HILLSBORO, Kan. - Tabor College Head Football Coach Mike Gardner has selected Billy Hickman, a standout former player and senior team captain, to help rebuild the Bluejays' football program.

Hickman, 25, will serve as Offensive Coordinator and hit the recruiting trail immediately to help Gardner attract outstanding student athletes to the program. For the past two seasons, Hickman was an assistant coach at Colorado School of Mines, in Golden, Colo., which utilized a spread-offense style of attack.

"Billy Hickman has an outstanding football background," Gardner said. "He is fine person and I feel he will be an outstanding contributor to our staff. His personality is such that he is going to be able to relate to a variety of different types of people which will make him an effective recruiter."

As tight ends coach at CSM this past season, Hickman helped with game planning, recruiting, and coordinated the team's conditioning workouts. The Orediggers (NCAA Division II) went 8-3 overall and placed second in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. In 2008, Hickman was offensive line coach for an Orediggers team that also posted an 8-3 record. During this time, two of his linemen and one of his tight ends were named to all-conference teams.

According to Gardner, Hickman has a knack for knowing how to get the most from his players.

"Billy knows the playbook, but more importantly, he knows how to put players in the best position to be successful," Gardner said. "We will be using a lot of different offensive sets next season, and he will help us put our personnel in positions to be successful."

Gardner returned to Tabor in December after serving as the head coach at Malone University in Canton, Ohio, for the past four seasons. Gardner led a drastic turnaround at Malone, developing a winning attitude in a football program that had struggled prior to his arrival. In four years as head coach at Malone, Gardner posted a 25-18 record and his team was ranked in the NAIA top 25 in each of the past four years.

Before departing for Malone, Gardner had led Tabor to conference titles in 2004 and 2005 while earning back-to-back Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors. In returning to Tabor, Gardner replaced Mike Gottsch, who resigned after completing his third season. The Bluejays were 3-27 during Gottsch's tenure.

Gardner has been working overtime to put together a coaching staff, retain current players, and recruit new ones for next season. His new Offensive Coordinator, Hickman, played offensive tackle for Gardner during the 2005 championship season in which Hickman earned all-KCAC recognition. He was a senior captain at Tabor in 2007. Before coming to Tabor, the Bakersfield, Calif., native had started on both the offensive and defensive lines at Bakersfield Junior College, earning second team all-conference honors.

"As a player and as a person Billy impressed me right away," Gardner said. "He was always extremely coachable and I felt like he was a guy that you could always count on. He had a lot of ability, but what made him a great player was the fact that he just had a football mentality. He was 6-4, close to 300 pounds, with good feet, and he could move."

After his playing career was over, Hickman stayed at Tabor to complete his studies and served as a student assistant defensive line coach during the spring of 2008. He graduated from Tabor with a Bachelor's Degree in History in 2008.

On his Tabor job application, Hickman indicates his eagerness to return to a Christ-centered college.

"Having worked at a secular institution for the past couple of years, I have felt out of place relative to being near a Christian community," he wrote. "Tabor is a wonderful place that allows one to fully express and share their witness with others in an extremely beneficial way. I fully welcome the opportunity to work at a college that encourages these ideals and I am confident in my ability to serve in a similar fashion."

There are no full-time, football-only coaches at Tabor College. That means in addition to their coaching responsibilities, Gardner and Hickman will also teach academic classes. The rest of the coaching staff is currently under construction and will be comprised of one adjunct coach and three to five student assistant coaches, as was the case in previous coaching regimes.

Jake Schenk also has been retained as an assistant coach from the previous staff.

"Coach Schenk did an outstanding job these past few months while we waited to fill the head coaching vacancy," said Rusty Allen, Vice President for Athletics.

Regarding the transition to a new head coach, Allen added, "It has been exciting to see the energy that Coach Gardner has brought to recruiting, conditioning and general team-building. Now to have Billy Hickman joining us now puts one more piece of the puzzle in place and I am confident God will bless the hard work the entire staff is embarking on."

Although Gardner has a reputation as a tireless worker, he says he won't be trying to rebuild the football program all by himself.

"I feel like we're on track putting the coaching staff together," Gardner said. "I also feel like we are currently involved in speaking to some pretty decent recruits for this upcoming class."

Hickman plans to bring a solid work ethic to the job.

On his Tabor application, Hickman wrote, "To me, this position would demand hard work and good character. If I work hard at building a thriving team, my abilities will allow me success. I find Tabor to be a place that my family and I can be happy with, and this makes it so much easier to be great at what I do. Operating with great integrity and character is crucial to being prominent in this particular role. Following the word of God and being a good Christian leader will make me successful at Tabor College. It is not enough at Tabor to just get results, but doing so with great passion and character as well."

Hickman also was asked to write a brief statement about his philosophy of and commitment to a Christ-centered athletic department, and how he would integrate his faith into his work as a coach at Tabor College.

Hickman, who is a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, responded, "…Coaching football in today's world has become increasingly difficult for Christian people. …Greed, particularly at the Division One level, is rampant and people often operate with little to no sense of integrity….

"Being an example to players, coaches and community is the best way that I can serve a Christ-centered athletic department," he continued. "…It is my responsibility to show Christ's love and passion through my work, not only for myself, but so that others may see it, and follow my lead….

"As a coach at Tabor, I can assure you that I would be a model individual with regard to my responsibilities. I would welcome not only the challenge of helping revitalize a once great program, but to so within the context of being a wonderful Christian example."

Hickman is married to the former Traci Neufeld, a Hesston, Kan. native who played volleyball for Tabor and graduated in 2007. The couple has an infant daughter. While living in Lakewood, Colo., they have been worshiping at Belleview Community (Mennonite Brethren) Church.