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Dowty and Crayton
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Western Illinois Football Announces Staff Additions

| By: WIU Athletic Communications

Dowty and Crayton Join Leatherneck Football

Western Illinois football coach Myers Hendrickson announced a pair of additions to his football staff this week, bringing coaches Tommy Crayton and Shane Dowty into the fold. Coach Crayton takes over as tight ends and and fullbacks coach while Coach Dowty leads the defensive backfield.

"We are very excited to welcome Coach Tommy Crayton and Coach Shane Dowty to our Leatherneck family," Hendrickson said. "Both are great coaches and even better people. They bring tremendous knowledge and experience to our program. We were very impressed with them throughout the process and both are great additions to our staff and program."

Crayton most recently was at Presbyterian College as the Offensive Line Coach and Run Game Coordinator. He was recognized on the 2022 FootballScoop Minority Rising Stars and Watch List.

Coach Crayton spent three seasons at Arkansas Tech University as the Offensive Line Coach and Recruiting Coordinator. He spent the 2018 season at Texas State, working with the offensive line after his second stint at Southeastern Oklahoma State as the Offensive Line Coach.

Crayton spent the 2017 season at Florida Institute of Technology. He also worked with special teams. Crayton went to Florida Tech after coaching the offensive line at Southeastern Oklahoma in 2016.

Before his first stint at Southeastern Oklahoma State he coached and assisted at MacMurray College. He began his coaching career at his alma mater on the defensive staff at Midland University.

A native of Austin Texas, Crayton played two years at Independence Community College before moving on to Midland University. Crayton and his wife Mercedes, have one son Christopher and daughter Jordyn.

Dowty was most recently at Arkansas State, serving in an offensive quality control position. Before working at Arkansas State, Dowty was a member of the Missouri S & T coaching staff from 2020-21, working as pass game coordinator and quarterback coach, Dowty also served as co-defensive coordinator and linebacker coach in 2019 at Missouri S&T.

Before coaching at Missouri S & T,  Dowty spent the 2018 season as the defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach at MidAmerica Nazarene University, which followed his initial stop as a member of the Missouri S & T coaching staff, serving as defensive backs coach during the 2016 and 2017 seasons

The 2014-15 seasons saw Dowty serve as a defensive graduate assistant coach working with the secondary at Iowa State, where he earned his master's degree.

The two seasons prior to his time inAmes, Dowty worked as the defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator at College (Palm Desert, Cal.), where he coached six defensive backs who went on to receive Division I offers.

Dowty spent the 2011 season as the quarterbacks and wide receiver coach at St. Ambrose University. He was also an offensive coaching assistant at the University of Iowa during the 2009 and 2010 seasons working with the team's quarterbacks, including Ricky Stanzi, a fifth-round draft choice of the Kansas
City Chiefs in 2011.

The Muscatine, Iowa, native began his coaching career at the high school level in 2008 as an assistant coach at Iowa City West High School as he worked with the team's linebackers. He received his bachelor's degree in management from the University of Iowa and earned his master's in higher education from Iowa State University. Dowty and his wife, Emily, have one son, Mason, and a daughter, Blakely.
 
"Coach Crayton and Coach Dowty will guide their position groups to be their best on the field and in the classroom, as we continue to develop our program. I am excited to work with these outstanding coaches as we move forward through spring ball and continue to prepare for our 2023 season."
 
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