On Aug. 1, 2018, Erik Link officially joined the Bulldog football program in the role of special teams coordinator.
Link comes to Ruston with more than 15 years of coaching experience under his belt at both the collegiate and high school level, including stints at Auburn and Iowa State.
Most recently, Link spent the past two seasons as the head football coach and assistant athletic director at Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, Iowa. In his time at the helm of the Roosevelt football program, Link helped revive the Roughriders, leading the school to its first winning season in 10 years and a City Championship title in 2017.
“We are incredibly excited to add Erik Link to our program,” said Skip Holtz. “We are thrilled a 10th assistant coach was approved, but we did not want to add just anybody. We wanted to add somebody who could help us and I think Erik’s background as a head coach and special teams coordinator will be a great addition to this football program. He will serve as our special teams coordinator and I think his knowledge and experience will be greatly beneficial to this team. I am really excited to get on the grass with him this fall.”
Link enjoyed a pair of stints at Auburn in 2010 and then from 2013-15. In 2010, Link served on Gene Chizik’s staff as a special teams quality control coach and helped lead the Tigers to the BCS National Championship after a perfect 14-0 season. He then spent two seasons as the special teams coordinator and tight ends coach at Montana State where the Bobcats won two Big Sky Conference titles in 2011 and 2012.
He returned to Auburn in 2013 as a special teams and offensive analyst under Gus Malzahn. In 2013, Link was part of an Auburn team that was crowned SEC Champions and made an appearance in the BCS National Championship game.
From 2006-08, Link was a member of the football staff at Iowa State in a variety of roles, including offensive line graduate assistant (2006), assistant director of football operations (2007-08) and director of high school relations (2007-08). Following his time with the Cyclones, Link was a teacher and coach at Keller High School (Texas) in 2009.
Link began his collegiate coaching career in 2004 as a defensive graduate assistant at his alma mater, Drake University, where he played from 1999-02 as an offensive lineman for the Bulldogs. In 2005, Link moved into the role of defensive line coach for Drake before joining the Iowa State staff the following season. Link’s start as a coach began at North High School in Des Moines in 2003 where he served as an assistant coach on the offensive line.
During his playing days, Link was named to the A.D. Honor Roll at Drake four straight years, while he lettered from 2000-02 for the Bulldogs. Link helped lead the Bulldogs to the 2000 Pioneer Football League Championship, while he was named co-offensive player of the year and earned all-conference honorable mention accolades two years later as a senior.
Link is a 2003 graduate of Drake University with a bachelor’s degree in secondary education, while he earned his master’s degree in public administration in executive leadership from Drake in 2008.
