University of Tennessee at Martin head football coach Matt Griffin announced the hiring of six new coaches for the 2003 Skyhawk season.

Griffin will retain interim head coach Johnny Jernigan, and he has yet to hire a defensive coordinator.

•DELANE FITZGERALD, RUNNING BACKS COACH DeLane Fitzgerald will serve as the Skyhawks’ running backs coach. He served as the defensive line assistant coach at James Madison University in Virginia this past season. Before his stint at James Madison, he served as the defensive coordinator at Bridgton (Maine) Academy. He also was the recruiting coordinator and directed the team’s strength and conditioning program at Bridgton Academy.

Fitzgerald lettered at James Madison in 1998 and on the 1999 James Madison team that advanced to the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs.

He worked as a fullback and special teams player at James Madison and he was also used as a holder on placement attempts. He was a two-time Atlantic 10 all-academic selection and in 1999 received the James Madison team’s John Kraus Leadership Award.

He transferred to James Madison from Potomac State where he was a quarterback, receiver and special teams player. As a freshman, he had a 118-yard, two-touchdown rushing effort against West Virginia’s junior varsity. He was a team captain at Potomoc State in 1996 and received the school’s student athlete award.

Fitzgerald received his bachelor’s degree in kinesiology with a coaching minor. He calls Lovingston, Va., home and he was born Sept. 21, 1976.

•MICKEY FEIN, OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR, QUARTERBACKS COACH Mickey Fein, 26, will serve as the quarterbacks coach. This past season he coached wide receivers at the University of Maine, his alma mater.

As a player at Maine, Fein played quarterback. He set 17 school records from 1995-98. He is the university’s second all-time leading passer. He was a captain his senior year and twice earned the Harold Westerman MVP Award at Maine.

One of Fein’s highlights at Maine was directing the Black Bears to a 49-47 triple overtime win against UConn. In that game Fein set NCAA records for attempts, completions and plays in a quarter. He also was named the USA Today/ESPN National Player of the Week for his 522-yard, five-touchdown pass day.

Fein, who was a business major, had tryouts with the NFL’s Detroit Lions and the Canadian Football League. He played for Albany in the Arena Football League in 2000. In 2001, he joined the Norfolk Nighthawks of the Arena2 Football league. In 11 games, he threw for 2,103 yards and 36 touchdowns, ranking first and second on Norfolks’ all-time list. He holds team records for attempts (323), completions (190) and total offense (2,116). Fein led the team to a 6-5 mark after a 0-4 start. He was named player of the week after throwing nine touchdowns in one game.

•BRIAN SCOTT, WIDE RECEIVERS COACH Brian Scott comes to Tennessee-Martin from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell where he served the Riverhawks for one season as the quarterbacks coach. He will coach the receivers at Tennessee-Martin. Before accepting the job at UMass, Lowell, Scott was the offensive coordinator at Cony High School. As a player he enjoyed a stellar four-year career as a quarterback at the University of Maine.

Scott earned a full scholarship to Maine following a brilliant career at Waterville High School and went on to start as a senior after backing up All-Yankee Conference/Atlantic-10 standout Mickey Fein.

During his senior year, Scott threw for 1,343 yards, completing 109 of 194 passes (.562) for six touchdowns. He was also involved in the week-to-week preparation with the coaching staff, experimenting with multiple formations, audibles and making adjustments. He ended his career at No. 11 among Maine’s career passing leaders with 1,660 yards. Scott earned the Senior Achievement Award for outstanding contributions to the football program and was the recipient of the Main Sports Hall of Fame Special Achievement Award.

While completing his degree in communications, Scott was the offensive coordinator at Cony High School where he helped a struggling team reach the conference playoffs for the first time in a decade. Cony finished 6-3 that year.

A graduate of Waterville High School, Scott was a three-time All-Pinetree Conference and all-state quarterback and guided the Panthers to a 29-4 record and two conference championships. He was also named captain and earned Most Valuable Player honors of the Shrine Bowl as a senior.

