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STAFF
HOKIES
HISTORY
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MEDIA
REVIEW
BEAMER
#HardSmartTough
#Hokies
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BRAD CORNELSEN
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR & QUARTERBACKS
@CoachCornelsen
THE CORNE LSEN F I L E
Experience:
19th season/2nd at Virginia Tech
Hometown:
Texhoma, Okla.
High School:
Texhoma
College:
Missouri Southern State (2000)
Playing Exp:
Missouri Southern State (1995-98)
Family:
Wife – Jaimi; Son – Wyatt
COACH I NG H I STORY
Year
School
Position
2016-17 Virginia Tech
Offensive Coord./QBs
2015 Memphis
Co-Offensive Coord./QBs
2014 Memphis
Quarterbacks
2013
Memphis
Quarterbacks
2012 Memphis
Quarterbacks
2011 Northeastern State Offensive Coordinator
2010 Northeastern State Offensive Coordinator
2009 Northeastern State Offensive Coordinator
2008 Oklahoma State
Quality Control
2007 Illinois State
Quarterbacks
2003-06 Illinois State
Wide Receivers
2002 Oklahoma State
Graduate Assistant
2001 Oklahoma State (fall) Graduate Assistant
2001
NW Missouri State Graduate Asst. (spring)
2000 Northeastern State Student Assistant
1999 Missouri Southern State Student Assistant
BOWL GAMES / PLAYOF FS
COACHED ( 6 )
2016 Belk
Virginia Tech
2015 Birmingham Memphis
2014 Miami Beach Memphis
2008 Holiday
Oklahoma State
2007 Illinois State FCS Playoffs
2002 Houston
Oklahoma State
PROMI NENT PUP I LS
QB Jerod Evans
Set Tech single-season records for TD passes (29),
passing yards (3,546) and total offense (4,392) in 2016
WR Isaiah Ford
D7-2017 – Miami
Set a Virginia Tech single-season record with 79
catches in 2016
QB Paxton Lynch
D1-2016 – Denver
8,863 yards with 59 TDs in three seasons at Memphis
WR Trey McVay
Set NCAA all-division single-game record with 425
receiving yards in 2011
WR Cam Phillips
Belk Bowl MVP caught 76 passes for 983 yards in
2016
WR Laurent Robinson D3-2007 – Atlanta
Falcons, Rams, Cowboys, Jaguars (2007-12)
PLAY I NG H I GHL I GHTS
• Became the first quarterback in the history of NCAA
Division II football to pass for at least 4,000 yards and
rush for at least 2,000 yards during his career at Missouri
Southern State from 1995-98.
• Inducted into the Missouri Southern State Athletics Hall
of Fame in 2014.
• Was on the same Oklahoma roster as current Tech
head coach Justin Fuente in the 1995 Oil Bowl, an annual
Oklahoma vs. Texas high school summer all-star game.
COACH I NG H I GHL I GHTS
• Prolific collegiate quarterback enters his second season
serving as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at
Virginia Tech.
• Under Cornelsen’s direction, Virginia Tech tied or broke 10
offensive single-season records in his debut season with the
Hokies.
• With Cornelsen calling the plays in 2016, the Hokies
tied or set school bests in points (490), total TDs (61), first
downs (330), passing first downs (172), TD passes (31),
total offense (6,223), completion pct. (62.1%), passing yards
(3,660), pass completions (279) and total plays (1,087).
• Among ACC squads, only Clemson (26.9) averaged more
first downs per game than Virginia Tech (23.6) a year ago.
• The Hokies also ranked fifth in the ACC in scoring (35.0
ppg), total offense (444.5 ypg), rushing (183.1 ypg), pass
efficiency (149.8) and time of possession (31:15).
• Helped QB Jerod Evans register one of the most productive
seasons of any quarterback in school annals in 2016.
• In his only season of FBS competition, Evans set eight
single-season records for the Hokies, including marks for total
offense (4,392), passing yards (3,546), TD passes (29), total
TDs accounted for (41) and rushing yards by a QB (846).
