BATON ROUGE — Stacy Searels, a former First Team All-America lineman at Auburn, has been named offensive line coach at LSU, head coach Nick Saban announced on Tuesday.
Searels comes to LSU from Cincinnati, where he served in the same capacity for the last two seasons. During his two-year stay with the Bearcats, Cincinnati played in two bowl games as well as winning the school’s first conference title since 1964 by capturing the 2002 Conference USA crown.
“Stacy is a great addition to our staff,” Saban said. “He has had a great deal of success as a coach and a player at both the collegiate and professional levels. He gives us a blend of a good fundamental coach as well as person who has an outstanding knowledge of the game.”
In 2002, Searels coached an offensive line that helped Cincinnati lead Conference USA in total offense (397.5 yards per game), while averaging 29.2 points a contest.
Prior to joining Cincinnati, Searels served as an assistant coach at Appalachian State from 1994-2000, helping the I-AA squad to five playoff appearances and to a pair of Southern Conference titles. He also coached players to five All-America and 15 all-conference honors in seven years as an offensive line and tight ends coach at Appalachian State.
Searels got his start in coaching as a graduate assistant at Auburn in 1992, working with the Tiger squad that posted a perfect 11-0 mark in 1993.
As a player, Searels earned First Team All-America honors from both the Associated Press and Football News as a senior at Auburn in 1987. Searels was a three-year starter for Auburn, blocking for Heisman Trophy winner Bo Jackson in 1985 and All-America Brent Fullwood in 1986. He participated in four bowl games as a member of the Auburn football team.
A First Team All-Southeastern Conference selection as both a junior and senior, he was honored with the team’s Ken Rice Award as the school’s best blocking lineman in 1987. He played in both the Japan Bowl and the Senior Bowl following the 1987 season.
In 1990, the Birmingham Post-Herald named Searels to the Auburn team of the 1980’s.
Searels was a fourth round draft pick by the San Diego Chargers in 1988, playing two seasons there before moving to the Miami Dolphins for the 1990 season. He ended his professional career in 1991 with the New York/New Jersey Knights of the World League of American Football.
Searel, a Trion, Ga., native, graduated from Auburn in with a degree in marketing and transportation in 1990. He followed that with a Master’s degree in higher education administration from Auburn in 1995.
Searels is married to the former Patricia Hale and the couple has two daughters, Taylor (5) and Savannah (2).