Chris Symington begins his second season as the professor of “Maul U” after he was hired as the Offensive Line Coach for the Bulldog Football program in July of 2016. Symington previously served as Offensive Line Coach & Run Game Coordinator for Colorado State University-Pueblo.
The line had a pair of all-conference performers in his first season with center Brad Wellman earning his second straight all-league honor and was joined by second teamer Nick Verbeck at left guard. Along with OC Jason Killday, the offensive staff improved by nearly 10 points in scoring offense in their first season than when they arrived. The squad also was improved in third down percentage as the team was successful 41% of the time and had over 32 minutes per game of possession time. When needed, the Bulldogs also converted on fourth down nearly 50% of the time.
Symington joined the CSU-Pueblo Thunderwolves in 2009, the second year of the program and from 2010 through 2014, CSU-Pueblo posted a 57-6 (.904) record with four straight Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference titles cumulating in the NCAA Division II National Championship in 2014.
The Thundewolves averaged over 200 yards rushing per game in four of the six seasons Symington coached the offensive line with a high of 225.3 yards per contest in 2009. They averaged nearly 35 points per game with a high of 42.7 in 2013 and were among the national leaders in fewest sacks allowed.
Prior to CSU-Pueblo, Symington made five other coaching stops after playing and serving as a graduate assistant coach at the University of Colorado-Boulder. He coached at Eastern Michigan from 2004-08, Tennessee State from 2000-2003, Western Kentucky from 1996-1999, Northwood (Mich.) University in 1995 and Vanderbilt (Tenn.) from 1991-1994.
Symington started his collegiate career at Washburn (Kan.) University in Topeka and was a member of the 1983 Central States Intercollegiate Conference championship team. He then transferred to Colorado and was part of one of the biggest turnarounds in college football history.
As an offensive lineman for the Buffalos, Colorado went to their first bowl game in eight years as they were invited to the 1985 Freedom Bowl. That started a string of five straight bowl games for the Buffalos and ended with Symington as a graduate assistant coach on the 1990 Orange Bowl National Championship team.
