Within days of spring practice, the Kent State football team has hired Joe Tresey as its cornerbacks coach. Tresey provides over 30 years of coaching experience to the Flashes’ staff.

“We’re very pleased to have Coach Tresey with us,” coach Paul Haynes said to Kent State Athletics. “I’ve known him for a long time from working camps together. He brings a wealth of knowledge and a ton of experience. He has the same vision that we have in building men and he’s nurtured a lot of young men over the years.”

Tresey has been a defensive coordinator at the collegiate level for 15 years, including stops at Youngstown State, South Florida, UCLA and Cincinnati. He was also a defensive coordinator in the Mid-American Conference at Central Michigan and Akron.

He coordinated the Cincinnati defense in 2007 that led the country in turnovers and interceptions.

Tresey also has experience at the high school level and recently served as athletic director at Clear Fork. His high school resume consists of nine seasons as a head coach, including three years at Fredericktown, where he earned UPI Ohio Division IV Coach of the Year honors. He was later inducted into the Fredericktown High School Athletics Hall of Fame in 1999.

Tresey spent the 2010 season as defensive backs coach for the Omaha Nighthawks of the United Football League.

Tresey earned a bachelor’s degree from Ohio State in 1982. He then earned his Master’s of Education in Sports Science from Ashland University in 1997. He is also a native of Warren, Ohio.

The Flashes will begin the first of 15 spring practices on Wednesday.

Scott Lendak is a sport reporter, contact him at [email protected].