Three More Assistants Added to Baldwin's Coaching Staff at Cal Poly
2/7/2020 12:00:00 AM | Football
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- First-year Cal Poly head football coach Beau Baldwin has filled three more positions on his coaching staff with assistant coaches from Boise State, Sacramento State and San Jose State.
All three have ties with the Big Sky Conference.
Cody Von Appen, an assistant coach at Northern Arizona for five seasons before serving as a graduate assistant at Boise State last fall, will coach Cal Poly's defensive secondary and also will serve as the Defensive Passing Game Coordinator.
James Montgomery, who coached the running backs at Sacramento State the past six years and was a quality control coach at Weber State, will coach the Mustang running backs and be the team's Recruiting Coordinator.
And Jeff Anderson, who coached for one season at Northern Colorado and the last two at San Jose State, will mentor the cornerbacks at Cal Poly this fall.
In addition, J.C. Sherritt, previously announced as Cal Poly's new linebackers coach, has added the title of Defensive Coordinator to his resumé.
Von Appen (pictured at right) coached the defensive backs at Boise State for the 2019 season. The Broncos posted a 12-1 mark during the regular season, capturing the Mountain West Conference title before falling to Washington in the Las Vegas Bowl.Von Appen was an assistant coach and graduate assistant at Northern Arizona from 2014-18. He spent his first two seasons in Flagstaff (2014-15) as a defensive graduate assistant, working primarily with the Lumberjack defensive line in his first season and the linebackers and nickels in 2015.
Von Appen was promoted to a full-time assistant coach role ahead of the 2016 season and oversaw the Northern Arizona safeties. He was part of a Lumberjack staff that helped lead Northern Arizona to the FCS playoffs in 2017, the sixth FCS/I-AA playoff appearance in program history.
While in charge of the Lumberjack safeties and nickels, Von Appen oversaw the development of a pair of All-Big Sky performers in Kam'ron Johnson and Wes Sutton. Sutton was named to the All-Big Sky First Team in 2017 and the Second Team in 2018, while Johnson was a second-team selection at the end of each campaign.
During his time as a graduate assistant, he helped guide defensive tackle Siupeli Anau to a pair of All-Big Sky honors, including a first-team selection in 2015, as well as linebackers Delvin Batiste and Josh Bamrick being named honorable mention that same season.
Von Appen began his coaching career at his alma mater, Western Oregon, in 2013, where he coached the quarterbacks during the spring season before taking over the running backs group for the fall.
He spent two seasons as a quarterback at Western Oregon (2011-12). He played his first two seasons at Eastern Arizona College, where he was a two-year starter at quarterback before transferring to Western Oregon.
Von Appen earned his bachelor's degree in exercise science from Western Oregon in 2014, and received his Master's of Education in Educational Leadership from Northern Arizona in May 2016.
Montgomery (pictured at right) completed his sixth season at Sacramento State in 2019. He took over as the team's running backs in 2016 after serving as an offensive assistant the previous two years. He added the title of recruiting coordinator in early 2018.Montgomery oversaw a stable of running backs who combined for the Hornets' best rushing attack in nearly 20 years in 2017. The team had five players with at least 75 rushes during the season and had 12 carry the ball at least once. Freshman BJ Perkinson finished as the team leader with 591 yards and four touchdowns in just eight games of work. Fellow freshman Elijah Dotson was second among the backs with 475 yards and five scores. Senior Joseph Ajeigbe provided leadership and experience to the unit and was the only running back on the team to have a collegiate carry at the Div. I level prior to the season. Ajeigbe led the team with 110 attempts (452 yards) and matched Dotson's five touchdowns. Freshman Isaiah Gable completed the group with 75 carries for 377 yards and a TD before an injury cut his season short.
In 2016, Montgomery helped lead Jordan Robinson to all-Big Sky honors. The senior rushed for 996 yards and 13 touchdowns while averaging 6.1 yards per carry. Robinson closed the season by rushing for at least 100 yards in four consecutive games where he amassed 659 yards and 10 touchdowns during that stretch. Fellow senior Demetrius Warren added 506 yards and a pair of touchdowns while freshmen Quincy Jountti and Ernie Timoteo combined for 205 yards and a score. In all, the four Hornet running backs averaged 5.4 yards per carry.
During his first season with the Hornets, Sacramento State set numerous offensive school records. The team broke are tied nine marks, including points (458), points per game (38.2), touchdowns (60) and yards (5,780). As an assistant coach on the offensive line, he helped mentor Aleksandar Milanovic and Derek Nielsen to all-Big Sky third team honors.
In 2015, Montgomery helped mentor Lars Hanson to honorable mention all-Big Sky honors at tackle. Hanson, who was a four-year starter, went on to sign a free agent contract with the Denver Broncos.
The Cordova High School graduate rushed for more than 4,900 yards and 82 touchdowns for the Lancers. He was a Parade Magazine All-American and a first team all-state selection from CalHiSports.com. As a senior, he rushed for 2,183 yards and 39 touchdowns and was the Sacramento Bee's Player of the Year.
Following his prep career, Montgomery attended Cal, where he redshirted in 2006 before rushing for 171 yards and two touchdowns the following year. He transferred to Washington State in 2008 and, after sitting out a season, rushed for 180 yards in 2008 campaign which was limited to only three games due to injury. As a senior, he amassed 536 yards and five touchdowns.
After earning his bachelor's in social science in 2011, Montgomery returned to Sacramento and was an assistant coach at Del Campo High School. In 2013, he moved to Weber State where he was a quality control coach.
Anderson (pictured at right) joined the San Jose State football coaching staff in 2018 as a graduate assistant. He assisted the defensive coaching staff for the second consecutive season last fall.Anderson joined the Spartans after serving as a graduate assistant at Northern Colorado in 2017.
He began his coaching career in 2014 at Contra Costa College. Originally named quarterbacks coach in his first season, Anderson was promoted to offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach in 2015 and added the responsibilities of assistant head coach in 2016. In his three seasons, Contra Costa College won two Bay 7 Conference championships.
As a player, Anderson was a starting quarterback at Contra Costa College. He completed his playing career for the 2012 and 2013 Texas Southern University football teams.
The graduate of Texas Southern majored in liberal arts.
Sunday, June 07
Thursday, December 11
Monday, December 08
Sunday, November 23
