Chris Bache
Assistant Coach
Fourth Season
(Indiana, Pa.; 1987)

    Since his arrival, offensive line coach Chris Bache has played a key role in the success of the program the past three seasons. The Guins are 26-10 since Bache's joined the staff prior to the 2005 campaign.
    Bache had the role of recruiting coordinator added to his list of duties prior to last year.
    In the past two seasons, the Guins are one of just two teams to rank in the top eight at the FCS level in sacks allowed per contest. In the 25 games over that span, YSU has allowed just 25 sacks, including just nine last year.
    Last season, the Guins battled through injuries to produce a productive campaign as three players were lost for the season before conference play even started.
    However, the unit finished with a solid campaign as Brad Samsa, who started at guard the previous two years, moved to tackle and earned second-team All-America and first-team All-Gateway honors. Senior Josh Tanner was a second-team All-Gateway pick as well.
    The Guins ranked fifth nationally surrendering just 0.82 sacks per game, allowing nine for the year. YSU averaged 366.8 yards of total offense and 27.4 points per game. On the ground, the Penguins averaged 196.5 per contest while through the air, they averaged 170.4 yards a game.
    In 2006, the Penguin offensive line helped pave the way for the best individual rushing performance in school history. A veteran unit, the entire line started 13 of 14 games together during the 2006 national semifinal season. All-America tailback Marcus Mason took advantage of some impressive holes rushing for a school record 1,847 yards and averaging 153.9 a contest.
    As a team, YSU averaged a 223.7 yards rushing a game, ranking second in the Gateway and ninth nationally.
    The unit wasn't one dimensional, as the Guins provided great pocket protection for the quarterback throughout the year. YSU yielded just 13 sacks for the entire campaign, ranking eighth in the nation and first in the Gateway Football Conference. In the three playoff games, the group surrendered just two sacks.
    Sixty percent of the starting unit was named to the All-Gateway squad. Senior center Ryan Jewell and senior tackle Patrick Walker were first-team all-conference selections while Samsa was a second-team all-league pick as a guard.
    Jewell earned All-America accolades from various services and had an impressive four-year career.
    In 2005, Bache's unit had two all-conference performers and helped the Penguins to their best total-offensive average in four seasons and the fifth-best mark in school history.
    Under Bache's tutelage, Jewell was named first-team All-Gateway while left tackle John Bartos was an honorable-mention all-league selection. It marked the first time since 1999 that a YSU center was named first-team all-league. The two selections up front were the most since 2001.
    YSU surrendered 19 sacks, third-lowest in the conference, while throwing for its highest yardage average since 1987 (190.6 yards per game). The ground game ranked third in the conference averaging just under 200 yards a contest.
    Before coming to Youngstown State, Bache spent the previous six seasons at Division II Indiana (Pa.), including the last three as the offensive-line coach and the recruiting coordinator.
    Bache helped lead the Indians to four Division II playoff appearances during his tenure at his alma mater. IUP won at least seven games in every season, including a 7-3 mark in 2004. Bache coached the linebackers his first three years at IUP before taking over the offensive line duties prior to the 2002 campaign.
   Under Bache at IUP, offensive guard Khiawatha Downey was a Division II All-America selection in 2003 and a free agent signee by the San Francisco 49ers. While coaching linebackers, he helped develop Mike Borisenko into a first-team Associated Press All-American in 2000 and a two-time PSAC West Defensive Player of the Year.
   In 2003, the Indians were 10-1, but failed to qualify for the postseason. During his first four campaigns (1999-2002), IUP qualified for the playoffs every year and advanced to the Division II semifinals in 1999. IUP was 11-2 in 2002, 8-2 in 2001, 8-3 in 2000 and 9-4 in 1999. He spent all six seasons for Head Coach Frank Cignetti.
    He returned to IUP following a four-year stint at Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern Division member Kutztown. While on the Golden Bears staff, Bache worked primarily with the offensive line while also directing Kutztown’s recruiting efforts. Prior to his stay at Kutztown, Bache spent five years as an assistant coach at The College of Wooster (Ohio), where he served at different times as linebackers coach, offensive line coach and offensive coordinator.
    After earning his bachelor’s degree in criminology from Indiana, Pa., in 1987, Bache worked as a graduate assistant coach for the Indians until August 1989, when he accepted a similar position at Temple. He assisted the defensive staff of the Owls during the 1989 season and received a master’s degree in education from Temple in 1991 before moving to Wooster.
    Bache starred at inside linebacker for IUP from 1983-86 while recording 337 tackles, including 118 as a junior in 1985. He is one of only 12 players in IUP history since 1960 to record more than 300 career tackles. His father Joe and his brother Kevin also played for the Indians.
   Chris and his wife Kathleen are the parents of three daughters, Katelyn, Kirsten and Karlie.