Longtime Butler juco football coach Tim Schaffner resigns to take Division I FCS job
Butler Community College football head coach Tim Schaffner resigned from his position on Monday to accept a role as defensive coordinator on Charlie Ragle’s staff at Idaho State.
After spending the last 17 seasons at Butler and more than two decades at the junior college level, Schaffner will coach at the NCAA Division I level in the Football Championship Subdivision for the first time in his career. The news was first reported by JUCO Football Frenzy on Twitter.
In an ironic twist, Schaffner will follow a former player he coached in Ragle who was the first recruiting call of his career in 1994 when he became head coach at Eastern New Mexico, as reported by the Idaho State Journal. Ragle was announced as Idaho State’s head coach on Friday and Schaffner was his first hire on staff.
“Life is relationships,” Schaffner told the Idaho State Journal on Monday. “That’s all it is. When you find good relationships in your life, you want to keep those people in your life and keep them close … Now we’re going to have the chance to work together and create something special.”
Schaffner earned a reputation while at Butler as a tremendous defensive coach who played a key role during the back-end of Butler’s dynasty under Hall of Fame coach Troy Morrell, which included back-to-back national championships in 2007 and 2008 and Jayhawk Conference championships in eight of 10 seasons with Schaffner as defensive coordinator.
When Morrell retired following the 2014 season, Schaffner took over and kept Butler among the best programs in the nation. In seven seasons as head coach, he led the Grizzlies to a 44-29 record, bowl wins in 2018 and 2019 and the 2015 Jayhawk Conference title in his first season.
The final season of the Schaffner era in Butler ended on somewhat of a sour note, as just days after the Grizzlies finished the 2021 fall season with a 6-2 record and ascended to No. 14 in the national rankings, all of Butler’s wins were stripped by the NJCAA when it was discovered that Butler had used an ineligible player on offense for the entire season. In a self-imposed penalty, Butler suspended Schaffner three games and the Grizzlies’ spirited run in the Jayhawk Conference playoffs ended in the semifinals.
Butler had not publicly announced Schaffner’s move as of Monday evening and it is unclear who will serve as interim head coach, although longtime associate head coach Steve Braet served the role in 2014 when Morrell retired.
It will be just the second coaching search Butler has had to make in the last 22 years. The Grizzlies are still considered one of the nation’s top jobs playing in the Jayhawk Conference and could attract an intriguing list of potential suitors. With the next few months being crucial in recruiting for the 2022 season, Butler should make a decision on a new coach sooner rather than later.
This story was originally published December 14, 2021 at 6:30 AM.
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