Image via Eastern Michigan Athletics
Entering his third year leading Eastern Michigan’s pass-rushing unit, Kasey Teegardin can celebrate another promotion before the 2026 season.
Already named new co-defensive coordinator (along with Tate Omli), Teegardin was named EMU’s new assistant head coach yesterday.
Teegardin spent the 2024 and 2025 seasons as EMU’s defensive ends coach and special teams coordinator. When then-defensive coordinator Ben Needham stepped down from his position at the end of last year, Teegardin and safeties coach Omli were assigned to split the DC responsibilities.
Per EMU’s press release:
"Coach Teegardin has made an incredibly positive impact on our program in his three years here," said [Chris] Creighton. "As our Special Teams Coordinator, he was in front of the team a lot and has developed relationships with both sides of the ball as a result. He sees the big picture and is respected by both our team and staff. He will be a phenomenal head coach one day, and I appreciate his leadership."
"I am both grateful and honored that Coach Creighton has given me this new opportunity to continue to lead under his mentorship," added Teegardin. "The goal will never change. It is about serving our players, our staff, and our program to be our absolute best."
Teegardin’s coaching experience began immediately after graduating from Charleston where he dove right into being a defensive line and linebackers coach for his alma mater in 2008. Two years later, at the age of 24, he was Charleston’s defensive coordinator — the youngest in the sport.
In 2011, Teegardin spent a season coaching Northwood’s secondary (D2), then two years at Valparaiso (FCS) as a special teams coordinator and linebackers coach at the D1 level.
After six years of coaching and three years of coordinating experience, he finally became a three-year graduate assistant for Indiana (under Kevin Wilson), before taking a recruiting position in 2017 (for Tom Allen). Teegardin stayed at Indiana all through the Allen years as a safeties coach (2018-19), special teams coordinator (2020-23), and outside linebackers coach (2021-23).
After Tom Allen and his crew were dismissed at Indiana, Teegardin came to EMU to be the team’s new defensive ends coach and special teams coordinator.
Teegardin becomes the program’s fourth assistant head coach of the 13-year Chris Creighton era at Eastern Michigan.
Neal Neathery, who enters his fourth season of retirement from football, was hired over from UTSA to be EMU’s new defensive coordinator in 2016, and received the assistant head coaching role in 2018. That title transitioned to ‘associate head coach’ in 2021.
That same year, special teams and defensive tackles coach Jay Nunez, who had been on staff since 2017, was named an assistant head coach. He quickly moved on to coach at Oklahoma, and is now on Kalen DeBoer’s staff at Alabama.
In 2023, the year after Neathery’s retirement, offensive line coach and co-run game coordinator Sean Coughlin (hired in 2021) became the next assistant head coach for Creighton’s team. Coughlin stayed with EMU through the 2024 season, and is now in his second year at Southern Mississippi as O-line coach.
