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Entering his fourth year coaching the offensive line, Vance Vice heads perhaps the most veteran group of the USU offense. All three of the Aggies' returning starters not only played in all 12 games in 2007, but all three of them started every game. For the second year in a row, center Ryan Tonnemacher was tabbed to the preseason Rimington Trophy Watch List, given annually to the nation's most outstanding center in college football. Last season, Vice coached guard Shawn Murphy, who was picked by the Miami Dolphins in the fourth round of the NFL Draft as the 110th overall selection. Murphy earned second-team all-WAC honors, as well as being selected to the East-West Shrine Game along with WR/KR Kevin Robinson. They became the first Utah State players selected to the Shrine Game since Emmett White in 2002. Murphy was the first Aggie offensive lineman chosen to the all-star game since center Tim Ruiz in 1986. In 2005, Vice coached Donald Penn who earned second-team all-WAC honors as a tackle, played in the Hula Bowl and then signed a free agent contract with the Minnesota Vikings. Vice came to Utah State after spending the previous five seasons coaching the offensive line at Illinois State. He earned the title of assistant head coach during his last two years at ISU. At Illinois State, three of his linemen earned All-America honors and eight garnered Gateway Conference honors. In 2003, the Redbirds established a school record with 248.1 yards per game rushing and allowed just five sacks on 367 pass attempts. "Vance is a former player of mine that I have known since 1986," said USU head coach Brent Guy. "He is an up and coming young coach, who has been involved with the same style of offense that we want to run." Vice started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Georgia from 1990-92 before working at Hart County (Ga.) High School from 1993-95. He returned to the collegiate level coaching tight ends at Clemson from 1996-98 and then spent one year at Murray State as the offensive line coach. Vice was a defensive lineman and tight end at Oklahoma State, where he participated in three bowl games on teams that featured Thurman Thomas and Barry Sanders. The three-time academic all-Big Eight selection graduated from Oklahoma State in 1990 with a degree in secondary education. He earned a master's degree in education administration from Georgia in 1993 as well as an EdS degree from Clemson in 1999. He and his wife Kerry have two daughters, Savannah and Sydni, and a son, Brock. Coaching Experience 1990-92 Georgia WR/TE/DE (GA) 1993-95 Hart County HS Passing Coord./WR/TE 1996-98 Clemson Tight Ends 1999 Murray State Offensive Line 2000-02 Illinois State Offensive Line 2003-04 Illinois State Asst. HC/OL 2005- Utah State Offensive Line |
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