons, Uremovich was the offensive coordinator, Knowles called the defense and Harmon was the quarterbacks coach.
Harmon bears distinction as the only Cardinals coach with a national championship under his belt. He was the tight ends coach for Division III power Wisconsin-Whitewater which capped a 15-0 season in 2013 with an NCAA Division III national crown.
Tied with six bowl appearances is wide receivers coach Shaq Vann, a holdover from the previous Cardinals' staff. To his credit, Vann is the only Ball State staffer with two-such FBS games in the same season! On the staff at Washington in 2023, Vann helped Huskies receivers to a Pac-12 championship before beating No. 3 Texas in the CFP semifinals at the Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day last year. UW fell in the CFP national championship game against top-ranked Michigan. Vann played in a pair of bowl games as an Eastern Michigan running back, and also coached in a pair as an EMU grad assistant.
The duo with the most FBS bowl games under their belts both can credit their successes at North Carolina State.
  - New offensive line coach Alex Barr has been a part of seven FBS bowl games -- four as a coach, three as a player -- and all but two with NC State. An offensive lineman under Uremovich when Uremovich was the Wolfpack's O-line coach, Barr played in the Music City Bowl, St. Petersburg Bowl and Belk Bowl, with the latter two coming under Coach's U's tutelage. He coached in two bowl games with NIU after following Uremovich from 2016-18, then appeared in two more after returning to NC State from 2019-21.
  - New chief of staff Pete Roley, a former quarterback at Western Illinois, owns the biggest bowl tally on the new staff, working with 10 different bowl teams during his tenure. Six of those came with NC State from 2013-20, and his most recent appearance was with Illinois in the 2022 ReliaQuest Bowl. Roley's first three bowl trips came in three straight years with NIU in 2010, 2011 and 2012, taking part in the GoDaddy.com Bowl, the Humanitarian Bowl and the BCS Orange Bowl. Uremovich also was on the NIU staff that faced Florida State on New Year's Day of 2013. Uremovich and Roley also joined forces in a pair of bowl trips with NC State.Â
In total, Cardinals staffers coached in 45 FBS bowl games and played in nine. Next on the bowl-game coaching ladder are "youngsters" Ray Holmes, Nick Fiacable and Mayomi Olootu with three apiece, all since 2014 with eight of their nine combined trips coming as undergraduate students. Holmes was a student assistant on three successive bowl trips with NIU, all under Uremovich as assistant head coach. Olootu played defensive back for NIU in the 2016 Quick Lane Bowl -- the first of Holmes' three straight and his last of three during a four-year playing career. Fiacable arrives on the Ball State campus next week after serving as a special teams analyst the past two seasons at Connecticut and helping the Huskies to a Fenway Bowl victory over North Carolina just last week. The Fort Wayne native was an Indiana student coach during Hoosiers' trips to the Foster Farms Bowl in 2016) and the Outback Bowl in 2019.
Adam Siwicki, Ray Smith, Madison Bunch and Sean Chase each have appeared in one FBS bowl game. While he doesn't boast any bowl games on his resume, Indiana native Rory Mannering leads the staff with five conference championships. He has spent the bulk of his career in the Division III ranks at Denison and DePauw, reaching the Division III playoffs four times since 2018.
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Collectively, the staff has combined to win 27 conference championships and boasts 71 seasons of playoff or bowl competition, counting all college divisions.
Uremovich, defensive coordinator Jeff Knowles and offensive pass game coordinator Craig Harmon each boast six FBS bowl games with three of those (nine combined) coming together while the trio coached side-by-side-by-side at Northern Illinois and Temple in consecutive years (2017, 2018, 2019). In each of those seasons, Uremovich was the offensive coordinator, Knowles called the defense and Harmon was the quarterbacks coach.
Harmon bears distinction as the only Cardinals coach with a national championship under his belt. He was the tight ends coach for Division III power Wisconsin-Whitewater which capped a 15-0 season in 2013 with an NCAA Division III national crown.
Tied with six bowl appearances is wide receivers coach Shaq Vann, a holdover from the previous Cardinals' staff. To his credit, Vann is the only Ball State staffer with two-such FBS games in the same season! On the staff at Washington in 2023, Vann helped Huskies receivers to a Pac-12 championship before beating No. 3 Texas in the CFP semifinals at the Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day last year. UW fell in the CFP national championship game against top-ranked Michigan. Vann played in a pair of bowl games as an Eastern Michigan running back, and also coached in a pair as an EMU grad assistant.
The duo with the most FBS bowl games under their belts both can credit their successes at North Carolina State.
  - New offensive line coach Alex Barr has been a part of seven FBS bowl games -- four as a coach, three as a player -- and all but two with NC State. An offensive lineman under Uremovich when Uremovich was the Wolfpack's O-line coach, Barr played in the Music City Bowl, St. Petersburg Bowl and Belk Bowl, with the latter two coming under Coach's U's tutelage. He coached in two bowl games with NIU after following Uremovich from 2016-18, then appeared in two more after returning to NC State from 2019-21.
  - New chief of staff Pete Roley, a former quarterback at Western Illinois, owns the biggest bowl tally on the new staff, working with 10 different bowl teams during his tenure. Six of those came with NC State from 2013-20, and his most recent appearance was with Illinois in the 2022 ReliaQuest Bowl. Roley's first three bowl trips came in three straight years with NIU in 2010, 2011 and 2012, taking part in the GoDaddy.com Bowl, the Humanitarian Bowl and the BCS Orange Bowl. Uremovich also was on the NIU staff that faced Florida State on New Year's Day of 2013. Uremovich and Roley also joined forces in a pair of bowl trips with NC State.Â
In total, Cardinals staffers coached in 45 FBS bowl games and played in nine. Next on the bowl-game coaching ladder are "youngsters" Ray Holmes, Nick Fiacable and Mayomi Olootu with three apiece, all since 2014 with eight of their nine combined trips coming as undergraduate students. Holmes was a student assistant on three successive bowl trips with NIU, all under Uremovich as assistant head coach. Olootu played defensive back for NIU in the 2016 Quick Lane Bowl -- the first of Holmes' three straight and his last of three during a four-year playing career. Fiacable arrives on the Ball State campus next week after serving as a special teams analyst the past two seasons at Connecticut and helping the Huskies to a Fenway Bowl victory over North Carolina just last week. The Fort Wayne native was an Indiana student coach during Hoosiers' trips to the Foster Farms Bowl in 2016) and the Outback Bowl in 2019.
Adam Siwicki, Ray Smith, Madison Bunch and Sean Chase each have appeared in one FBS bowl game. While he doesn't boast any bowl games on his resume, Indiana native Rory Mannering leads the staff with five conference championships. He has spent the bulk of his career in the Division III ranks at Denison and DePauw, reaching the Division III playoffs four times since 2018.
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Under the leadership of new head coach Mike Uremovich, season tickets for the 2025 Ball State football season are on sale now. Learn more at BallStateSports.com/2025Football.
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