First-year University of Maine football coach Jordan Stevens is continuing to build his coaching staff with the addition of offensive and defensive line coaches and a head football performance coach.
Patrick Kugler, who was a graduate assistant at Auburn University, San Diego State and Michigan, will be the new offensive line coach. Bryan Anthony Murray will be the defensive line coach after spending three seasons in a similar position at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania and Trey Hall will be the head football performance coach after being the assistant strength and conditioning coach at Yale University last season.
They all started on Tuesday.
They will join new defensive coordinator Mathieu Araujo, who was hired on Jan. 7.
Kugler played at the University of Michigan where he was an All-Big 10 honorable mention center.
He appeared in 26 games, starting 15 of them, between 2013-18.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in arts, literature and science and master’s degrees from San Diego State and Auburn.
In addition to his coaching stints at Michigan, San Diego State and Auburn, he served as the offensive line coach at Howard University in 2019. He was the run coordinator for four games and Howard averaged 222.4 yards per game on the ground.
“Patrick brings a wealth of knowledge and toughness to our offensive line. He is an enthusiastic coach with a passion for developing student-athletes. He will develop meaningful relationships with them and challenge them to get better every day,” Stevens said.
Murray was a three-year letterwinner at Boston College and a one-year starter and captain.
He has two bachelor of arts degrees from Boston College in human development and economics and he also has a master’s degree from BC.
While at Slippery Rock, Murray helped develop two All-American linemen and four all-conference selections. Slippery Rock reached the NCAA Division II semifinals in 2019 when the Rock went 13-1.
Before Slippery Rock, he spent two seasons as a defensive graduate assistant under Cincinnati head coach Luck Fickell, who led Cincinnnati to its first appearance in the Football Bowl Subdivision semifinals this past season.
“Bryan is a tremendous teacher and role model. Our players will thrive under his leadership,” Stevens said. “I’m excited to see our defensive line compete and push each other under Bryan’s guidance.”
Hall and Stevens worked together at Yale University where Stevens was the assistant head coach, co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach.
Prior to coming to Yale, Hall was the strength and conditioning assistant at Delaware State and had internships at Yale and Pennsylvania schools Gannon University and Edinboro University.
He worked with former Pittsburgh Steelers and Miami Dolphins strength and conditioning coach Ryan Grove at Edinboro University, where Hall was a linebacker and four-year letterwinner.
He earned a degree in health and physical education from Edinboro and a masters degree from Gannon.
“Maine football has a tradition of developing players and putting them in position to succeed on the field. Trey will bring Maine football strength and conditioning to the next level,” Stevens said.