GRAND FORKS – University of North Dakota (UND) head football coach Eric Schmidt announced the additions of Gordie Haug, Ben Watkins, Keaton Wilkerson and Tyson Maeva to the 2025 Fighting Hawks staff on Thursday, pending background checks.

“We were able to secure four of the finest coaches and mentors to add to our staff,” said Schmidt.

Gordie Haug

Haug will serve as the assistant head coach and will also coach the tight ends at UND. Haug spent from 2017 to 2024 as the running backs coach and executive director of recruiting at Wyoming. While with the Cowboys, he coached three 1,000-yard rushers and First Team All-Mountain West players in Nico Evans, Xazavian Valladay and Titus Swen. He was also in charge of all aspects of recruiting and oversaw the recruiting department.

Prior to serving as the running backs coach and executive director of recruiting, Haug arrived at Wyoming in January of 2014 and served as the recruiting coordinator and director of player personnel until January of 2017. He also spent the 2016 season as the interim wide receiver coach.

Previously, Haug was the running backs coach at North Dakota State from 2011 until 2012 and helped lead the Bison to back-to-back national championships. During his time at NDSU, the Bison had an overall record of 29-1 and a Missouri Valley Football Conference mark of 15-1. In each of his two seasons, NDSU had a pair of individuals rush for over 1,000 yards.

He got his start in coaching at Bemidji State, where he served as a student assistant coach from 2007-09 before being named the running backs and strength and conditioning coach from 2009-11 and was elevated to the coach of the defensive line and video coordinator from 2011-12.

Before coaching, Haug played linebacker at Bemidji State from 2005 until 2007. He earned his bachelor’s degree in community health in 2009 and a master’s degree in sports science in 2011, both from Bemidji State.

“Gordie is one of the most respected offensive minds in college football, with a reputation as an elite recruiter and developer of players,” said Schmidt.

Ben Watkins

Watkins will coach the linebackers at UND and most recently spent five seasons (2020-24) at Fresno State. He coached the linebackers in 2024 and began his tenure with the Bulldogs in 2020 as a special teams quality control assistant. He also spent the 2021 and 2022 seasons as a graduate assistant and worked with the linebackers, while also spending the 2023 season as a defensive quality control assistant.

In 2024, Watkins coached a pair of All-Mountain West players in Tuasivi Nomura and Malachi Langley. Nomura garnered first team honors with a team-leading 109 tackles, while Langley earned second team honors and was second on the team with 84 tackles on the year. It marked the first time Fresno State had two linebackers named to the all-conference team since 2019.

Watkins joined Fresno State after serving as a defensive assistant at Colorado in 2019. Prior to joining the staff at Colorado, Watkins was a graduate assistant at Northern State where he coached the outside linebackers and the offensive scout team for two seasons.

He began his coaching career as a student assistant at his alma mater Peru State in 2016. While serving as a student assistant, he worked with the inside linebackers, special teams and the offensive scout team.

Prior to coaching, Watkins was a four-year letterwinner for the Bobcats. He graduated from Peru State with a bachelor’s degree in secondary education in 2017 and earned his master’s degree in teaching and learning from Northern State in 2019.

“Ben has played a key role in Fresno State’s defense and special teams success. He does an outstanding job of building relationships in recruiting and in his position room, getting the absolute best out of his players,” said Schmidt.

Keaton Wilkerson

Wilkerson will serve as the safeties coach at UND. He comes to North Dakota after stops at Washington, Wyoming and Chadron State.

He spent the 2023 and 2024 seasons at Washington as a graduate assistant coach for the safeties. With the help of his coaching, the Huskies won the 2023 Pac-12 Championship and reached the College Football Playoffs as the No. 2 seed. In 2024, Washington ranked No. 5 in the FBS in passing yards allowed (166.8).

Prior to his time at Washington, Wilkerson spent five seasons (2018-23) with the coaching staff at Wyoming. From 2018-20, he was a student assistant for the wide receivers, cornerbacks and defensive ends before being elevated to the defensive quality control assistant for the defensive ends in 2021.

He spent from 2021 until the summer of 2023 as a defensive graduate assistant for the safeties and nickels. During his time with the Cowboys, Wyoming held opponents under 24.0 points per game in all five seasons.

Wilkerson graduated from Wyoming in 2020.

“Keaton immediately impressed me and was a big piece of our success at UW in 2023-24. He is a rising star in this profession who has developed some of the best safeties in the country the last two years,” said Schmidt.

Tyson Maeva

Maeva comes to Grand Forks after serving as a defensive graduate assistant coach at San Diego State in 2024 and a defensive graduate assistant at Washington from 2022-23. He will serve as the coach of the defensive tackles at UND.

While with the Aztecs, Maeva assisted the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach and actively evaluated and recruited linebacker and defensive prospects. He generated weekly install, scouting and gameplan reports for position players. At Washington, he coordinated the scout offense and service teams and performed opponent breakdowns and assisted the defensive staff with game planning.

Before coaching, Maeva spent six years playing linebacker at three different institutions. He began his playing career at Boise State from 2016-18 and then transferred to Florida International for the 2019 and 2020 seasons before concluding his career at Fresno State in 2021. He was named the Newcomer of the Year with the Bulldogs in 2021 and was twice an All-Mountain West performer with the Broncos.

Maeva graduated from FIU with a bachelor’s degree in communications in December of 2020.

“Tyson is one of the most seasoned coaches coming to Grand Forks. He has played and coached in our system for the last four years. He has developed numerous All-Pac 12 and Mountain West Conference players during his time at UW and San Diego State,” said Schmidt.

The remaining open positions will be announced at a later date and will follow UND hiring procedures.