Abdul Hodge will be arriving as outside linebacker coach at the University of South Dakota with a background in the game that is both impressive and unique.
 
The 35-year old former all-Big Ten and all-America linebacker for Iowa, who also played in the NFL for five seasons, has not followed the traditional path to a spot on the Coyotes' coaching staff, though when one looks at where he's been and what he's accomplished, it had to be something very close to a no-brainer when head coach Bob Nielson extended an offer to bring him aboard.
 
"The way I've always hired staff is that you look first and foremost at hiring quality people," Nielson said. "And Abdul is a tremendous individual who has accomplished a lot in his life to this point. I'm extremely confident he's going to add a tremendous amount to our staff here."
 
Hodge earned All-Big Ten honors three times before embarking on an NFL career that began by getting drafted in the third round by the Green Bay Packers. Though injuries were a persistent problem, he played four seasons for the Packers, Cincinnati and Carolina. Since then he's coached at the high school level, founded and operated his own software tech business, and last season served as a consultant for the Hawkeyes and an intern for the Tennessee Titans.
 
Though his background as a professional player gave him an advanced view of the sport, he approaches his first full-time job as a college coach with a philosophy that goes well beyond Xs and Os.
 
"I've never gotten tired of football," he said. "But the biggest thing is the student-athletes. One of the things I've learned from the coaches I've played for and worked with is that the good ones use football as a tool to teach about life. You're only going to play college football for four or five years but the things you learn can set you up for the next 30 years."
 
Hodge, who counts among his friends former Hawkeye, Minnesota Viking and Mount Vernon, South Dakota, native Chad Greenway, has never come close to leaving the game behind. It was just that he also had several other things going on. This winter, Nielson got a few phone calls from people who know Hodge well and recommended him as a potential hire. Shortly thereafter, Hodge called Nielson himself and said he was interested.
 
"His background isn't traditional – he went into playing football professionally after college rather than going into coaching right away," Nielson said. "And then he worked his way into coaching with a combination of experiences at the high school, college and professional level."


 
Hodge has a brother, Rasheed, who played football at Dakota Wesleyan and is now raising a family in Brandon, South Dakota. He has also visited the Greenway ranch near Mount Vernon when the pair was sharing linebacker duties with the Hawkeyes so he is plenty familiar with the state of South Dakota. He's also quickly getting up to speed with new coordinator Travis Johansen on the distinctive schemes the Coyotes intend to employ.
 
"I'm excited about what Travis brings with his leadership ability," Hodge said. "He's very creative from a defensive standpoint. It's going to be great to be involved in that kind of a system as a coach."
 
Nielson saw Hodge's elite-level background in the game as a great match when coupled with Johansen's novel approach to stopping offenses. In company with a staff that is familiar with the league and its tendencies, it could be the start of a promising combination.
 
"With what we're doing defensively, the need for being able to break that linebacker position down is going to be important," Nielson said. "The outside linebackers will be working closely with the inside linebacker group and the defensive line group. It's a natural fit for a guy who comes in and brings the experience that he does, but also gets to work with a new coordinator and a new staff that is putting together a new defensive scheme."
 
Hodge made his own phone calls when deciding on whether USD was for him or not. Knowing that he's going to be spending a lot of time at the DakotaDome with the rest of the staff, he logically reasoned he needed to be comfortable around them both as people and as fellow coaches.
 
"At Iowa the coaching staff believes in the developmental process and that's the same belief and structure at USD," he said. "It's about developing the student-athlete from the weight room to the class room to the football field. They're all connected. If you do that – if you can encourage your student-athletes to excel in the community, the classroom and the weight room – the football part of it is going to be easy. It comes full circle because of the foundation they've built."