Pikeville, KY – UPIKE Football Head Coach Corey Fipps has announced his staff to lead the Bears, complete with seven new faces. Among the coaches are five defensive specialists, featuring a defensive coordinator, two assistants, and two graduate assistants.

Chris Elliott – Defensive Coordinator

Elliott, a veteran defensive guru, coached alongside Fipps at Kentucky Christian for the 2020 season. A native of Altoona, PA, Elliott comes to UPIKE with a lengthy resume that includes experience at five universities beginning with Saint Francis (PA) where he served as a graduate assistant in 2000. After a season with the Red Flash, Elliott headed back to his hometown, taking an assistant coaching gig at Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic HS where he stayed for three seasons.

Elliott began his collegiate coaching career at Bethel University in 2004 and served as an assistant coach for eight seasons, aiding the Wildcats in four NAIA playoff runs. Ahead of the 2012 season, Elliott took the head coaching position with Bethel, a position he held through the 2017 campaign. After Bethel, spent a season as the defensive coordinator at Cumberland University before he was named the Defensive Coordinator at Ave Maria where he stayed with the Gyrenes through 2019.

Elliott headed to KCU, teaming up with Coach Fipps as the Defensive Coordinator and Defensive Backs coach for the 2020 season.

Elliott is a graduate of St. Francis (PA) where he received a bachelor's degree in Accounting in 1997, he also earned a master's degree in Education from Bethel University in 2005.

Elliott is married to Lindsay Elliott and the couple have three daughters, Emma, Erin and Eden. 
 
 
Michael Harris – Defensive Line / Special Teams / Recruiting Coordinator

Leading the Bears special teams and defensive line is Michael Harris, who will also serve as the recruiting coordinator. Harris is a graduate of NCAA DIII Guilford College where he played linebacker and strong safety on the team's 3-3-5 defense in 2003.

The Baltimore, MD native graduated with degrees in Computing & Information Technology and Criminal Justice in 2007. He also obtained his Masters of Education at St. Francis in 2014.

Harris spent stints coaching at Guilford College (one season), Newport News Apprentice School (three seasons), University of St. Francis (six seasons), and College of the Siskiyous (one season) before joining KCU in 2018. His top achievements were seen at St. Francis where he helped coach a top ten defense, six of the top ten career sack leaders, and multiple all-conference and all-American winners.

Darius Jiggetts – Linebackers

Manning the charge for the linebacker core will be Darius Jiggetts. Born and raised in Wichita, KS, Jiggetts attended Kansas Wesleyan where he earned a Bachelors degree in Criminal Justice. Jiggetts played college football at Independence Community College before transferring to Kansas Wesleyan. In his youth, Jiggetts was a tri-sport athlete at Wichita Southeast HS where he participated in football, track and field, and swimming. He was also a musician, playing the drums as a percussionist.

From 2017-2019, Jiggetts served as the running backs coach at St. Cloud State University where he also earned a Masters degree in Social Responsibility. After St. Cloud, Jiggetts coached linebackers at the University of Central Missouri for the 2019-20 season before moving on to KCU where he spent the last two seasons with Coach Fipps.

Quamari Tinsley – Defensive Line Graduate Assistant

Joining the staff as a defensive line graduate assistant is Owensboro, KY native Quamari Tinsley. Tinsley attended Kentucky Christian University where he led a successful football career and was named to the Kentucky All-Commonwealth Team in 2018.
Tinsley graduated from Kentucky Christian with Bachelors degree in Business Administration in 2021.

Prior to KCU, Tinsley was a standout athlete at Owensboro HS where he was a three-year varsity letter winner. Tinsley also volunteer coached at Owensboro HS Youth Football Camp for four years.

Colton Boyle – Defensive Backs Graduate Assistant

A familiar face on staff this season is defensive backs graduate assistant Colton Boyle. Boyle was with the Bears for the 2020 season as a graduate assistant as well. Before coming to UPIKE, Boyle spent time at Montana State University – Northern where he earned a degree in general studies. Boyle also attended Central Washington University and obtained a Bachelors degree in Physical Education and School Health.

Boyle played football at Sammamish HS before being recruited to MSUN as a quarterback, transitioning to safety following the fall of his freshman year. He is currently working on his M.B.A at UPIKE.