GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- University of North Dakota head coach Bubba Schweigert announced on Tuesday the addition of Travis Stepps to his coaching staff. Stepps arrives in Grand Forks after a 12-year stint at Southern Illinois, which included eight seasons under former UND head coach Dale Lennon.
Six of those seasons were spent as the defensive backs coach working closely with Schweigert, who was the Salukis' defensive coordinator from 2008-13. Stepps will take on a similar role at UND.
"Travis is an excellent teacher of defensive back techniques and he understands the concepts and coverages that are necessary to defend the offenses we see in the Big Sky Conference," Schweigert said. "Having worked with him at SIU, I have seen this first hand and beyond that, he is a quality person that is passionate about seeing student-athletes excel in the classroom and on the football field."
During his dozen seasons at SIU, Stepps worked with several different defensive groups, including the linemen, outside linebackers and defensive backs. Under his watch, 13 SIU players earned All-Missouri Valley Conference honors and Craig Turner and Korey Lindsey earned All-America honors.
After Schweigert's departure, Stepps switched position groups and worked with the outside linebackers in 2014 and 2015.
"It will be great to get back to working with Coach Schweigert and Coach (Eric) Schmidt," Stepps said. "Those guys opened my eyes to a whole new way of playing defense at SIU and I'm excited to return to coaching the defensive backs. The North Dakota football program is trending up and I'm ready to do my part to help out."
In 2009, the Saluki defense was second nationally with 23 interceptions. Stepps' defensive backs also returned 12 interceptions for touchdowns throughout his coaching tenure in Carbondale.
Prior to joining the Southern Illinois coaching staff, Stepps spent two seasons on the staff at Washburn University. As a player, he was a two-time All-American defensive back at Pittsburg State. The Fort Scott, Kan. native earned a bachelor's degree in social studies and education from Pittsburg State and a master's degree in sports management from Southern Illinois.
He and his wife, Kristina were married following the 2012 football season.
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