WRAL Sports Fan

North Carolina State University

Faulkner joins Wolfpack staff

Dec 17, 2012

Raleigh, N.C. — NC State head football coach Dave Doeren has announced that Eddie Faulkner has joined his staff. Faulkner, who spent last season at Wisconsin, will coach the Wolfpack tight ends and fullbacks and serve as special teams coordinator.

“Coach Faulkner was on my first staff at Northern Illinois and he’s coached special teams, running backs, tight ends and fullbacks,” said Doeren. “He’s a very detailed, ultra-organized, connected recruiter who also has great passion and pride for special teams performance.

“Eddie has coached on back-to-back conference championship staffs - 2011 in the MAC and 2012 in the Big Ten with Wisconsin - and has been on championship ball clubs as a player, assistant coach and coordinator. He also has experience as a tailback in the Big Ten on a Rose Bowl team. I look forward to working with him again.”

Faulkner coached tight ends last season for the Badgers, helping junior Jacob Pedersen win all-Big Ten honors and the league’s Kwalick-Clark Tight End of the Year award. Pedersen was the team’s second leading receiver and his 14 career TD receptions are tied for 11th all time at UW.

Faulkner, a Muncie, Ind., native, spent the 2011 campaign on Doeren’s staff at Northern Illinois as running backs coach and special teams coordinator. That season, the Huskies posted an 11-3 record, won the MAC championship and earned a victory in the GoDaddy.com Bowl.

At NIU, Faulkner mentored All-MAC tailback Jasmin Hopkins, who rushed for 956 yards and 15 touchdowns on 187 carries (5.1 avg.). NIU boasted the nation’s No. 12 rushing attack with an average of 234.1 yards per game.

While also overseeing NIU’s special teams, Faulkner’s punt coverage unit ranked second nationally, yielding just one yard per return. Husky placekicker Mathew Sims was a first-team All-MAC performer while compiling a school-record 124 points (20-28 field goals, 64-66 PATs).

Prior to his stint at NIU, Faulkner spent eight seasons at Ball State (2003-10). Initially joining the BSU staff as a graduate assistant in 2003, he was elevated to running backs and special teams coach before serving as the Cardinals’ offensive coordinator his final two years. He served as Ball State’s interim head coach at the end of the 2010 season before his departure to NIU.

During his Ball State tenure, the Cardinals captured two MAC West Division championships and advanced to back-to-back bowl games for the first time in school history. The 2008 squad went undefeated during the regular season as tailback MiQuale Lewis rushed for a Ball State record 1,736 yards.

Faulkner was a member of two Big Ten championship teams as a running back at Wisconsin from 1996-2000, rushing for 1,064 yards and seven touchdowns in his career. He posted three 100-yard rushing games, including 119 yards in a win over No. 14 Iowa in 1997 as a redshirt freshman.

After earning his B.A. from Wisconsin in 2000, Faulkner signed a free-agent contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2001 before going on to a pro career with the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League. He earned his master’s from Ball State in 2004.

“I am very grateful to Coach Doeren for giving me the opportunity to reunite with him and become a part of the Wolfpack family,” said Faulkner. “I look forward to working with him, the staff and our student-athletes at NC State.”

Faulkner and his wife, Anissa, have two children.

“We are happy that Eddie, his wife Anissa, his son Edgar and daughter Madison are joining us at NC State,” said Doeren. “We welcome them to the Wolfpack family.”

 

• Web Editor: Erin Summers