McCorkle adds four new assistants, retains two others on Northwestern State football staff

NATCHITOCHES – First-year head coach Blaine McCorkle has taken the initial step in building his Demon coaching staff.

In addition to keeping a pair of assistants from the previous coaching staff, McCorkle announced Wednesday the addition of four assistant coaches all of whom are following him from Belhaven to NSU.

Joining McCorkle in Natchitoches are defensive coordinator Matt Conner, special teams coordinator and linebackers coach Justin Williamson, wide receivers coach Carson Stewart and running backs coach Maurice Stewart.

Their hirings are subject to approval by the Board of Supervisors of the University of Louisiana System, which governs Northwestern State University.

McCorkle also announced the retention of defensive line coach Chris Gistorb and cornerbacks coach Perry Carter.

“The thing I’m most excited about is I know who they are as football coaches – and they’re good football coaches – but they are even better men who will be able to mentor and grow the young men in our program on and off the field,” McCorkle said. “There is a lot of familiarity, because they have been with me a long time. They know how our program runs, the expectations I have. They’ll be able to show up and go to work without a lot of how-to questions. They’ll be able to hit the ground running.”

Conner spent the past seven seasons at Belhaven, spending the final four as McCorkle’s defensive coordinator.

In each of the past two seasons, Conner’s defense produced the USA South Defensive Player of the Year with defensive lineman Carlton Brown taking home the honor in 2023. Linebacker Connor Fordham earned the award in 2022, recording nearly 100 tackles that season.

The Blazers ranked 32nd nationally in scoring defense (16.4 points per game) and 34th nationally in total defense (279.4 yards per game) as Belhaven won the USA South Conference for the first outright conference crown in program history.

During the 2022 season, the Blazers allowed just 15 points per game and limited opposing offenses to just three yards per rushing attempt.

Belhaven’s defense produced nine All-USA South selections in the past two seasons. During the 2021 season, Brown was named the American Southwest Conference (now USA South) Defensive Lineman of the Year and a second-team AFCA Division III All-American – the first Belhaven player named an All-American in the school’s NCAA era.

Conner ascended to the defensive coordinator role ahead of the pandemic-shortened spring 2021 season, producing six all-conference players that season. Throughout his time at Belhaven, Conner served as the Blazers’ recruiting coordinator.

An Oxford, Mississippi, native, Conner spent six seasons coaching tight ends, offensive and defensive line and powerlifting at his alma mater, Oxford High School. In his six seasons at Oxford, the Chargers produced a 66-14 record, sent seven players to Division I programs and produced the Mississippi Defensive Player of the Year.

Oxford’s powerlifting program won three consecutive state titles under his tutelage.

A native of Oxford, Mississippi, Conner was an all-state offensive lineman who appeared in the Mississippi-Alabama All-Star Game. After two seasons at Itawamba Community College, Conner finished his playing career at Delta State.

“Matt’s been with me the whole time at Belhaven,” McCorkle said. “He’s just a good, solid football coach. It’s been fun to watch him grow the last six years we’ve been together.”

Williamson followed McCorkle to Natchitoches after spending one season as Belhaven’s special teams coordinator and linebackers coach.

In his lone season with the Blazers, Williamson tutored first-team All-USA South linebacker Wyatt Beck, who ranked sixth in the conference in tackles for loss per game at 1.1.

Williamson spent two seasons at Bridgewater College ahead of arriving at Belhaven. With Bridgewater, Williamson coached the defensive line and served as recruiting coordinator.

Williamson’s line helped Bridgewater’s defense record an Old Dominion Athletic Conference-leading 31 sacks in 2022. In his two seasons on staff, Williamson coached three players to all-conference honors.

An all-conference defensive lineman at Richmond from 2011-14, Williamson coached four seasons at Norfolk State, starting as tight ends coach in 2017 before spending three seasons as the Spartans’ defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator.

“Justin was only with me for one year at Belhaven, but he played for me when I was at the University of Richmond several years ago,” McCorkle said. “We maintained a good relationship, and he brings a lot of passion, a lot of energy and a lot of history himself at a high level of FCS football.”

