Western Colorado University Athletics

Office: (970) 943-2046
E-mail: jbains@western.edu

After a season as defensive and special teams coordinator for the Mountaineer football program in 2010, Jas Bains will begin his first season as head coach for the 2011 season.

Bains has already spearheaded community engagement projects with the Gunnison County Partners Organization and the Colorado Department of Transportation. The Mountaineers also hosted a free kids clinic in the spring and will establish a mentoring program with the Gunnison Community Schools this fall.

Bains coached the top kick-blocking team in the RMAC in 2010 and one of the top kick-blocking teams in Division II. His defense was also ranked among the top half of the conference in interception return average and opponent fourth-down conversion.

Bains spent five seasons as a member of the coaching staff at Chadron State, with the final three as special teams coordinator and defensive secondary coach. He was part of a defensive staff that led the RMAC in total defense, passing defense and opponent first downs. He coached a punter and kicker to All-America honors as the special teams coordinator and tallied 30 blocked kicks in his five seasons. His punt and kickoff returners were consistently ranked among the top five in the nation.

Bains graduated from Fresno State in 2004 where he helped lead the Bulldogs to three bowl victories as a defensive back and special teams player against Georgia Tech, UCLA and Virginia. He transferred to Fresno State from Willamette University, where he started at safety as a true freshman.

A native of Fresno, Calif., Bains was the Clovis High School Athlete of the Year in 1999-2000. He was a two-time all-conference safety, a member of state tournament wrestling teams and was a member of the baseball team.

Bains is often a featured speaker at conventions, workshops and clinics on the role of defense and special teams. He is also a talented and respected recruiter in the state of California, as evidenced by the significant increase of West Coast athletes on the Chadron State rosters.

Bains was a member of the Chadron State staff as a graduate assistant before becoming a member of the full-time staff in early 2007. He earned his master's degree from Chadron State in December 2006.

---

Office: (970) 943-2109
E-mail: maimone@western.edu

Mike Aimone begins his second season as the defensive line coach for the Mountaineers after serving as an assistant coach for the same position with RMAC rival Chadron State.

Aimone coached Cory Beran to first team all-conference honors last season after he recorded a team-high nine tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks.

Aimone started his collegiate playing career at Weber State before transferring to Chadron State in 2005. He switched from defensive tackle to the offensive line and earned RMAC all-academic honors in both football and track and field. He also threw 55 feet in the shot put and 164-9 in the discus to earn all-conference honors for the Eagles.

Aimone is a native of Kemmerer, Wyo., where he earned the Milward Simpson Award as Wyoming’s outstanding male athlete. He was an all-conference performer in football, a 3A wrestling heavyweight champion and a state champion in the shot put.
 

---

  Office: (970) 943-2127
E-mail: tcase@western.edu

Tony Case begins his first season as a member of the Mountaineer coaching staff as the offensive line coach and run game coordinator.

Case was most recently the offensive line coach at Northern State University under Head Football Coach Tom Dosch. He coached Jim Green and Mike Zerr to All-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference honors last season. The Wolves were ranked in the top half of the NSIC for sacks allowed in a conference that sent three teams to the Division II national playoffs, including the national champion Minnesota, Duluth.

Case was the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Division III Nichols College in 2008. His offense ranked second in the 16-team New England Football Conference in passing and fourth in red zone offense. Case also coached First Team NEFC selection Brandt Genga and the NEFC’s third-leading receiver in Anthony Pillari.

Case entered the coaching ranks at Chadron State, where he coached the offensive line and tight ends from 2005 through 2007. He was a part of three national playoff and conference championship teams with the Eagles before graduating with a master's degree in organizational management.

Case was a four-year starter at Adams State from 2000-04, and played in the 2004 Cactus Bowl. He earned second team All-America honors as a senior at right guard and was a two-time All-RMAC selection.

Case also spent two seasons as a long snapper in the National Football League with the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots, and one season with the Rapid City Flying Aces of the National Indoor Football League. He started 17 games at center as he helped lead the Aces to the Arena Bowl Championship in 2006.
 

---

Office: (970) 943-2056
E-mail: kledwith@western.edu

Kelly Ledwith is beginning his first season on the Mountaineer staff as a defensive assistant coach. Ledwith spent the last three seasons at Fresno City College.

As defensive coordinator and secondary and special teams coach the last two seasons for the Rams, Ledwith helped lead the team to a pair of Valley Conference championships. Fresno City advanced to the state semifinals and ranked in the top ten of eight defensive categories, including third in sacks and fourth in tackles for loss. He coached an all-state safety and all-conference cornerback and had several earn scholarships at four-year schools.

Ledwith joined the Fresno City staff as a secondary and special teams coach in 2008 and was part of a staff that knocked off two top-ranked teams in the season. He also coached an all-conference safety in his first season with the Rams.

Ledwith was a graduate assistant at Fresno State in 2007 when the Bulldogs won the Humanitarian Bowl against Georgia Tech. It was his second stint with the Fresno State staff after he was a student assistant from 2002 through 2005. He helped coach the secondary as a student and was part of four bowl appearances and three bowl victories.

Ledwith has also been a member of the coaching staffs at Wagner College, California Lutheran University and Archbishop Mitty High School.of the coaching staffs at Wagner College, California Lutheran University and Archbishop Mitty High School.
 

---

Ryan McDonough - Passing Game Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach
Office: (970) 943-7043
E-mail: rmcdonough@western.edu

Ryan McDonough begins his first season with the Mountaineer coaching staff as a passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach for 2011.

McDonough worked with the wide receivers and special teams unit with the Eagles during the last two seasons. In 2010, he helped coach RMAC Special Teams Player of the Year and All-American Kevin Berg and All-RMAC kicker Michael Ziola. In 2009, he was part of a staff that coached Brandon Harrington, an All-RMAC First Team selection at wide receiver.

McDonough was a three-year quarterback at Division III Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. He entered the coaching ranks in 2007 as a student assistant coach for the defensive backs for the Storm after a career-ending injury before his senior season. He was the wide receivers coach at Simpson in 2008.



 

---

Jaron Fairman - Wide Receivers Coach
Office: (970) 943-7037
E-mail: jfairman@western.edu

Jaron Fairman begins his first season on the Western State College football staff as a wide receivers coach for the Mountaineer program. He arrives to Gunnison after spending the last three seasons at Division III Nichols College in Dudley, Mass.

Fairman spent last season as the Offensive Coordinator for the Bison after leading Nichols to a record-setting season in 2009 as the Passing Game Coordinator. In that year, Nichols finished second in the 16-team Northeast Football Conference in passing offense and fourth in red-zone offense. He spent all three seasons coaching the wide receivers and assisting with the special teams units.

Fairman was a four-year letterwinner at Fresno State at wide receiver and helped lead the Bulldogs to two bowl victories. He served as a captain for the Bulldogs in his senior season and was a two-time All-Western Athletic Conference academic selection. After graduation in 2007 with a degree in health sciences and public health, he attended the training camp for the Arena Football League's San Jose Sabercats. Fairman also assisted with the offseason camps at the University of Southern California and Fresno State.


 

---

Jeff Williamson - Running Backs Coach
E-mail: jwilliamson@western.edu

Jeff Williamson enters his 19th year as an assistant coach with the Mountaineers.

Williamson played at Western from 1980-84 as a running back under Hall of Fame Coach Bill Noxon. As a member of the coaching staff under Duke Iverson, Williamson helped the Mountaineers win six RMAC championships and advance to the NCAA Division II Playoffs three times.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Williamson now works for the Gunnison Country Sherriff's Department.