Aggies Have Their Defensive Coordinator

[Aggie One]

Josh Zidenberg



Josh Zidenberg, JZ
@coachzidenberg

Experience:
Ball State, Passing Game Coordinator/Defensive Backs Coach, 2020-present
William & Mary, Special Teams Coordinator/Safeties Coach, 2019
Western Illinois, Special Teams Coordinator/Defensive Backs Coach, 2018
Lafayette College, Running Backs Coach, 2017
VMI, Co-Special Teams Coordinator/Safeties Coach, 2015-16
Connecticut, Graduate Assistant Coach, 2014
Virginia, Graduate Assistant Coach, 2009-11

Coaching Notes:
In 2021, guided defensive back and team captain Bryce Cosby to earn All-MAC honors ... Cosby finished his career with 392 tackles, good for 10th-most in Ball State history and inside the top 10 among active players nationally at the end of the '21 season ... helped defense allow just 24.0 points per game in MAC play, good for third-best in the conference ... Ball State picked off 15 passes in 2021, which was 14th-best in the country ... also helped guide the defense to force 19 turnovers while maintaining a plus-7 turnover margin, which was one of the top marks in college football ... helped coach the 2020 BSU team to the program's first MAC Championship since 1996, its first-ever bowl victory in the Arizona Bowl and its first year-end rankings in the AP and coaches polls ... coached cornerback Antonio Phillips to All-MAC Second Team honors ... Phillips and fellow corner Amechi Uzodinma II both returned interceptions for touchdowns in 2020, the first pick-sixes for the Cardinals since 2010 ... worked previously with Ball State defensive coordinator Tyler Stockton at Western Illinois and Connecticut … William & Mary ranked among the top 10 teams nationally (FCS) in blocked kicks (6) and kickoff returns (23.7 yards per return) in 2019 … Western Illinois’ 2018 defense ranked among the FCS national leaders in total defense (23rd – 327.9 yards per game), passing yards allowed (28th – 192.6) and interceptions (30th – 12) … the 2016 VMI defense allowed the second fewest points per game over the past 20 years.

Personal Information:
College: Bachelor's - Virginia '08

Additional Notes and Experience:
Got his professional start with the Miami Dolphins in 2008 as a player personnel assistant … earned three varsity letters as a running back and playing on special teams at Virginia from 2004-07 … won the team’s George Welsh Award in 2006 (most outstanding special teams player) and John Polzer Award in 2007 (ability, sportsmanship and character) … earned his master’s degree in administration and supervision from Virginia in 2011.

For the rest of the story:
ballstatesports.com/sports/football/roster/coaches/josh-zidenberg/1311

[VA's Finest]

twitter.com/CoachZidenberg?t=f0M1RZqEFzL-0AvQMyXs9g&s=09

[Aggie One]

He also has his Master's Degree in Administration and Supervision from UVA. This staff won't be lacking in organization or preparation.

[Aggie One]

Meet Coach Z:

5 Questions: Ball State assistant coach Josh Zidenberg talks life, why he loves football

Jordan Guskey
Muncie Star Press



MUNCIE, Ind. — Josh Zidenberg is no stranger to moving somewhere new.

It was a part of how he grew up. It’s been a part of his experience as a football coach. And with his recent acceptance of a position with Ball State football as its passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach, Muncie is now Zidenberg’s seventh stop in the collegiate ranks.

Zidenberg, who also spent 2008 as a player personnel assistant in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins, first became a college coach in 2009 as a graduate assistant at Virginia. He stayed with the Cavaliers, who he played for from 2004-07, from 2009-11 and was out of coaching until he became a graduate assistant again at Connecticut in 2014. Stints as VMI’s co-special teams coordinator and safeties coach from 2015-16, Lafayette College’s running backs coach in 2017, Western Illinois’ special teams coordinator and defensive backs coach in 2018 and William & Mary’s special teams coordinator and safeties coach in 2019 followed.

Zidenberg took some time Friday with the Star Press to discuss his journey in coaching, love of football and more:


For the rest of the story:
www.thestarpress.com/story/sports/college/ball-state/2020/01/22/ball-state-football-coach-josh-zidenberg-talks-coaching-life-more/4537195002/

[aggie2039]

I’d just got married and my wife didn’t know me as a coach at the time and she knew me doing these mortgages and I’m like, ‘I’m going to take an 100-and-some percent pay cut.’ But I told myself when I took the mortgage job that I know I’m going to probably have to suck it up and GA again. But if I know if that’s what I want to do with my life then I’ll be willing to do it.”

Zidenberg added that he likes to tell that story to show he actually tried to do something else, made a six-figure salary doing it and wasn’t happy.

Zidenberg returned to coaching as a graduate assistant at UConn, where Poindexter was the defensive coordinator at the time, less than a year after getting married and for a stipend he estimated was $19,100.

[Aggie One]

Former A&T outside linebacker coach Terry Lantz is now the new defensive coordinator for Averitt (D-3) in Danville VA.

[aggie62]

Interesting, I wish him well and look forward to seeing him on the Aggie sideline...

[Bornthrilla]

[Bornthrilla]