Jeff Stephens enters his second season as the defensive line coach at Thiel College in 2017.
Stephens most recently served as the offensive coordinator as well as the quarterbacks and wide receivers coach at Jireh Preparatory Academy in Matthews, N.C., in 2015.
Stephens, who served as an officer in the United States Navy in the early 1980s, has an extensive coaching résumé, which spans more than three decades. He was the wide receivers and tight ends coach at Walsh University from 2001-09. From 1997-00, he held roles as defensive coordinator, special teams coordinator and defensive line coach at Geneva College (Pa.).
Stephens began his collegiate coaching career at the University of Montana Western, where he served as the team’s special teams coordinator and linebackers coach. He also coached the outside linebackers and was the strength and conditioning coach at Southern Illinois University for five years.
In the early 1990s, he held titles of defensive coordinator, recruiting coordinator and defensive line coach at the University of Missouri S&T. He was also the secondary coach and recruiting coordinator at Denison University in the mid-1990s.
Stephens earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Mount Union and a master’s degree in health education from Southern Illinois University. His wife, Janet, who holds a doctorate in special education, taught special education at Youngstown State University. The couple resides in Canfield, Ohio.
