Evangel University Athletics
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Football Coaching Staff

Brenton Illum Brenton Illum
Head Coach and Linebacker Coach

Brenton Illum was named head coach on Nov. 24, 2009 and becomes the sixth head coach in the program’s 33 year history. The 1998 Evangel graduate will be in his first year as a head coach in 2010.

Illum comes to Evangel after four seasons with Western State College of Colorado, an NCAA-II program where he served as the Assistant Head Coach, Defensive Coordinator, Recruiting Coordinator, Inside Linebackers and Strong Safeties Coach.

In 2009, Illum was one of three finalists for the NCAA-II National Assistant Coach of the Year by the America Football Coaches Association for his season at Western State. The award is based on on-field performance as well as service to the community, charitable work, volunteer activities, and the impact on the lives of student-athletes.

Illum graduated from Evangel in 1998 with a degree in physical education. He was a linebacker for the Crusaders on the 1994 team and was as a student assistant coach for the program for three years before graduating.

The 33-year old left Evangel’s program in 2001 to become defensive coordinator and strength coach at Fort Lewis (Colorado, NCAA-II) College. Illum returned to the Springfield in 2004 joining the coaching staff at Missouri State University where he was Special Teams Coordinator and coached defensive linemen and linebackers for two seasons under then head coach Randy Ball.

Illum was born in Chicago, Illinois and attended high school at Washburn Rural High School in Topeka, Kansas. He has been married for 11 years to Molly (Hawkins) Illum, a 1999 Evangel graduate, who was a standout volleyball player in the Lady Crusaders program and has had coaching success in the high school and college levels in her sport.

Coaching Experience

Education

Background

Ron Anzevino Ron Anzevino
Associate Head Coach and Safeties

Ron Anzevino begins his third year with the Evangel football team in 2009 and it is his third year as a full-time assistant. Anzevino also works in Evangel’s financial aid office as an advisor.

Anzevino, 45, came to Evangel from Hohenems, Austria, where he served as head football coach for three seasons (2004-06) with the Cineplexx Blue Devils. Prior to his employment in Europe, Anzevino was an assistant coach in Arizona at Glendale Community College and Scottsdale Community College for four years (2000-03). He spent the previous 10 years coaching high school football in Ohio, Maryland and Arizona.

A 1985 graduate of Youngstown (Ohio) State University, Anzevino played fullback for the Penguins under the late Bill Narduzzi. Anzevino went on to complete his master’s degree at Madison University in 2003. Following his collegiate football career at Youngstown, Anzevino had short stints with the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and Miami Dolphins and with the CFL’s Hamilton Tigercats.

Three of Anzevino’s defensive backs won all-conference honors in 2006 and all four starting defensive backs have returned. Anzevino, who is from Struthers, Ohio, is a member of the American Football Coaches Association.

Anzevino and his wife, Natalie, have one child. Their son, Ian, is 18 and attends Springfield’s Central High School, where Natalie is a Special Education Teacher.

Charlie Getty Charlie Getty
Strength and Conditioning Coach

The 2009 football season will be the eighth as an Evangel football assistant for Charlie Getty. Getty, 57, will enter his second season coaching Evangel’s offensive line.

In addition, Getty will continue as the Evangel strength coach and teach in the Evangel Physical Education Department.

Getty is a 1974 graduate of Penn State, where he earned AP and UPI All-America honors as a senior offensive lineman. He also earned two all-America wrestling honors (1973, 1974) and finished third at the 1974 NCAA national wrestling meet in the heavyweight division. In addition to his all-America plaudits, Getty was a member of the Nittany Lions’ Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl, and Cotton Bowl teams (1972-74); was a Senior Bowl selection; earned first team All-East honors in 1973; and was honored as a finalist for the NCAA Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award in 1974.

Selected in the second round of the 1974 NFL Draft, Getty played nine years with the Kansas City Chiefs as an offensive lineman (1974-82) and one year with the Green Bay Packers (1983). He was a member of the NFL All-Rookie Team in 1974.

For the first six seasons as an assistant at Evangel, Getty coached the defensive line. Getty’s defensive linemen have won 16 All-Heart of America Athletic Conference honors and three all-America honors.

Getty was the head football coach at Glendale High School in Springfield from 1997-2001 and came to Evangel with more than 25 years of football experience. Getty’s 1997 and 1998 Glendale teams were district champions and his 1997 squad was conference co-champions. He was also an assistant wrestling (1997-02) and track coach (2000-02) at Glendale.

In addition to his five years as Glendale’s head football mentor, Getty has been an assistant coach and taught at several schools in Missouri. He began his coaching/teaching career at William Chrisman High School in Independence (1984-88), moved on to Raytown High School (1990-94), and then served at Brittany Hill Middle School in Blue Springs (1994-97). While working at Brittany Hill, Getty earned his master’s degree from Webster University (Mo.) in 1996.

Getty also was an assistant offensive line coach for the Kansas City Chiefs in the summer of 1994 and was the director and instructor of the Ambassador Football Line Camps in Topeka (Kans.), Wichita (Kans.), St. Louis, Kansas City and Joplin (Mo.) during the summers of 1991 thru 1998.