• Along with current Tech head coach Justin Fuente, helped
take a Memphis program that had gone 3-21 in the two
seasons prior to their arrival to a squad that went 19-7 and
earned back-to-back bowl berths in 2014-15.
• Joined Fuente in grooming a relatively unheralded two-star
quarterback prospect, Paxton Lynch, into a first-round NFL
Draft pick.
• During his final two campaigns for the Tigers, Lynch
completed 64.8 percent (555 of 856) of his passes for
6,807 yards with 50 TDs and 13 INTs, good for a 147.9
rating. He also ran for 15 TDs over that two year span, while
surrendering a mere 32.0 sacks.
• By contrast, in the three seasons (2009-11) prior to
Lynch’s arrival at Memphis, the Tigers compiled a 5-31
record, threw for 7,182 yards with 37 TDs and 36 INTs, while
suffering 80.0 sacks.
• Under Cornelsen’s tutelage in 2015, Lynch threw for
3,776 yards, with 28 touchdowns and only four interceptions.
He tied an FBS record with seven touchdown passes in the
first half of Memphis’ 63-0 victory over SMU.
• In 2015, under his direction as co-offensive coordinator,
Memphis finished 11th nationally in scoring offense (40.2
ppg), ranking ahead of both squads who played in the
College Football Playoff Championship Game – Clemson
(16th – 38.5 ppg) and Alabama (30th – 35.1 ppg).
• Memphis was particularly efficient on third down in 2015,
converting 48.8 percent (101 of 207) of the time to rank
eighth in the FBS.
• In 2014-15, the Tigers averaged 185.0 rushing ypg and
scored 60 TDs on the ground, producing 11 games with 200
or more net rushing yards. By contrast, the Tigers averaged a
mere 87.8 rushing ypg and scored 15 rushing TDs in 2010-11.
• The Tigers set a school record for points in consecutive
seasons (993 in 2014-15) and boasted a +19 turnover
differential (53 takes/34 gives) over that timeframe.
• In 2014, with Cornelsen as the quarterbacks coach, Lynch
guided the Tigers to a Miami Beach Bowl win over BYU.
Lynch was the MVP after completing 24 of 46 for 306 yards
and four touchdowns. He also ran for three scores, tying an
FBS record for touchdowns responsible for in a bowl game.
• In 2012, Cornelsen mentored Jacob Karam who completed
64.2 percent (176 of 274) of his passes, while throwing 14
touchdowns and a school-low three interceptions.
• Prior to joining the staff at Memphis, Cornelsen was the
offensive coordinator at Northeastern State, a Division II school in
Tahlequah, Okla. In his final season there in 2011, he helped the
offense become among the nation’s leaders in passing offense
(13th, 291 ypg) and total offense (22nd, 440 ypg). NSU’s seven
wins that season were the program’s most in 11 years.
• In 2011, Northeastern State receiver Trey McVay became
a first-team All-American while in Cornelsen’s offense,
catching 82 passes for 1,533 yards. He set a school single-
season record for receiving yards. His 425-yard performance
vs. Harding set an NCAA single-game record at any level for
most receptions in a game. His 16 catches and six TDs in that
contest also established school records.
• Landed his initial full-time coaching position at Illinois
State in 2003, where Fuente also served as an assistant on
the Redbirds’ staff from 2001-06. Current Tech assistants
Holmon Wiggins and Vance Vice were also members of that
Illinois State staff.
• Developed QB Luke Drone developed into an All-Gateway
Conference choice at Illinois State in 2007.
• In 2005, Cornelsen helped Laurent Robinson become an All-
America selection and earn conference offensive player of the
year honors after he set a Missouri Valley record with 86 catches
for a school-record 1,465 yards. Robinson’s 292-yard game
against Indiana State in 2005 still stands as a conference record.
• Robinson concluded his career at Illinois State with 192
catches for 3,007 yards with 29 TDs, a yardage total that still
ranks sixth in Missouri Valley annals.
• Spent the spring of 2001 at NW Missouri State working as
a graduate assistant under legendary NCAA Division II head
coach Mel Tjeerdsma before taking a similar role at Oklahoma
State under head coach Les Miles.