July 6, 2008

A New Boss at Michigan State

Former Eastern Michigan head coach Jake Boss, Jr., has taken over the program at Michigan State.

In his first season with the Eagles this past spring, Boss led EMU to the MAC Championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. The Eagles started 0-17 before winning 25 of 40 entering regional play. EMU was 15-8 in league play and 25-34 overall. Boss was 2008 MAC Coach of the Year.

A native of Lansing, Mich., Boss was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Michigan from 2004-07. The Wolverines won 127 games and reached the NCAA Tournament in each of his three seasons in Ann Arbor.

Boss, 37, was an assistant for seven seasons (1997-2004) at Eastern Michigan. He started his collegiate coaching career as an assistant at Iowa Central Community College (1996-97). Boss was an assistant at Lakeview (Mich.) High School in 1994 before becoming head coach at Webberville (Mich.) High School in 1995.

Boss played from 1989-93 at Alma and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in English in 1993. He received a Master’s Degree in Physical Education from Eastern Michigan in 2000. He and his wife, Cheryl, have one son and one daughter and are expecting their third child in July.

Boss replaces David Grewe, who left to become associate head coach at LSU.

Click here for list of 2008 Division I head coaching changes.