Recruiting Areas: Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas
Third-year assistant coach Joe Borich will continue his work with the team’s quarterbacks and wide receivers in 2009. He has a strong understanding of the offense, having worked with offensive coordinator Bruce Barnum at his previous stop of Idaho State.
The Big Red passing game broke numerous records in 2008 under Borich's charge, as senior quarterback Nathan Ford and wide receivers Jesse Baker and Bryan Walters each earned All-Ivy honors. Both Baker and Walters, as well as Zac Canty, surpassed the 1,000-yard mark in career receiving, while Ford had four 300-yard passing games and a pair of 400-yard efforts during the campaign and led the conference in passing (281.5 ypg.) and total offense (284.9 ypg.). Ford graduated with numerous career accolades, including ranking in the top 10 in Ivy League history in passing yards (eighth, 6,266 yards). In all, eight different receivers had at least 10 catches on the season.
In his first season working with the quarterbacks, Borich tutored Ford in his first year in the spread offense. The quarterback responded with the second-highest completion percentage in school history (.630). Cornell posted at least 200 yards passing in eight of 10 contests. Due to injuries, Cornell utilized three different players under center, all of whom attempted at least 40 passes on the season. Despite that, the Big Red quarterbacks directed an offense that set school records for completions (281) and first downs (231), while averaging 261.1 yards per game in the air while completing 61.6 percent of their passes.
Borich, a former quarterback at Memphis, joined Barnum on the Idaho State staff and spent the last six years as quarterbacks coach. His quarterbacks set numerous school records during his tenure, including completion percentage in a season (.599), with two quarterbacks throwing for more than 20 touchdowns in a year. He helped tutor many of the players that helped Barnum’s explosive offenses. He also worked with the running backs and wide receivers in his first two seasons at ISU.
Borich came to Idaho State from Snow College, where he also served as quarterbacks coach and assisted in preparing and developing weekly game plans. His quarterbacks helped lead Snow to an 8-2 record in 1998, including a No. 5 national ranking. Included among his charges was Josh Heupel, later the starting quarterback for 2000 national champion Oklahoma.
Borich was a two-year starter behind center at Snow himself before transferring to Memphis, where has was a two-year starting signal caller. A team captain on both squads, Borich was a National Junior College All-America selection while at Snow. Borich received his bachelor’s degree in Physical Education/Fitness Management from Memphis in 1996.
*Updated July 1, 2009