•JASON M. SEAPKER, DEFENSIVE SECONDARY COACH Jason M. Seapker, a 1995 New York Jets free agent, will coach the Skyhawks’ defensive secondary next season.

Seapker, a former collegiate football captain at Northeastern University, most recently worked as a private investigator for New England Investigator. He was the primary investigator for Boston’s inner city.

Before going to work for New England Investigator he worked as an insurance investigator and as a social worker. In 1995-96 Seapker, coached receivers and the defensive secondary at Norwood High School, in a Boston suburb.

Seapker was a three-year starter at Northeastern and a four-year letterman. He finished fourth on the all-time tackles list and was third team all-conference and an All-American candidate during his senior season.

Seapker is originally from Pittsburgh, Pa., where he attended North Allegheny High School. He was a two-year starter in Western Pennsylvania’s Division 4A.

He was an all-conference receiver and defensive back that had scholarship offers to Youngstown State, Northeastern, James Madison and Murray State. He also ran track, played baseball and wrestled at North Allegheny.

•MICHAEL J. ZAPOLNIK, OFFENSIVE LINEMEN COACH Michael J. Zapolnik, a former assistant offensive line coach at Brown University, will coach the offensive linemen at Tennessee-Martin.

Before accepting the coaching position at Brown, Zapolnik was an assistant coach at Fairfield (Connecticut) University. He coached the offensive line for a season and the defensive line for a year. He also served as junior varsity defensive coordinator.

While at Fairfield, Zapolnik was part of a team that achieved a 22-9 record over three seasons.

Zapolnik served as a graduate assistant during the fall of 1998 and the spring of 1999 at Tennessee-Martin.

Before Zapolnik came to Tennessee-Martin, he coached the offensive line, special teams, linebackers and tight ends at Chester High School in Chester, S.C.

Zapolnik, a Steubenville, Ohio native, has actively recruited Eastern Ohio, Western Pennsylvania, Northern/East New Jersey, South Carolina, Vermont, Indiana, Nebraska and Utah over the past four years.

Zapolnik earned his master’s in educational technology from Fairfield University in 2001. He completed his bachelor’s degree in 1995 at Fairmont State (West Virginia). At Fairmont State, Zapolnik was a three-year letterman. He played strong safety and defensive end.

He is a graduate of Steubenville Catholic Central High School and he was an All-Ohio Defensive Back in Division IV football.

•JOHNNY JERNIGAN, DEFENSIVE LINE COACH Johnny Jernigan enters his third season with Tennessee-Martin. He will serve as the defensive line coach on Griffin’s staff.

Jernigan came to Tennessee-Martin highly recommended as both a coach and recruiter. He joined the Skyhawks staff two years ago from the staff of Henderson State University in Arkansas.

A native of the Houston, Texas area, Jernigan served last at Henderson State. He was a member of the staff at Kilgore Junior College from 1994 until moving to Henderson State.

Jernigan coached the defensive line and supervised the off-season program.

Jernigan was an All-Texas Junior College Football Conference selection at Tyler College at defensive end. He also served as team captain. In 1992, he moved on to the nationally ranked Division I-AA program at Stephen F. Austin State University. He was an All-Southland Conference defensive end and again served as team captain.

He is an active member of the American Football Coaches Association and Tennessee Athletic Coaches Association.

•ALAN CHASE, STUDENT ASSISTANT COACH Alan Chase, a former Skyhawk offensive lineman, will serve as a student assistant coach this season for Griffin. Chase last played for the Skyhawks during the 2001 season. The Murray, Ky., native was a two-time All-Western Kentucky selection at Murray High School. He played all the positions along the offensive line. Chase is the son of John and Jan Fuqua.

“Alan has a great perspective on Tennessee-Martin because he’s an alumnus,” Griffin said. “He played here and now he gets to coach here. He has great initiative, has been real upbeat and positive with the kids in the short time I’ve been here, and we’re fortunate to have him with the program.”