MEADVILLE, Pa. -- First-year head football coach Braden Layer is eager to announce Allegheny College's coaching staff for the upcoming 2023 season.

In addition to a pair of holdovers, the Gators have added four newcomers and one familiar face to the locker room in preparation for their second season in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC).

One of two returning coaches, Matt Hanhold, has been promoted to defensive coordinator ahead of his second season with the Gators. No stranger to the PAC, Hanhold was an all-conference defensive end at Westminster College and is now entering his 18th year as a collegiate coach.

Also returning to Meadville is associate head coach and offensive line coach Matt Cochran. Cochran previously spent two seasons with the Gators as the offensive line coach in 2017 and 2018. Not only did he work alongside Layer during his first tenure at Allegheny, but they also spent time on the same staff at Bowdoin College. Most recently, Cochran served as the offensive coordinator for the Polar Bears in 2022.

Allegheny alumnus Kyle Smesko '97 is back for his second season in his stint with the Gators and will be in charge of running backs and tight ends.

Joining the Gators this spring are special teams coordinator and defensive line coach Brandon Peluso, defensive backs coach Okesa Smith, wide receivers coach Jake Taggart, and nickel backs coach Tyler Wilson.

"The two most important traits I looked for in building this staff were individuals of high character and the ability to recruit," Layer said. "We will work together to put our student-athletes in the best position to be successful and fine-tune the Xs and Os, but the first two are non-negotiable.

"These coaches are good people above all else. Individuals who will provide tremendous support, leadership, and motivation to help our student-athletes achieve new heights. They are proven recruiters who will attract top talent and build as much competition on our roster as possible. I can't wait for them to develop in the program and help Allegheny football ascend the Presidents' Athletic Conference."
 

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Matt Cochran returns to Meadville for his second stint with the Gators in 2023. Allegheny's offensive line coach during the 2017 and 2018 seasons, he helped Layer - AC's offensive coordinator at the time - build one of the College's most explosive offenses in recent memory in those two years. Since leaving Northwest Pennsylvania, Cochran has climbed the ladder under former Allegheny head coach BJ Hammer at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. As the Polar Bears' offensive line coach and run-game coordinator, he helped Bowdoin running back Andre Eden earn New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Co-Rookie of the Year and All-NESCAC First-Team accolades in 2021. Eden became the first Polar Bear in program history to lead the NESCAC in rushing that season. Cochran was elevated to offensive coordinator for the 2022 season, leading Bowdoin to one of its best offensive seasons since 2009. Cochran, a four-year letter winner as an offensive lineman at Denison University, graduated in 2014 with a degree in economics. He also received a master's in sport leadership from Wesley College in 2017.

Matt Hanhold returns for his second season with the Gators in 2023. He previously spent three years at Division II Clarion University in various roles, most notably as interim head coach and defensive coordinator. Hanhold also served as a graduate assistant at Clarion from 2006-08. Prior to his return to Clarion, Hanhold spent one season as a linebackers coach and special teams coordinator at Baldwin Wallace University in 2018. His lengthy resume also includes four seasons at Buffalo State and five as associate head coach at Colby College. Hanhold was a three-year letter winner as a defensive lineman at Westminster College. He earned a bachelor's in political science from Westminster in 2006 and a master's in rehabilitative sciences from Clarion in 2008.

Brandon Peluso takes the reins as Allegheny's defensive line coach and special teams coordinator in 2023. Peluso joins the Gators from Marietta College, where he spent four years as the defensive line coach for the Pioneers. Over the past two years, he aided in the development of numerous All-Conference, All-Region, and All-American linemen. That includes Marietta's all-time sack leader Drake Neuberger, who received five different All-America honors, and tackle Kyle Gallagher, who was named the Region IV Co-Defensive Lineman of the Year in 2021 with Neuberger. In 2022, the Pioneers ranked second in Division III in sacks per game (3.90). A four-year member of the Muskingum University football program, Peluso graduated from Muskingum in 2017 with a bachelor's in physical education.

Kyle Smesko '97, a two-time All-North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) selection as an Allegheny running back, returns for his second season in 2023. His coaching career first began with his alma mater in 1997 and 1998. Smesko formerly served as the offensive coordinator at Oberlin College in 2021 and had spent the prior three seasons as an assistant at Norwich University. His coaching career also included four years as an assistant at Yale University (1999-2003), three at Franklin and Marshall College (2003-06), two at Thiel College (2007-09), and seven at Williams College (2010-17). Smesko earned a bachelor's in economics at Allegheny and a master's in business administration from Norwich.

A veteran coach with several years of experience on the sideline, Okesa Smith enters his first season with Allegheny as the defensive backs coach in 2023. A two-year letter winner at Virginia Tech, Smith coached high school football in North Carolina and Virginia for over a decade before joining Saint Augustine's University, a Division II institution in Raleigh, North Carolina. In his second season with the Falcons in 2019, he was elevated to co-interim head coach and defensive coordinator. That season, Saint Augustine's ranked 26th nationally in Division II in passing yards allowed (180.5 per game), 27th in interceptions (15), and 35th in turnovers gained (23). Smith also spent one year at Methodist University as a cornerbacks and defensive quality control coach in 2021 and one year at Norwich University as wide receivers coach in 2022. Smith received a bachelor's in English from Virginia Tech in 2011.

A former All-Patriot League selection during his playing days at Division I Lafayette College, Jake Taggart relocated to Meadville for his first year with the Gators in 2023. Taggart was recognized with first-team accolades in the spring of 2021 as a fullback/H-back for the Leopards. Since then, he's worked with the wide receivers at Alfred University as a graduate assistant. He helped Alfred receiver Jacob Kelsey develop into an Empire 8 All-Conference selection in 2022 as one of the conference's top pass catchers. In addition to his duties as co-offensive coordinator for the junior varsity program, Taggart assisted with special teams analysis. Taggart earned a bachelor of science in Psychology from Lafayette in 2021 and is currently completing his master's at Alfred.

Nickels coach Tyler Wilson joins the staff at Allegheny for his first year in 2023. Wilson, a 2021 graduate of Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina, has spent the past 21 months working on the defensive side of the ball at Quincy University, a Division II member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference in Quincy, Illinois. He began coaching with the Hawks as their cornerbacks coach in 2021, before moving to linebackers coach for the 2022 campaign. His work helped Quincy lead Division II in takeaways in 2021, while he mentored three all-conference linebackers last fall. A four-time Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) All-Academic honoree, Wilson graduated with a bachelor's in exercise and sports science in 2021 and is currently completing his master's at Quincy.