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Leatherneck Football Adds Three to Coaching Staff

| By: WIU ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
MACOMB -- The staff of the Western Illinois football program continues to take shape this week as coach Joe Davis announced the addition of three coaches to the Leatherneck ranks on Thursday.

Position coaches Elven Walker IV (Cornerbacks), Joshua Caraway (Special Teams Coordinator/Outside Linebackers) and Ashton Derico (Defensive Line) round out the latest group of additions.
 
Elven Walker IV | Cornerbacks Coach
Walker comes to Western Illinois after most recently serving as Defensive Coordinator and co-Special Teams Coordinator at Tyler Junior College in Tyler, Texas.

In his first season at Tyler Junior College, Walker IV ran the defense as well as helped on special teams. His defense anchored a team that went 5-4.

Before coming to Tyler, Walker IV helped Saint Francis University capture an NEC title, posting numerous national top 25 finishes statistically. He helped guide a Red Flash defense that gave up 19.1 points per game and 182.3 passing yards per game, both top-four in the NEC. Walker also contributed to efforts that kept the Red Flash in the top 5 nationally in multiple statistical categories.

Before coaching at St. Francis, Walker IV coached at Coe College, working as linebacker coach, special teams coordinator, and in other off-the-field roles that included the program's social media coordinator. Walker coached ARC Defensive Player of the Year and AFCA All-American Logan Rickard at the linebacker position and special teams All-American in A.J. Christensen. Coe led Division III in blocked punts as well as punts returned for touchdowns in 2019.

Prior to his time at Coe, Walker IV worked as the defensive backs coach and punt return coordinator at Carroll University for the 2018 season. The punt return unit posted its best numbers in the program's history finishing No. 1 in the CCIW.

Walker IV began his college coaching career at his alma mater, Eastern Illinois, as a defensive quality control coach and earned high school coaching experience at Lincoln-Way Central HS in Illinois.

Walker, a native of Chicago, Illinois, was a two-sport student-athlete at Eastern Illinois in football and track, and graduated in 2017 with a degree in Kinesiology/Sport Management. He appeared in 38 career games with 52 total tackles, including 37 in his senior year. The Panthers qualified for the FCS playoffs twice in his tenure. On the track, Walker was a hurdler who scored in multiple OVC Championship meets and helped the Panthers to indoor championships in 2016 and 2017.

"Elven is a home-grown Illinois college football coach," WIU coach Joe Davis said. "His ties within the state run deep and he really stood out as an elite teacher of the fundamentals required to be an elite cornerback at the Division-I level. Coach Walker will be an excellent mentor to our student athletes and look to make them better men in all facets of their lives."
 
Joshua Caraway | Special Teams Coordinator/Outside Linebackers
Josh Caraway joins the Leatherneck staff after most recently serving as Offensive/Special Teams Quality Control coach at Liberty. Caraway brings 13 years of coaching experience with him, seven at the FBS level.

This past season, Liberty ranked fourth in NCAA FBS in total offense, averaging 499.1 yards per game. Liberty was ninth in the country in scoring offense, averaging 38.3 points per game.

On special teams, Liberty had the seventh-best kickoff return defense, did not allow a blocked punt, had the 21st ranked punt return defense.

Before his time at Liberty, Caraway served as an analyst for the special teams and offense at Coastal Carolina.

 "Josh really stood out during the interview process as someone who has a great plan to develop high level student athletes here at WIU," coach Davis said. "His process for mentoring and teaching was exactly what we were looking for in a Special Teams Coordinator." 

At Coastal, Caraway broke down special teams film, created scouting reports and game plans, oversaw specialists and the kicking game and managed special teams personnel on game day. He also helped breakdown film for the offense and assist with offensive meetings and practices.

Caraway also worked on the staffs at Midland University in Fremont, Nebraska (2015-16) as an assistant and graduate assistant, working with the defensive line, outside linebackers and special teams.

"Coach Caraway was instrumental in leading one of the top special teams units in all of Division-I football while at Liberty and his success within the special teams units while at Coastal Carolina made him a slam dunk hire to lead the Corps here at Western," Davis added.
 
Ashton Derico | Defensive Line
Derico joins the Leathernecks staff as defensive line coach. Derico most recently was the defensive line graduate assistant at the University of Notre Dame this past season. At Notre Dame, Derico assisted coaching the defensive line, including a group that included three all-conference performers and one All-American. He also handled positional meetings prep, aided in recruiting and ran the scout team meeting.

Prior to his time at Notre Dame, Derico was the defensive line assistant at West Virginia University from 2021-22. Derico coached three all-conference players as well as a trio of All Pro Football Focus Performers.

Derico also served as a graduate assistant at Troy University from 2020-21. At Troy, Derico worked with the interior of the defensive line, helped in recruiting and ran positional meetings. He also was in charge of the scout team offensive line and weekly game planning.

Before working at Troy, Derico was at Shorter University from 2018-2020, where he served as defensive line coach and was a graduate assistant, specializing in interior line play.

"Ashton has worked under two of the top defensive line coaches in the country over the past three years and was an excellent player at the position," Coach Davis said. "His intricate involvement in the development of the defensive line room at two different power four programs was attractive to us as we vetted candidates.  Most importantly Coach Derico will be an outstanding mentor and teacher within the program and create an excellent experience for our student athletes."
 
 
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