Patterson Fills Out 2026 Coaching Staff
5/28/2026 2:26:00 PM | Football
Abilene Christian head football coach Keith Patterson has filled out his coaching staff for the 2026 season.
Patterson, who enters his fifth year leading the Wildcats, has amassed a 30-20 overall record and directed ACU to back-to-back UAC championships and appearances in the second round of the FCS Playoffs. Patterson signed a three-year contract extension in December, keeping him with the Wildcats through the 2029 season.
Nine members of the coaching staff return from the 2025 squad, and two coaches – Nick Holt and Conor Dubin – have served for Patterson's entire tenure.
Graham Harrell – Associate Head Coach / Co-Offensive Coordinator / Quarterbacks
Sam Bennett – Defensive Coordinator / Spurs (linebacker/defensive back hybrids)
Nick Holt – Defensive Line
Conor Dubin – Linebackers Coach
D.J. Williams – Defensive Passing Game Coordinator / Cornerbacks / Recruiting Coordinator
Joseph Plunk – Safeties
Joel Filani – Co-Offensive Coordinator / Wide Receivers
Stanton Keane – Tight Ends
Justin Sinz – Offensive Line
Clark Harrell ('11) – Running Backs
Ty Morris – Special Teams Coordinator
Patterson, who enters his fifth year leading the Wildcats, has amassed a 30-20 overall record and directed ACU to back-to-back UAC championships and appearances in the second round of the FCS Playoffs. Patterson signed a three-year contract extension in December, keeping him with the Wildcats through the 2029 season.
Nine members of the coaching staff return from the 2025 squad, and two coaches – Nick Holt and Conor Dubin – have served for Patterson's entire tenure.
Graham Harrell – Associate Head Coach / Co-Offensive Coordinator / Quarterbacks
- Returns for his second season after being hired in Jan. 2025
- Guided ACU offense which averaged 408 yards and 30 points per game
- Coached WR Javon Gipson to All-America honors and two offensive linemen – Luke Roaten and Colter Lynch – to All-UAC recognition
- QB Stone Earle completed 67% of his passes (9th best in FCS), threw for 3,285 yards (6th most), ran for 433 yards and scored 34 total touchdowns
- Earle also set an ACU record for most rushing TD by a quarterback with 12
- Three running backs gained at least 500 yards
- ACU led the UAC with a 47% conversion rate on 3rd down (12th best in FCS)
- The Wildcats also led the conference in time of possession at 32:13 per game
Sam Bennett – Defensive Coordinator / Spurs (linebacker/defensive back hybrids)
- Hired in Feb. 2026
- Has spent the past three seasons as linebackers coach at UIW in the Southland Conference, and was the co-defensive coordinator in 20225
- Coached an All-Southland linebacker in each of his three seasons
- His path first crossed with Patterson when Bennett was a graduate assistant at Arizona State in 2016 and 2017
- Played for two seasons at SMU under his father Phil Bennett, who was the Mustangs' head coach from 2002-07 and also was defensive coordinator at Baylor, Texas A&M, TCU, Kansas State, Pitt and North Texas
Nick Holt – Defensive Line
- Returns for his fifth season at ACU
- In 2025, coached three players to All-America honors (Will Shaffer, Rashon Myles, Jr., and Dorian Plumley), and five total to All-UAC selections (Shaffer, Myles, Plumley, Chris Wright and Kaghen Roach)
- ACU's defense had 24 takeaways in 2025 (8th most in FCS) and 12 fumbles recovered (4th)
- The Wildcats also allowed just 121 rushing yards per game (17th best in FCS)
- Spent more than 20 years as a defensive coordinator at colleges such as USC, Washington, Purdue and Western Kentucky
- Was head coach at Idaho from 2004-05
Conor Dubin – Linebackers Coach
- Returns for his fifth season at ACU, and 12th consecutive with Patterson with stops at Arizona State, Utah State and Texas Tech before coming to Abilene
- Coached All-America linebackers Will Shaffer and Rashon Myles, Jr., who were both finalists for the Buck Buchanan Award (FCS Defensive Player of the Year)
D.J. Williams – Defensive Passing Game Coordinator / Cornerbacks / Recruiting Coordinator
- Returns for his second season at ACU
- Coached Dorian Plumley to All-America honors
- ACU's defense picked off 12 passes, ranked 2nd most in UAC
- Was recruited by Patterson to play at Utah State, where he was an honorable mention All-Mountain West defensive back
Joseph Plunk – Safeties
- Promoted to safeties coach
- Returns for his second season at ACU after serving as a defensive assistant in 2025
- Plunk was recruited by Patterson to Texas Tech where he played defensive back from 2020-24
- Plunk's father, Ken Plunk, was an assistant coach at ACU in the early 2000s
Joel Filani – Co-Offensive Coordinator / Wide Receivers
- Returns for his second season at ACU
- Coached WR Javon Gipson to a 1,000-yard season in 2025 and All-America honors
- Gipson ranked 18th in the FCS with 1,022 yards and 64th in yards per reception at 15.9
- Gipson signed a two-year contract with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League in May
- At ACU, Filani is reunited with Graham Harrell from their playing days at Texas Tech
- Filani was the offensive coordinator at Northern Iowa in 2024, and worked with Patterson as receivers coach at Texas Tech from 2019-21
Stanton Keane – Tight Ends
- Returns for his second season at ACU, and his sixth working alongside Graham Harrell
- Coached tight end Itty Henry to a breakout season with 335 receiving yards and 4 TD in 2025
- Keane and his wife, Pamela, were married in 2021, and recently became parents
Justin Sinz – Offensive Line
- Joined the ACU staff in Feb. 2026
- Spent 10 years at Purdue, his alma mater, including the 2024 season as tight ends coach
- Was the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at St. Scholastica, a Division III university in Duluth, Minn.
- Coached with Graham Harrell and Stanton Keane while at Purdue
Clark Harrell ('11) – Running Backs
- Hired at ACU in May 2026
- Spent the past four years at Abilene Wylie H.S. where he was quarterbacks coach
- Has also served as an offensive coordinator at Colleyville Heritage, Sealey and Athens, and was the head coach at New Diana from 2020-22
- Played in 11 games from 2008-10 as a quarterback at ACU
- Started his collegiate playing career at Tulsa, when Patterson was the defensive coordinator
- Brother of offensive coordinator Graham Harrell
Ty Morris – Special Teams Coordinator
- Returns for his third season with the Wildcats
- Has coached back-to-back kickers who finished in both ACU's top 5 for most kicking points and most field goals made in a season
- K Ritse Vaes was named Associated Press All-America in 2024, and ranks 3rd with 14 made field goals
- K Brandon Perez ranks 2nd with 15 made field goals
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