Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Football Adds Mike Kashurba to Coaching Staff, Begins Spring Practice Friday
3/23/2012 8:00:00 AM | Football
March 23, 2012
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell football head coach Joe Susan announced the addition of former Allegheny College defensive coordinator Mike Kashurba to the Bison coaching staff on Friday. Susan also announced that third-year defensive line assistant coach Matt Borich will take over as the run game coordinator on the defensive side of the ball, while Kashurba will oversee the defensive passing game in addition to coaching the safeties.
The Bison offensive staff was also recently bolstered when veteran high school coach Bill Morrow signed on as a volunteer assistant coach. He will be in charge of the Bison running backs in 2012.
"We have restructured our staff to maximize our effectiveness and efficiency and to enable our coaches to utilize their strengths as teachers, motivators and role models," said Susan, who helped the Bison to a five-win turnaround last fall.
The coaching staff announcement comes as Bucknell prepares for its first of 15 practices this spring. The Bison will open spring practice Friday at 7 p.m. All 15 spring practice sessions will take place in Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium, with 11 practices beginning at 7 p.m. The Spring Game will take place Saturday, April 21, and will begin at 8 p.m.
Kashurba joins the Bucknell staff after nine years as an assistant at Allegheny that saw him assume additional duties throughout his tenure. He spent three years coaching the outside linebackers and defensive backs before being named the defensive coordinator in 2006. Kashurba kept his duties as the defensive backs coach, mentoring them in each of his final eight campaigns with the Gators.
During his time at Allegheny, Kashurba coached 21 all-conference selections, including eight defensive backs, and helped the Gators' defense rank among the conference leaders in virtually every statistical category. Allegheny ranked ninth nationally in total defense in 2010
Off the field, Kashurba was the program's recruiting coordinator, organizing on-campus visits and acting as a liaison with numerous campus departments. He was responsible for recruiting the Pittsburgh area, Southwestern Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.
Kashurba graduated from Grove City College in 2002 with a bachelor's degree in business and communications with a minor in political science. In 2011, he completed a master's degree in exercise science and health promotion at California University of Pennsylvania.
While at Grove City, Kashurba was a two-sport varsity student-athlete as a member of the football and baseball teams. He was the conference leader in interceptions as a freshman and sophomore and was selected as an All-President's Athletic Conference Defensive Back. He later moved to quarterback and led the team in total offense as a senior.
Kashurba was a two-time team captain on the baseball diamond at Grove City and was a four-time all-conference shortstop. He graduated with the school record for career runs scored (108) and ranked second on the RBI list (93) and fourth in stolen bases (49). In the spring of his final year at Grove City, Kashurba served as a student assistant coach with the baseball program.
Following graduation, Kashurba spent one year as an assistant football coach at Mansfield University, helping the Mounties rank first in their conference in total defense.
"Mike brings a great deal to our staff," commented Susan. "His experience as a defensive coordinator and as a coach of secondary play strengthens our program. He adds to the quality of men we have on our staff. He is excited about what he does as a football coach and our players will excel with him as a teacher."
Borich, a standout defensive lineman and linebacker at Bucknell from 1997 to 2000, enters his third year on the Bison staff in 2012. He has coached the defensive line in each of his first two years.
This past fall, Borich mentored All-Patriot League defensive linemen Josh Eden and Robert De La Rosa as Bucknell led the conference in total defense and ranked second in scoring defense.
Borich earned three varsity letters, received the Coaches Award for Leadership and was a member of Bucknell's class with the most wins in school history (29) during his time as a Bison. He totaled 62 tackles in 32 career games and graduated in May of 2001 with a degree in economics.
A native of nearby Winfield, Pa., who played football at Selinsgrove Area High School, Borich spent the six years prior to his arrival at Bucknell coaching the defensive line at Princeton. In addition to on-field coaching duties, he recruited student-athletes in 11 states, mainly in the Northeast and Upper Midwest.
Borich broke into the coaching profession at Dickinson College. He was the outside linebackers coach at the Division III school in 2001 and 2002.
"Matt will now serve as our run game coordinator and he will take more of a leadership role in our defense," mentioned Susan. "He is a very intelligent individual and someone who is innovative as it relates to defensive football. He is a very good teacher of fundamentals and understands the structure of what we need to do to succeed defensively."
Volunteer assistant Morrow joins the Bucknell staff after more than a decade-and-a-half of coaching Pop Warner and Junior Varsity football in Upstate New York. He helped his teams compile a 97-12-1 mark and saw the varsity squads at his school advance to the sectional finals four times with two championships.
Morrow has attended a number of football coaching clinics over the years, including sessions at Syracuse, Colgate and Army. Additionally, he has been heavily involved in coaching camps at Kutztown and Gettysburg over the last 14 years.
A graduate of nearby Danville Area High School, Morrow began his college career playing football at Washington & Lee University before enrolling at Bloomsburg University and eventually earning a degree in geology from Bucknell. He later earned a master's degree in geology at SUNY Oneonta.
Morrow is currently the Senior Project Manager and Vice President of Parratt Wolff, Inc., a company that provides environmental and geotechnical drilling services to consulting companies on the East Coast.
"Bill moved his business into the local area," said Susan. "His family started here in the fall, but he remained in the Buffalo area to coach last fall. He will work primarily with our running backs. He brings a lot of experience and is a very positive role model for our players."
Bucknell finished 6-5 in 2011. The Bison are scheduled to open the 2012 campaign Saturday, Sept. 8, at Marist.
