Pack Football
Offensive Coaching Staff
Chris Symington
Offensive Line Coordinator
Chris Symington is entering his third season as CSU-Pueblo’s offensive line coach and run game coordinator.
Symington directed the nation’s most improved running game in 2009, turning a unit that ranked in the bottom 10 nationally in rushing yards in 2008, and turning it into the nation’s 14th-best running attack in 2009. Amazing, the Pack running game accomplished this with two sophomores in the backfield and and true or redshirt freshmen on the offensive line.
His unit followed it up with a repeat performance in 2010, ranked 16th in the nation and helping elevate Jesse Lewis as a Harlon Hill Award finalist.
Symington brought 25 years of experience as a player and coach to the ThunderWolves, much of it at the Division-I level. He had served as the offensive line coach at Eastern Michigan from 2003-2008, helping the Eagles’ offense to record the most total yards in school history in 2008 and put up some of the most prolific rushing yardage numbers in the history of the program.
Prior to his time at Eastern Michigan, Symington had held offensive line coaching posts at numerous universities, including Tennessee State (2000-03), Western Kentucky (1996-99), and Vanderbilt (1990-94). From 1995-96, Symington was the offensive coordinator at the Division-II level with Northwood (Mich.) University.
An offensive lineman at the University of Colorado from 1984-88, Symington was named the Freedom Bowl Most Valuable Player in 1985, was the team’s offensive player of the year in 1987, and was an all-Big 8 honorable mention selection. Prior to obtaining his first coaching position as a graduate assistant at CU alongside current CSU-Pueblo head coach Wristen, Symington signed a free agent contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1988.
Symington and his wife, Marti, have six children: Adam, Jessica, Blair, Jackson, Mary Grace and Stuart, as well as four grandchildren.
Steve Sewell
Running Backs Coach
Steve Sewell is entering his fourth season as CSU-Pueblo’s running backs coach.
In his first three seasons as the Pack’s running backs coach, he coached a unit that improved from the bottom 10 nationally during his first season in 2008 to the 14th-ranked rushing unit in the nation in 2009. In 2010, the Pack backs were ranked 16th nationally.
Sewell is famously known to Denver Broncos fans in southern Colorado, having played for the Broncos from 1985 to 1992, including the Broncos' Super Bowl seasons of 1986, 1987 and 1989. Since retiring in 1993, Sewell, a resident of Aurora, Colo., had slowly warmed up to coaching as his day job, having most recently been an assistant coach with the Grandview High School football team in Centennial, Colo.
Sewell, who had been the team's offensive coordinator the past two seasons, was instrumental in Grandview's 5A Colorado State Championship title in 2007. During Grandview's state championship run, the Grandview offense was nearly unstoppable, averaging 332 yards of offense per game, including an average of 237 rushing yards per game. The state's leading individual runner, Bo Bolen, tutored under Sewell, en route to 2,291 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns.
In Sewell's four seasons with the team, Grandview made the 5A state playoffs three of those four seasons, including a berth in the state semifinal in 2005.
As a player with the Broncos, Sewell had learned from some of the best, including current and former NFL head coaches Mike Shanahan (Washington Redskins) and Chan Gailey (Buffalo Bills), as well as former NFL head coaches Dan Reeves (Broncos), Wade Phillips (Dallas Cowboys), and Mike Nolan (49ers). As a player at the University of Oklahoma, Sewell was coached by Barry Switzer and current University of Texas head coach, Mack Brown, each of which won national championships at the collegiate level. Sewell also played alongside current Houston Texans head coach, Gary Kubiak, who was a backup quarterback for the Broncos during Sewell's time with the team.
Sewell received his bachelor's degree in Organizational Communication from the University of Oklahoma in 1986. A California-native, Sewell graduated from Riordan High School in San Francisco in 1981. He is the father of three children: Samuel, Caleb and Calah.
Mike Babcock
Quarterbacks Coach/Pass Game Coordinator
Mike Babcock is entering his fourth season as an assistant coach with the ThunderWolves and his third as the team's pass game coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
After serving as tight ends coach for one season, Babcock undertook the Pack's quarterbacks, and watched as Pack quarterbacks shattered most school passing records, including most passing yards per game.
In 2010, he helped direct a ThunderWolves offense that averaged 36.7 points per game, 13th most in the nation.
Babcock, who played linebacker for the Bruins at UCLA from 1997-99, was on two Pac-10 championship teams, and played in the 1998 Cotton Bowl and 1999 Rose Bowl. He received his Bachelor's in sociology from UCLA in 2002 before earning his Master's in education in 2004, also from UCLA. He was the tight ends coach at the University of San Diego in 2007, and was a graduate assistant at UCLA from 2000-04. From 2005-06, he was the offensive quality control intern at the University of Colorado.
Babcock and his wife, Kimberly, have a son, Tyler. The family resides in Pueblo.
Bernard Jackson
Wide Receivers Coach
2011: First season as Wide Receivers Coach.
2010: Was an all-purpose player for the 2010 Thunderwolves ... Rushing season totals were 34 attempts, 166 yards, 1 TD ... Receiving season totals were 32 catches, 453 yards, and 3 TD's.
At Colorado: Was the starter for 11 games for NCAA FCS Colorado in 2006 ... Ran for 677 rushing yards in 2006, the third-most rushing yards by a quarterback in CU history ... Passed for 1,298 yards with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions in 2006 ... Was the recipient of CU's Hang Tough Award, presented to the player who overcame the most adversity; he had to deal with being thrust into the starting quarterback role with little experience while also being faced with family members with serious health issues ... Saw action at kick returner, tailback, receiver and quarterback during his sophomore season in 2005 and his freshman season in 2004.
