Crusader Football Camps
Camp Staff

Tony Pierce
Defensive Coordinator

Pierce arrived at Valpo with 25 years of coaching experience, including 18 years on the college level.  He came at Valpo from Tennessee State University, where he was the running backs coach and special teams coordinator in 2009.  The Tigers posted a victory over Eastern Illinois, the Ohio Valley Conference champion, during the 2009 campaign.

He served as the defensive coordinator at Alabama State University for six seasons, with his 2008 defense ranking 19th in the county.  In 2004, he helped Alabama State to the 2004 Southwestern Athletic Conference championships and was named the American Football Coaches Association I-AA Assistant Football Coach of the Year.

Pierce has also served as the running backs coach at both West Virginia University and the University of Georgia.  While at West Virginia, he coached two-time All-America selection Amos Zereoue, who went on to be drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers.  He also has coached at the University of Pittsburgh and Wake Forest University.

He has participated in the NFL Minority Internship program with the Arizona Cardinals, has coached in the CarQuest Bowl, Insight.com Bowl, and the Music City Bowl, as well as two SWAC championship games.

Pierce was a four-year starter at Gettysburg College where he set school records for interceptions in a career, most interception return yardage, and tied the record for interceptions in a game with three.  He signed a free agent contract with the Philadelphia Stars of the United States Football League.

A graduate of Gettysburg College with a bachelor of science in physical education, Pierce earned a masters degree in coaching and sports administration from Montclair State University.

Bob Muckian
Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator/Recruiting Coordinator

Bob Muckian joined the Valparaiso University coaching staff as the assistant head coach and offensive coordinator for the Crusader program in late January, 2010.  Muckian also assumes the role of recruiting coordinator for the Brown and Gold.

Muckian spent 2009 as the offensive coordinator at Ohio Dominican University in Columbus, Ohio, where he helped guide an offense that ranked 11th nationally in NAIA tallying 443 yards per game and was 18th in the country scoring 34.7 points per game.

In 2008, Muckian served as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Assumption College in Worcester, Mass., where he led the Greyhounds to a single season record for completion percentage.

Prior to Assumption, Muckian was the wide receivers coach at Bowdoin College in 2007 after spending five seasons on the coaching staff at Columbia University.  He began his coaching career in 1997 at Elmhurst College before joining Tri-State University.  He then moved on to Columbia.

Muckian is a 1997 graduate of Valparaiso where he lettered two seasons for the Crusaders. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in business administration with a double concentration in finance and economics.

Robert Lee
Special Teams Coordinator

Robert Lee joined the Valparaiso University coaching staff in the summer of 2009 as the Crusaders’ special teams coordinator.  He also will work directly with Valpo’s linebackers on a daily basis.

Lee arrives at Valpo after spending five seasons as the defensive line coach at Eastern Michigan University.  With the Eagles, he helped develop Jason Jones, a second round draft choice (#54 overall) of the Tennessee Titans.  Jones was a First Team All Mid-American Conference selection who was selected to the play the 2008 Senior Bowl All-Star game.

At Eastern Michigan, Lee also coached the kickoff return team and was the program’s community service coordinator.

Prior to heading to EMU, Lee was at Butler University from 1994 through 2004.  He served as the Bulldogs special teams coordinator and defensive line coach for three seasons, and was the junior varsity head coach from 1994-1997.  He helped Butler win a conference championship in 1994 and then helped the team post its first winning season as an NCAA Division I-AA non-scholarship program in 1997.  He coached a First Team All-Conference defensive lineman in each of his first five seasons as a full-time coach with the Bulldogs.

While at Butler, Lee was awarded a summer internship with the Chicago Bears in 2001 where he learned from and assisted the defensive line coach during preseason training camp.

Before arriving at Butler, Lee was the defensive coordinator at Centennial High School in Corona, Calif. for the 1990-1992 seasons.

Originally from Gary, Ind., Lee played football for two years at Illinois State University before a knee injury ended his playing career.  As a prep, he was an All-Conference lineman at Gary West Side High School.  Lee transferred to IUPUI where he earned his bachelor’s degree in supervision in 1990.  He went on to earn a master’s degree in management from National University in San Diego, Calif.

Lee and his wife, La’Tanza, have two children, Robert IV and Rachel.

Marcus Knight
Assistant Coach

Marcus Knight has joined the Valparaiso football staff for the 2008 season and coaches the wide receivers for the Crusaders.

In his first season with the Brown and Gold, he helped a redshirt freshman receiver garner Honorable Mention All-Pioneer Football League honors as a rookie.  

Playing for the Oakland Raiders from 2000-2002, Knight was the starting kick returner for the team that faced Tampa Bay in Super Bowl XXXVII.  In 2002, he averaged 24.3 yards per return with a long of 65 yards for the Raiders.

He also played for the Amsterdam Admirals for one season in NFL Europe before signing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for one season.  From 2005-2007, Knight played in the Arena Football League for both the Philadelphia Soul and the Columbus Destroyers.

In the spring of 2007, Knight served as the wide receivers coach for Grenada High School in California.

Knight played collegiately for the University of Michigan.  He was a member of the Wolverines national championship team in 1997 that played in the Rose Bowl.

While at Michigan, he earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors as a senior as voted upon by the media while leading the team in yards per catch (20.4) in 1999.  A four-year letterman, Knight started 23 career games and finished tied for 11th all-time at Michigan in career receiving yards (1,508) and 13th in career receptions (88).

Knight completed his bachelor’s degree with a focus on history, Afro-American studies, and psychology from Michigan in December of 2007.  He is currently working on his master’s degree in sports administration at Valparaiso.

Willis Barringer
Assistant Coach

Willis Barringer joined the Valparaiso coaching staff in the summer of 2009 as the Crusaders’ secondary coach.

He arrived at Valpo from the College of Wooster where he served as the cornerbacks coach on a team that went 8-2 in 2008.  The defense set a new school record with 20 interceptions and the Fighting Scots ranked in the top-three in the league in every defensive category.  Barringer coached two All-North Coast Athletic Conference cornerbacks.

Barringer spent one season as the defensive backs coach at Scott High School in Toledo, Ohio prior to his stint at Wooster, and had First Team and Second Team All-City League defensive backs under his guidance.  One of his pupils went on to play cornerback at the University of Pittsburgh.

A three-year starter at safety at the University of Michigan, Barringer was also the team’s Special Teams Player of the Year in 2004.  He played in three Rose Bowls, earning a pair of starting assignments for the Wolverines.

Barringer earned his bachelor’s degree in liberal arts at Michigan in 2006 with a concentration in English.  He is currently working on his master’s degree in sports administration at Valparaiso.