Wednesday, January 11, 2006

INDIANAPOLIS, IND. -- Jeff Voris, who guided the football program at Carroll College (Wis.) for the past five seasons, has been named the 24th head football coach at Butler University. He�s returning to central Indiana, where he began his collegiate football career as a record-setting quarterback and later as an assistant coach at DePauw University.

�I�m excited about this opportunity,� said Voris, who guided Carroll to its most successful season in a decade last year. �Butler has a football program that is steeped in great tradition. I know the program has struggled lately, and I realize there is a lot of work ahead of us. But I think we have the blueprint to do it and the energy to get it done.�

Voris has 16 years of collegiate football coaching experience in five different programs. Prior to taking over as head coach at Carroll, he served for one season (2000-01) as offensive coordinator at Edinboro University and six seasons (1994-2000) at DePauw, the last four serving as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He also spent four seasons (1990-94) as a graduate assistant coach under head coach John Makovic at Illinois and Texas.

�Jeff brings the right combination of coaching experience to Butler University,� said Butler Director of Athletics John Parry in announcing the hiring of Voris. �He will be a tireless worker, an avid recruiter and a good game day coach. The Butler community
is looking forward to working with him.�

Voris spent the past five seasons rebuilding the football program at Carroll. His first team in 2001 had just 51 players. Last season with the squad size up to 111 players, he guided the Pioneers to a 6-4 record and a third place finish in the Midwest Conference. It was Carroll�s first winning season since 1996, and the Pioneers� six league wins tied the school record for most MWC wins in a season.

During his five campaigns at Carroll, Voris coached one second team All-American, one honorable-mention All-American, 11 first team all-conference players and 30 academic all-conference performers. He coached an all-conference quarterback in four of his five seasons. Carroll teams broke ten school records for offense and special teams during his tenure, and his 2005 squad ranked fourth in NCAA Division III in punt return average.

Voris took the Carroll head coaching position after spending one season on the staff of head coach Lou Tepper at Edinboro. He previously served under head coach Nick Mourouzis at DePauw. During his four seasons as offensive coordinator at DePauw, the Tigers compiled a 29-11 record, won one conference championship and posted four straight wins over Wabash in the Monon Bell Classic. He coached an all-conference quarterback in 1996 and 1997, and DePauw ranked eighth in the NCAA Division III in passing offense in 1996. DePauw also ranked first in Division III in turnover margin in 1996 and eighth in turnover margin in 1998. He was the head junior varsity coach at DePauw in 1994-95, and he served as strength and conditioning coach for the Tigers in all six seasons.

The new Butler coach was a four-year starting quarterback at DePauw, 1986-89. He was a three-year team Most Valuable Player and a team captain in 1989. He earned honorable mention All-America recognition in 1988 and 1989, and still holds DePauw career football records for most passing yards (6,035), most touchdown passes (56), most pass completions (504), most pass attempts (910) and most total offense (5,754).

Voris earned a bachelor�s degree in health, physical education and recreation from DePauw in 1989 and a master�s degree in athletic administration from Illinois in 1991.