Texas Wesleyan University Head Football Coach Joe Prud’homme announced today the hiring of Paul Duckworth as defensive coordinator. Duckworth coached each of the last 15 seasons with Prud’homme at Nolan Catholic High School.

Duckworth will immediately join Prud’homme in recruiting football players to begin at Texas Wesleyan next fall. Players that are interested in joining the team should apply now.

“I’m ready to be a part of something special at Texas Wesleyan,” Duckworth said. “Joe and I have a great relationship and a similar philosophy. Our mantra is ‘live forever.’ These young men will have a chance to do just that at Texas Wesleyan – to be a part of something special that will be remembered forever.”

Duckworth brings an impressive body of work both as coach and as player. He was a sixth-round NFL draft pick by the Green Bay Packers in 1994, but left the team due to injury. At the collegiate level, Duckworth played for the University of Connecticut. In 1998, UConn celebrated 100 years of football and named Duckworth to their All-Time Team.

Duckworth joined Prud’homme at Nolan Catholic in 2001, serving as associate head coach, defensive coordinator and strength & conditioning coach, and helped lead the Vikings to nine state championship games and seven state championship titles.

“Coach Duckworth is a very motivated and skilled defensive coach,” Prud’homme said. “He’s very resourceful and imaginative in his schemes and has a way of getting the very best out of his players. He’s excellent at setting and maintaining high expectations and a real positive culture.

“I’ve worked with him for a long time and have been very impressed with his ability to slow down high-powered offenses when nobody else could. He’s a perfect fit for our vision for the program where the student in student-athlete comes first.”

Prior to joining Prud’homme at Nolan Catholic, Duckworth was an assistant defensive coordinator for defensive ends and running backs at Bloomfield High School in Connecticut. During his tenure, Bloomfield went 47-0 and won four consecutive state championships in 1997, ’98, ’99 and ’00.

Texas Wesleyan announced last month that it is reestablishing the University's football program with a red-shirt leadership class that will begin practicing during the 2016-17 season. Games are scheduled to begin in the 2017-18 season.

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