In addition to his careers as a player, teacher, and coach, Getty was the youth pastor at Cornerstone Church in Blue Springs, Missouri for three years (1986-89). A speaker at numerous functions during the last 28 years, Getty conducted his own radio show featuring Christian music for eight years and worked for two seasons with Kansas City’s TV 4 (Fox Sports). For the past 18 seasons he has been Youth Director for NFL Alumni of Kansas City and is presently a member of the Kansas City Chiefs Ambassadors, an alumni group involved with community services.

Charlie and his wife, Carol, have a daughter, Samantha, 19. Samantha is currently a Freshman here at Evangel University and works alongside her Dad in the athletics department as the Recruiting Secretary for the football team.

Chad GehringChad Gehring
Recruiting Coordinator  and Offensive Line

Chad Gehring begins his sixth year on the Evangel football coaching staff in 2009. He also teaches in the EU Physical Education Department.

He served as offensive line coach at Evangel in his first five seasons with the Crusaders and ten offensive linemen and nine special teams players have won all-conference honors under Gehring’s guidance. Two offensive linemen and two special teams player were first-team picks. In 2005, Gehring was selected to be a presenter at the American Football Coaches Association National Convention. Gehring also directed the football teams’ cleanup operation following the 2007 ice storm in Springfield. He traveled to Kyrgyzstan in April of 2007 to conduct the first football camp in the country.

Gehring, 35, came to Evangel from Catoosa (Okla.) High School, where he was the head football coach for two seasons (2002-03). Prior to his employment at Catoosa High School, Gehring was an assistant football coach at East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma from 2000-2001. He coached the tight ends at East Central. Gehring is a 1997 graduate of East Central and earned his master’s degree from the same institution in 1999. While a student at East Central, Gehring performed for two years on the football team as a linebacker.

After graduating from East Central, Gehring was employed at Bartlesville (Okla.) Mid-High School from 1997-98 as an offensive line coach and teacher. He then moved on to Dickson High School in Ardmore, Okla. He served as the offensive coordinator and also taught at Dickson from 1998 until his employment at East Central in 2000. Gehring is a 1992 graduate of Mounds (Okla.) High school.

Gehring and his wife, Emily, have three children, daughter, Hali, is 9 and sons Chase is 12 and Carson is 7.

Dale Garrett Dale Garrett
Running Backs

The 2009 Evangel football season is Lt. Col. Dale Garrett’s seventh on the gridiron staff as he serves as running backs coach. Garrett’s running backs have won seven all-conference honors, including two first team selections.

Garrett, 57, is a 1974 graduate of West Liberty State, where he won seven letters in football and wrestling and captained his senior squad. Until recently, he held the West Liberty State school records for most rushing yards (278) and most rushes (43) in a single game. Upon graduating from West Liberty, Garrett taught at Real Life Christian Academy, directed a group home for troubled youth, and played semi-pro football with the Tuscarawas County Vikings in the Ohio Football League from 1974 to 1978.

In 1979 Garrett joined the U.S. Air Force, retiring in December 2002 to assume teaching duties in the Social Science Department of Evangel University. Over the course of his Air Force career, Garrett had 3,000 flying hours as a B-52 crewmember, commanded three different squadrons, was awarded the Bronze Star for actions during Operation DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM, served in the U.S. Embassy in El Salvador, and was responsible for developing the newest completely electronic B-52, B-1 and B-2 training range in U.S. air space. Garrett earned his master’s degree from Central Michigan University

Lt. Col. Garrett and his wife, Martha, have three grown children. Wendy is 29, Bethany is 27, and Anthony is 26.

Joe Bever
Offensive Coordinator, Quarterbacks Coach

Bever joins Evangel after serving as an assistant coach at West Texas A&M last season. Last year he helped guide one of the most prolific passing attacks in NCAA-II as his team averaged 354 passing yards per game, completed 28 touchdown passes in 12 games and averaged 31.8 points per game.

“Joe emerged from a great pool of candidates for our offensive coordinator position because of his ability to communicate, his proven work ethic, his background in a variety of different schemes and his understanding that football is about relationships,” said Evangel head coach Brenton Illum, who will be in his first year as head coach next season. “As I look for the kind of people who I want investing in the lives of the Evangel football players, Joe is exactly what I’m looking for.  Joe and I will be working together to return Evangel Football to prominence for years to come.”

Bever was a graduate offensive assistant coach at the University of Colorado from 2006-08 and served as a volunteer assistant at Boise State in 2005. He was a quarterbacks / running backs coach at St. Peter’s College (NCAA-I, FCS) in New Jersey for the 2004 season.

Bever was a quarterback at Clemson University and earned a varsity letter during his senior season in 2002. He earned a degree in finance from Clemson in 2003 and has a Master’s Degree in Engineering Management from Colorado. He was born in Reedsport, Oregon and graduated from Evergreen High School in Vancouver, Washington.