2015 will mark Eric Hehman’s sixth season as the head coach of the Pioneer football team and the fourth year that Malone has competed in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – regarded by many as the top football conference in all of NCAA Division II.
This fall, Hehman and his coaching staff will be looking for substantial improvement after battling through an injury-plagued year in 2014. The Pioneers were bitten by the injury bug early and often last season. Quarterback Will Szpor, who had started each of the previous three years, did not take a snap last fall after getting hurt in the preseason. Numerous other season-ending injuries followed at key positions, including the loss of three starters along the offensive line.
With the return of a healthy Szpor and a veteran line, the Pioneer offense will look to recapture some of its success from 2013 when the unit averaged nearly 30 points and 400 yards per game. On the defensive side of the ball, Malone forced 19 turnovers a year ago and will aim to continue wreaking havoc for opposing offenses.
Prior to arriving at Malone, Hehman served as the head football coach at NCAA Div. III Greenville (IL) College for five seasons and led the Panthers to a 7-3 record in 2009 including a berth in the NCCAA Victory Bowl (losing to Geneva College, PA 29-28), the first postseason appearance for Greenville since 2000. The team also captured the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference South Division Championship (3-0 record), which was the first Div. III conference title for the program. Hehman also served as the Panthers’ Quarterbacks Coach in 2009 and as Special Teams Coordinator for the previous two years.
Prior to Greenville, he served at Trinity International University (IL) for six seasons (1999-2004) - as the Assistant Head Coach in 2004 and also as Offensive Coordinator, Quarterbacks Coach, Offensive Line Coach and Defensive Line Coach during his tenure there. Hehman also coached at Taylor University (IN) from 1995-1999, serving as both the Offensive Line (1998) and Defensive Line (1995-97) Coach.
During his tenure at Taylor, Trinity International and Greenville, the football programs he has been involved with had records of 1-9, 1-9 and 4-6 for his first year but all later reached the postseason and/or a bowl game during his stint there. Both Taylor and Trinity International won MSFA conference titles during the time Hehman was coaching at the institutions.
“Eric has excellent experience working in the NAIA and NCAA,” commented Malone Athletic Director Charlie Grimes upon hiring Hehman in December of 2009. “He brings an awesome vision and philosophy to Canton, Ohio. Malone University athletics expects championship play and changed lives, and I believe Eric Hehman is exactly the man to help us do that.”
"I believe 100% this is where God wants us, and my goal in life is to do want he wants us to do and be where he wants me to be," said Hehman. "Leaving Greenville is not easy. We are leaving a program that I love, a community that cares, and a church that is dynamic, but I am convinced that Malone is where God wants us. I believe in the Mission of the university, the leadership of Athletic Director Charlie Grimes and the potential of Malone football to be a premier Christian college football program. My family and I are very excited to partner with Malone to help create a dynamic and successful football program that the players, parents, students, alumni and community will be proud of.”
A native of Columbus, Indiana, Hehman is a 1994 graduate of Taylor University (IN) with a B.S. in Physical Education. He also earned an M.A. in Sports Administration from Ball State University (IN) in 1999. Hehman, and his wife, Liz, and their two sons, Matthew and Micah, reside in Canton.
