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Ex-Miami (Ohio) assistant Mark Spencer to coach Kent State RBs

Kent State has hired Miami (Ohio) assistant Mark Spencer as the team's new running backs coach.

Former Miami (Ohio) wide receivers coach Mark Spencer will be Kent State’s running backs coach, according to a source.

The move reunites Spencer with Golden Flashes offensive coordinator Don Treadwell, who was promoted from running backs coach earlier this month. Spencer coached running backs and wide receivers under Treadwell at Miami (Ohio) from 2011-2013.

The 44-year-old Spencer wasn’t in college football this past season but was a consultant for a Columbus, Ohio, high school team. Prior to his arrival at Miami (Ohio), he coached wide receivers at Ohio Dominican in 2010.

Spencer was at Youngstown State from 2008-09, first coaching tailbacks and fullbacks before moving to tight ends and tackles his last season. He was an assistant at Iowa Wesleyan in 2007 and before that a graduate assistant at Bluffton for two seasons.

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A Columbus, Ohio, native, he was a quality control coach at Cincinnati in 2003 and the Bearcats’ offensive coordinator in 2004. Spencer coached running backs for a season at his alma mater, Worthington (Ohio) High School, after graduating in 1989 before playing the same position at Ohio from 1991-94.

He joins Kent State coach and alumnus Paul Haynes, who has a 6-17 record in two seasons, including a 2-9 mark this past year. But Haynes' team closed the season with a win over rival Akron and returns two first-team All-MAC selections in rising junior safety Nate Holley, one of the nation’s top tacklers, and punter Anthony Melchiori, who led the conference in punting average.

Haynes still has one on-field coaching position to fill at cornerbacks.