Dec. 17--Illinois' third assistant football coach has left the program.
The Illini announced Wednesday that offensive line coach Tom Brattan will not be retained after serving in that role the last two seasons. A 32-year college coaching veteran, Brattan also coached Northwestern's offensive line from 1992 to '98.
Tight ends and special teams coach Alex Golesh left Dec. 1 to become tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator at Iowa State. Linebackers coach Mike Ward also was not retained by coach Bill Cubit, who received a two-year contract Nov. 28.
According to CoachingSearch.com, which first reported Brattan's departure, one potential replacement is A.J. Ricker, who left Illinois for Missouri in July 2014. Ricker, also a former assistant under Cubit at Western Michigan, was not retained by new coach Barry Odom at Missouri after a poor season by the Tigers offense, which ranked 124th nationally and 119th in rushing.
sryan@tribpub.com
