BROOKINGS — New South Dakota State football coach Jimmy Rogers moved closer to finalizing his staff with the announcement Thursday of three new assistant coach hires.
The FCS national champions named Robbie Rouse their running backs coach while hiring Jake Menage to coach wide receivers and Pete Menage to coach safeties. All three are familiar faces. The Menages are cousins.
Rouse replaces Andre Crenshaw, who left to become the running backs coach at Western Kentucky.
Rouse, who is Fresno State's all-time leading rusher, was the running backs coach for Augustana in 2019, helping the Vikings to the Division II playoffs, then spent two seasons at North Dakota, where he helped develop all-Missouri Valley running back Otis Weah. Rouse then spent last season at Cal Poly.
Jake Menage is a former Jackrabbit player who is coming off a national championship of his own. Menage was the offensive coordinator for Northwestern (Iowa), who just won the NAIA title. It was his first year in the role, as he replaced Josh Davis, who had left the Red Raiders to be SDSU's receivers coach and recently left SDSU to become USD's offensive coordinator. So Menage is replacing Davis for the second year in a row.
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A 2017 SDSU graduate, Menage spent the previous three years coaching receivers and tight ends at Northern Illinois, where he worked with Huskies offensive coordinator Eric Eidsness, who was previously SDSU's offensive coordinator. Menage also spent a year at Southwest Minnesota State.
Pete Menage, Jake's cousin, played safety for the Jacks and graduated in 2020. He also coached at Northern Illinois before joining former SDSU defensive coordinator Brian Bergstrom's staff at Winona State. Menage coached linebackers and special teams for the Warriors, and helped them reach the Division II playoffs in their first season under Bergstrom.
Menage will coach the safeties since Jesse Bobbit was moved from that position to linebackers, as well as being tabbed Rogers' defensive coordinator.
The Jacks' offensive staff is now set, with Menage and Rouse set to work under second year coordinator Zach Lujan, alongside offensive line coach Ryan Olson and tight ends coach Chris Meyers.
The Jacks still have an opening on defense, as line coach Christian Smith left to take the same job for Northwestern of the Big Ten.
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