COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – With the summer kicking into full gear, the Tennessee Tech football team has filled two positions as the team counts down the days until they get started for fall camp.

 

Nick Coleman has been added as the Golden Eagles' quarterback coach, while Price Partrick will take on a new role with Tech football as he becomes the team's Director of Football Operations.

 

"These are great hires for our program," said Tech head football coach Marcus Satterfield. "Nick is a perfect fit for us as a quarterback coach. He's played the position and coached it, so I think he's going to be a great mentor for our quarterbacks. Price has worked with us before and knows how we operate and what our expectations are. He's going to do a fantastic job as our director of operations."

 

For Coleman, it's almost like coming home.

 

The former Middle Tennessee State University quarterback spent four years in Murfreesboro as a player, then another season and a half with the Blue Raiders as an offensive graduate assistant and assistant quarterbacks coach.

 

So when the former MTSU standout saw a quarterbacks coaching position open at Tennessee Tech, he couldn't resist.

 

"The opportunity was great," Coleman said. "To be able to coach with Coach Satterfield and his staff is something I've found out that I wanted to do really quick. Cookeville is a great area and I'm just excited to be here.

 

"I've been through here many times. I have family here and know the area really well. When the job came open, it was a no-brainer."

 

The rivalry between the two schools may not be what it once was, but for Coleman, it's an opportunity to help bring the Golden Eagles back into prominence.

 

"It's hard not to want to be a part of what's going on here under Coach Satterfield," Coleman said. "It's an opportunity to coach with a guy who loves football. Every day, he wakes up to win football games. That's what you want to do as a coach – be around those types of people."

 

Coleman joins the staff after a three-and-a-half-year stint at Itawamba Community College, serving as the Indians' offensive coordinator and quarterback coach, as well as recruiting coach.

 

In his tenure there, the Indians have gone 15-13. Last season, starting sophomore quarterback Peyton Bender threw for 2,733 yards and 21 touchdowns as he completed 211 of his 324 passes, averaging 303.7 yards per game.

 

Before that, Coleman spent three seasons at Faulkner University in Montgomery, Ala., serving in the same roles as he built a recruiting pipeline for the NAIA school in the Birmingham, Atlanta, Tennessee, North Florida and Southern California areas.

"I've been coaching quarterbacks as long as I've been coaching," Coleman said. "I played quarterback, I coach quarterbacks. They're the most important guys on the field, and it's pretty much the only position where just one of them plays the whole game. You've got to understand that one guy plays and the opportunity to do that at a high level as the Division I Football Championship Subdivision level is a blessing. It's something I'm going to require our guys to understand."

Coleman received his bachelor of science from MTSU in Health and Human Performance in 2009, then followed it up with a masters in Sport Management in 2011.

 

During his playing days for Coach Rick Stockstill, Coleman also helped the Blue Raiders earn a 2006 Sun Belt Conference championship and a Motor City Bowl berth, then was a member of the 2009 New Orleans Bowl-winning team.

 

Coleman is married to the former Kelly Goethals, and they have a son, Eli, and a daughter, Sophie.

 

For Partrick, it's a new role. Partrick spent the 2016 campaign as an offensive quality control coach and tight ends coach, following a year each as the wide receivers coach (2015) and as a student assistant working with the wide receivers (2014).

 

He spent the 2010-11 season at The Citadel as a medical redshirt, then transferred to Chattanooga in 2011-12 as he continued to rehab from shoulder surgery.

Partrick attempted to play for the Golden Eagles in the 2013 season as a receiver, but another shoulder injury in practice ended that effort. But then-Tech head coach Watson Brown saw something in Partrick and his knowledge of the team's receivers, bringing him on as a student assistant in the spring -- jumpstarting his coaching career.

 

"This is home for me," Partrick said. "Having the opportunity to come back here and be with my family and work with Coach Satterfield is something I strongly value and I'm a firm believer in what he's doing. I'm glad to be back and working for another championship for Tennessee Tech."

 

Working with Coach Satterfield on the inaugural staff, Partrick got an understanding in what Satterfield's expectations for the program were and the direction the program was heading in.

 

"Absolutely," Partrick said. "Coach Satterfield has a very strong vision for what he wants to do here at Tennessee Tech and I've completely bought in. Being around him and being on this ship is exactly where I want to be. Having that year under my belt is a good base and I'm glad to be here."

 

But as he moves into the DOFO position, it's a whole new set of roles and responsibilities – though Partrick is more than excited about the challenge.

 

"Transitioning off the field is something that's going to hit me in the face a few times," Partrick said, "because it's just a different role. I've never been one to shy away from new experiences, so I'm excited to do all I can for Tennessee Tech. I'll help out however I can, doing what I can."