Lakers Welcome Two New Coordinators To Football Staff

CHICAGO – Roosevelt football head coach Jared Williamson announced Thursday the Lakers have hired two new coordinators for the 2024 season, the program's first as a member of NCAA Division II's Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Kaleb Borghardt joins the Lakers staff as offensive coordinator after five seasons of experience coaching at the Division II level. Bill McKeon is a veteran NAIA coach who will be the Lakers' defensive coordinator this season.

"We are excited to welcome Coach Borghardt, Coach McKeon, and their families to Roosevelt University and our football program," Williamson said. "Both coaches bring a wealth of experience and expertise to the staff, and I look forward to them getting to work immediately. We have been operating shorthanded for a couple of months and I am so thankful and proud of our current staff members for continuing to attack what I usually ask of them and more as we searched for the right coaches to fill our vacancies."

Borghardt was a four-year member of the Central Methodist football team as a quarterback then immediately joined the staff as the quarterbacks coach after graduating in 2015. He worked as a quality control coach for special teams at Missouri State during the 2017 season and interned with the special teams coaches at Ohio State in 2018.

The California, Missouri native coached cornerbacks and special teams at Southwestern Baptist in 2019 before making the move back to offense at Quincy. Borghardt coached the quarterbacks all four years with the Hawks and was the school's offensive coordinator for the past three seasons. In two of those three years, the Hawks broke the single-season scoring record, averaging 35 points and more than 400 yards per game.

This past season, Quincy led the Great Lakes Valley Conference in scoring and rushing yards per game. The Hawks also held the best turnover margin per game in the nation at Division II last season under Borghardt's tutelage. In four seasons as the quarterbacks coach at Quincy, Borghardt mentored three 3,000-yard passers and saw his quarterbacks break the program's career records in passing yards and completions as well as the single-season passing touchdowns record and single-game marks for passing yards.

"Coach Borghardt has successfully coached offensive football at the NCAA Division II level while also bringing experience in many of our highly focused recruiting territories," Williamson said. "I'm confident the things he has seen and coached at a high level will merge with some of our core offensive beliefs to improve our attack as we move into the GLIAC."

McKeon is a familiar face for the Lakers having spent the past eight seasons on staff at former Mid-States Football Association Midwest League rival Saint Xavier. He has been the defensive coordinator for the Cougars over the past seven seasons and had previous stint with the Cougars as a part-time assistant. He coached for six seasons at Brother Rice High School before returning full-time to the staff for the 2016 campaign.

A native of Joliet, McKeon had an All-American career at Saint Xavier from 2006-2009, helping the Cougars reach the national semifinals twice as a wide receiver and returner. McKeon was a part-time assistant on Saint Xavier's 2011 national championship team before he returned full-time to his alma mater in 2016.

In his eight seasons with the Cougars, McKeon mentored four All-Americans and the 2017 and 2018 MSFA Midwest Defensive Players of the Year. During his overall tenure, McKeon's defenses ranked in the top-25 in rushing yards allowed three times and twice landed in the top-30 for total defense. This past season, the Cougars led the NAIA with 53 sacks and ranked in the top-15 in rushing yards allowed per game.

"I have admired Coach McKeon as a competitor for almost a decade now," Williamson said. "He brings a wealth of experience from the many hats he wore at Saint Xavier, that I know, will benefit our student-athletes on and off the field. It was clear in talking with him and several coaches that had worked with him that he was the right fit for Roosevelt University football as we move into the GLIAC."

Roosevelt is still finalizing its full 2024 football schedule, but is slated to open up GLIAC play on Sept. 28 at Ferris State.