BOZEMAN, MONT. - Rob Ash, who posted a 125-63-2 record in 18 seasons as head football coach at Drake University, has accepted a similar position as head coach at Montana State.
Ash, 55, was named Montana State's 31st head football coach during a Monday morning press conference.
"We are aggressively pursuing a new coach," said Drake Athletic Director Sandy Hatfield Clubb. "It's not the ideal time to be looking for a head coach with camp opening in less than two months. But we have an attractive position.
"We play and exciting brand of football and we have great team coming back. We're looking for a very high quality coach...someone with character, who puts the student first in student-athlete and who is a proven winner."
"I'm thrilled for Rob (Ash) because he is a man of character who put our brand of football on the map," added Hatfield Clubb. "He laid a solid foundation for us and Drake is a better place as a result."
The Bulldogs have 31 returning letterwinners, including 17 starters back, from last year's team which posted a 9-2 record including a 6-1 second-place finish in the Pioneer Football League.
A 1973 graduate of Cornell (Iowa) College with a bachelor of arts degree in history, Ash began his coaching career at his alma mater in 1976. After a four-year stint as an assistant at Cornell, he accepted head coaching duties at Juniata in Huntingdon, Pa., in 1980. After posting a 4-5 record in his first season there, the Eagles posted winning marks in six of the next eight campaigns, leaving Juniata with a 51-36-3 record, the most wins in school history.
"It is difficult to say goodbye to the people at Drake that I've been associated with for the last 18 years," said Ash. "But I left the program in better shape than when I got there."
Returning to his native Iowa to take the reigns at Drake in 1989, Ash led the Bulldogs to 7-3 and 6-4 records in his first two seasons. After posting a 4-6 mark in 1991, Ash's Drake squads stood 30-8-2 over the next four years. His 125 wins stands as the most in school history.
Ash earned Pioneer Football League Coach of the Year honors in 2004, 1998 and 1995.
