DaytonDailyNews.com

FAIRBORN — Wright State football coach Ryan Evans is looking for a running backs coach.

That's right, Evans is WSU's football coach, a guy who already has 40 players and a schedule that begins in the fall.

Okay, slow down. This isn't to be confused with what's going on at, say, Ohio State. Wright State is beginning a club team that will operate outside the athletic department, and Evans has a salary that can live inside the current economy: zero.

Evans, a 29-year-old Central State graduate who coached there and at Cincinnati Winton Woods and Xenia high schools, said he was approached by Mohammad "Moody" Kassem, a WSU junior and director of student affairs, to coach the team.

"He's president of the club," Evans said. "We had more than 150 students sign up to play, and on Jan. 12, we cut it to 40. We'll have spring practice, and on April 25, our spring game."

Where that game will be has yet to be determined. Wright State has no football stadium, but has used two of the school's soccer fields for outdoor drills, as well as the weight room in the Nutter Center. Negotiations are ongoing to play games at a local high school facility.

"This is a huge, huge project," said Kassem, who admits the long-term goal would be to have a varsity team. "It's also a way to increase enrollment. I've already had students call me about transferring from Sinclair (Community College) because they want to play football."

Other schools in the Mid-Western Club Football Conference include Xavier, Marquette, New Orleans, Miami, Michigan-Flint (2 teams) and Ohio State (two teams). Wilmington College also has a junior varsity team.

So far, the university isn't kicking in any money, but Kassem and Evans are looking for sponsors (they estimate it will take about $55,000 to get started), and already have a few. They need more and, of course, that running backs coach.

Soccer hiring delayed

It's taking a little longer to secure a men's soccer coach after the school revised its criteria to include a combination of playing professionally and coaching for three years instead of just coaching three years.

Originally, there were only about 30 applications, but the number has doubled to replace Mike Tracy, who resigned after last season. Assistant coach David Wall is a candidate.

Haney player of week

Sophomore Louie Haney is the Horizon League softball player of the week after the third baseman/pitcher hit .375 (6-for-16), scoring five runs and knocking in two in five games. She also pitched a complete-game victory in her first career start.

Return trip longer

Not only did the baseball team lose three of four games at Tulane in New Orleans, following Sunday's extra-inning loss, the Raiders discovered their flight home would be delayed several days because of a storm in Atlanta. They took a 14-hour bus ride back instead.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2157 or mkatz@DaytonDailyNews.com.