DES MOINES, Iowa -- Drake football head coach Todd Stepsis has announced the following coaching staff additions and updates. Michael McCourt joins the Bulldogs as the special teams coordinator and running backs coach while Sean Hupke and Michael Day come on board in defensive assistant roles. 
 
Already on staff, CJ Butt has been elevated to secondary coach while Christian Nussbaum move up to take over the role of defensive line coach. 
 
McCourt oversaw the wide receivers and punt unit at Pace University (D-II in New York, N.Y.)  from 2021-23, where he mentored three all-conference wide receivers. During a COVID adjusted season in 2020, he became the quarterbacks coach at New Fairfield High School in his hometown of New Fairfield, Conn. 
 
While at Findlay (D-II in Findlay, Ohio), McCourt was the running backs coach for the Oilers from 2019-20 leading a running back group that did not lose a fumble and ranked in the Top-25 among all D-II schools in rushing yards.                                                                 
                                   
His first experience in coaching was gained as an intern with the Oakland Raiders from 2018-19 assisting coaches in the linebackers and special teams groups. McCourt learned from Raiders special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia and the assistant special teams coach Bryon Storer by assisting with day-to day-drills, scout teams, and scouting reports.
 
McCourt graduated from Nichols College in 2018 with a degree in sports management, where he was a wide receiver and quarterback for the Bison. McCourt set the Nichols program record for most passing yards in a game.
 
Sean Hupke joined the Drake football coaching staff in the summer of 2023. Prior to Drake, Hupke was the Defensive & Special Teams Quality Control coach for the 2022 FCS National Champion South Dakota State Jackrabbits.
 
Hupke began at South Dakota State in the spring of 2022 as an intern following a two year stint (2020-21) as an offensive student assistant under head coaches Nick Rolovich and Jake Dickert at Washington State.
 
Before transferring to Washington State, Hupke was a defensive back at Diablo Valley Junior College. He is a native of San Ramon, Calif., in the San Francisco bay area.
 
Day comes to Drake after spending the 2022 season as a graduate assistant at Western Illinois working with the Leatherneck outside linebackers while serving as the team's video coordinator. Day also took on the role as interim recruiting coordinator. 
 
Day was the linebackers coach and video coordinator for Minnesota-Crookston in 2019. During the previous season, Day served as an offensive quality control coach for Augustana (S.D.). 
 
Day held student assistant roles at Minnesota State-Mankato (2017-18), Culver-Stockton (2016) and Rochester Community & Technical College (2013-16). While in Rochester, he helped the team to three consecutive conference championships and an appearance in the 2015 NJCAA title game. 
 
The Brooklyn Park, Minn., native graduated from Minnesota State-Mankato with a degree in interdisciplinary studies including an emphasis in sports management and communications.