Football announces additions to coaching staff

By Wes Mayberry

ADA — The Ohio Northern football team has announced one promotion and three additions for its coaching staff for the 2021 season.

Entering his second season with the Polar Bears, assistant coach Austin Cordova has been promoted from part-time to full-time.

Cordova came to ONU after a one-year stint as an assistant coach at Wooster in 2019 and four years as an assistant coach at Rockey River High School from 2015 to 2018. He was a three-year letterman at Baldwin Wallace, where he earned a bachelor's degree in exercise science in 2015.

Head coach Dean Paul has also added running backs coach Saddiq Green, tight ends coach John Allen and safeties coach Roman Sneed to his staff.

Green, a native of Los Angeles, Calif., comes to Ada after working as a football trainer for Priority Sports Training in Atlanta, Ga., where he developed training programs and assisted in player development for all ages ranging from middle school to NFL athletes.

His coaching career began in 2018 at the University of West Georgia, where he assisted the running backs coach and led recruiting trips as a student assistant coach. While at UWG, he graduated with honors in 2020, earning a bachelor's degree in sport management with a minor in coaching. He then went on to coach defensive backs at North Paulding High School in Dallas, Ga.

Green is a graduate of Stephenson High School in Stone Mountain, Georgia, where he was a four-year letterwinner for the varsity football team. He went on to play at Paine College from 2014 to 2015 and Georgia Prep from 2016 to 2017 and helped the latter win a conference championship in the 2016-17 season.

Allen joins the Polar Bears after serving as a football intern at Concordia University in Ann Arbor, Mich.

A graduate of Rossford High School, where he played varsity football for two seasons, Allen committed to Notre Dame College and later transferred to Eastern Michigan University to become the student manager working with linebackers.

He served as a JV/freshman assistant coach at Saline High School in Michigan for two seasons before taking the intern position at Concordia.

Allen is a 2021 graduate of Eastern Michigan with a bachelor's degree in sport management.

Sneed comes to ONU after playing at Urbana University in 2016-18 and Bowling Green State University in 2018-19. He graduated from Wayne High School, where he was a member of the football team that finished as the state runner-up in 2015 and 2016.

He graduated from Urbana in 2018 with a degree in exercise science and BGSU in May 2021 with a degree in individualized studies.

The Polar Bears open their 2021 season Sept. 4 at home against Denison with kickoff set for 6 p.m.