Ferris State Athletics Announces Elevation Of Five Staff Members
Big Rapids, Mich. - Ferris State University Athletics has announced the elevation and title changes of five staff members, who have been promoted based on their performance and service to Bulldog Athletics.
The announcement was made today by FSU Athletics Director Perk Weisenburger on his final day leading Ferris State Athletics prior to his official retirement after 11 years leading the Bulldogs.
Rob Bentley, who is in his 22nd year working with the Bulldogs, has been elevated to Associate Athletics Director and will continue to oversee the department's athletics communications efforts. Bentley, who serves as the radio voice for both the Bulldogs' football along with men's and women's basketball teams, coordinates the department's media relations, broadcast, multimedia and social media efforts in addition to leading FSU's external operations team. Additionally, he hosts the weekly award-winning Ferris Sports Update television show and is the primary media contact for FSU's 17 varsity programs.
Meanwhile, Tim Blashill has been promoted to Assistant Athletic Director of Facilities and Event Operations. Blashill, who was formerly the manager of athletic facilities, manages and provides oversight of FSU's facilities, game operations and summer camps and is the department's liaison with the university's facilities management team. He also schedules and manages the operations and programming for the Ewigleben Sports Complex and the ice arena in addition to outdoor athletic facilities. Blashill has worked with the Bulldogs in a variety of roles for nearly two decades and is a Ferris State alum.
FSU's Brett Knight will now be the Bulldogs' Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Medicine. Knight is in his fourth year working at Ferris State and is the Bulldogs' designated athletics Health Care Administrator as required by the NCAA. He is the lead athletic trainer for Bulldog Football and provides oversight of the sports medicine area, which includes three other full-time athletic trainers. He has played an instrumental role to Ferris State University, Bulldog Athletics and the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) in handling the COVID-19 pandemic and is a member of the GLIAC's COVID-19 Task Force, helping develop guidelines and protocols in dealing with COVID-related logistics among his other duties leading FSU's sports medicine team.
One of Knight's full-time assistants, Brady Hopkins, has also been promoted and is now the Associate Athletic Trainer on the FSU staff. Hopkins is also in his fourth year working at Ferris State as serves as FSU's primary trainer for the Bulldogs' NCAA Division I men's ice hockey program in addition to working with student-athletes from other varsity programs. He helps provide oversight and leadership support in the sports medicine area and previously worked on Knight's staff at Alma College before both joined Ferris State Athletics in 2018.
Finally, assistant men's basketball coach Raymoan McAfee has been moved to Associate Head Coach at FSU. A Ferris State alum and former men's basketball student-athlete, McAfee has distinguished himself as one of the league's top assistant coaches and is in his fourth year as head coach Andy Bronkema's top assistant. McAfee played at FSU from 2012-14 and later served as a member of the coaching staff for three years prior to returning to Ferris State as the school's top assistant in 2018. He assists in all facets of the program, including day-to-day operations, recruiting, skill development, on-floor coaching, video and analytics and more.
Friday marks Weisenburger's final day as the Bulldogs' Athletics Director prior to the official arrival of incoming Athletics Director Steve Brockelbank on Monday. Weisenburger has led the Bulldogs to historic championship success over the past 11 years and has worked in intercollegiate athletics as an administrator for more than 40 years.