Carson Stewart spent the past six seasons on McCorkle’s staff at Belhaven, including three seasons as the Blazers offensive coordinator.

Under Stewart’s guidance, Belhaven was one of the nation’s top offenses in each of the past two seasons.

As Belhaven won its first outright conference championship in program history in 2023, Stewart’s offense led the USA South in rushing offense (270.4 yards per game), total offense (429.4) and scoring (35.8 points per game). Belhaven ranked third nationally in fewest sacks allowed at 0.36 per game, and its rushing attack was fifth in yards per game in Division III.

Under Stewart’s direction, running back Kolbe Blunt was named a semifinalist for the Gagliardi Trophy, which is awarded to the top player in Division III. Blunt rushed for 1,310 yards – 13th nationally – and 17 touchdowns (9th nationally) while ranking 26th in the country in all-purpose yardage (137.6 per game).

In addition to Blunt, six other members of the Blazers offense earned All-USA South honors in 2023 – four of which were first teamers.

Those numbers came after a record-setting 2022 season for the Blazers offense, which established school records in scoring (38 points per game) and rushing yardage (2,870). Belhaven produced 53 offensive touchdowns in 10 games and had four first-team all-conference selections and a pair of all-region honorees.

Belhaven tied the school’s single-game records for points (70) and touchdowns (10) in a win against LaGrange while setting single-game marks in total offense (702) and rushing yards (492) in a win against Greensboro College.

Stewart’s 2021 offense saw running back Brad Foley (first-team) and offensive lineman David Turner (second team) earn all-region honors.

Ahead of becoming Belhaven’s offensive coordinator, Stewart spent two seasons coaching quarterbacks for the Blazers, helping Mayowa Asagunla earn all-conference honors. His two-year stint as a graduate assistant working with the Blazers wide receivers produced a pair of all-conference picks in Mario Asagunla and Joey Walden, who played professionally in Germany.

Stewart’s tenure at Belhaven saw him coach seven academic all-conference players.

Prior to beginning his collegiate coaching career, Stewart spent three seasons coaching at Fort Hill High School in Cumberland, Maryland, helping the Sentinels capture a pair of Maryland Class 1A state titles and make three appearances in the state title game.

“He’s a bright young coach with a great future in our profession,” McCorkle said. “Carson brings a great energy and incredible work ethic. There is a lot of detail in the work he does. I’m excited to see how he does in both roles. First as our wide receivers coach because he’s been in our offense for six years. Then the detail he will give the high school coaches and the players as our recruiting coordinator.”

Maurice Stewart spent the past three seasons coaching wide receivers at Belhaven, helping Jacobey James-Grace earn second-team all-conference honors in 2023.

He spent the 2021 and 2022 seasons as a graduate assistant with Belhaven’s defense, working with 11 players who earned all-conference honors.

Maurice Stewart began his collegiate coaching career at Millsaps College where he coached wide receivers and was the team’s video coordinator.

A standout defensive back at Belhaven from 2015-18, Maurice Stewart notched 114 tackles in 37 career games with the Blazers after finishing his prep career at Baton Rouge’s Broadmoor High School.

“Mo was a senior my first year as the head coach at Belhaven,” McCorkle said. “He emerged as a quiet leader. It was fun to watch him leave our program, go coach high school ball, coach at one of our rivals (Millsaps) and bring him back to Belhaven for the last couple of years. He has grown into a really good young football coach in his own right. He has a lot of Louisiana ties, being from Baton Rouge. That will also make him a recruiting asset within the state as well.”

Both Gistorb and Carter will be in their second seasons on the Demon staff. Gistorb came to NSU ahead of the 2023 spring semester while Carter joined the staff ahead of the 2023 fall camp.

“I was really, really impressed with those two guys when I came in here,” McCorkle said. “I had a chance to sit down with the entire staff and get to know them individually. Those two guys really impressed me. I like the way they talked about the kids. I liked the way they believe in Northwestern State and the potential here. I like their recruiting ties. They can both help us in a lot of places. It was easy to keep those guys, and I’m excited they’re going to be here.”