Kirk Jellerson
	Defensive Coordinator kjellers@whittier.edu (562) 907-4873

The 2009 season will be the second term for Kirk Jellerson as a member of the Whittier College football staff and first as the defensive coordinator. It will also mark his 23rd year as a college coach which includes a stint with the Poets in 1993.

Jellerson came to Whittier from Division II Western Washington University where he was the defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator. In his one season with the Vikings he helped the team win the 2008 Rotary Bowl Championships with a 25-10 win over Colorado School of Mines.

He began his coaching career in 1983 with Cerritos College as the outside linebackers coach. He was with the Falcons for six seasons where the team went a combined 35-24-3. Cerritos won the 1986 South Coast Championship behind one of the top ranked defenses and was the Pony Bowl Runner-Up in 1987. The Falcons claimed the Pony Bowl Championship in Jellerson's first season and were the Potato Bowl Runner-Ups in '86.

In 1989 Jellerson joined the Fullerton Junior College staff where he coached the outside linebackers. The '89 and 1990 seasons saw the Hornets' defense as one of the top ranked JUCO units in the country.

Jellerson stayed in Southern California in 1993 when he joined the Whittier staff as the linebackers coach. In 1994 he went to Orange, Calif., and helped Chapman University start-up football. In his three seasons with the Panthers they went 26-4-1 and consistently ranked as one of the top defenses in Division III. The team ranked No. 4 nationally in total defense and No. 2 in takeaways in 1995.

A 1988 graduate of Long Beach State University, Jellerson was the defensive coordinator for Division III Plymouth State University in 1999. PSU had the Freedom Football Conference top ranked defense which ranked No. 18 nationally. Jellerson moved to the New Jersey Athletic Conference in 2000 and was the defensive coordinator for the No. 1 defense in the NJAC in 2001 at Kean University. He spent three seasons at Kean.

From 2004 to 2006 Jellerson served as the assistant head coach at Utica College. He guided the Pioneers to their first winning season in 2005 and had the third ranked defense in the Empire 8 in 2005.

Jellerson played outside linebacker for Cerritos College in 1980 and 1981 and completed his college eligibitly at Weber State.