Offensive Coaching Staff

Zach Lujan
Assistant Coach - Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach

Lujan (pronounced LOO-hahn), previously served as South Dakota States quarterbacks coach since 2019. He was named the Jackrabbits' offensive coordinator following the 2021 season which was followed up by back-to-back Championship title runs.

During the pandemic-altered 2020-21 season, Lujan oversaw the development of freshman quarterback Mark Gronowski, who started all 10 games as the Jackrabbits advanced to the Football Championship Subdivision national title game. Gronowski swept the Missouri Valley Football Conference awards by being named Freshman of the Year, Newcomer of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year. Gronowski, who accounted for 2,142 yards of total offense and 23 touchdowns (15 passing, 7 rushing, 1 receiving) also was honored as Phil Steele FCS Freshman of the Year and finished as runner-up for the Stats Perform Jerry Rice Award.

As football returned to the fall in 2021, Lujan helped mentor graduate transfer Chris Oladokun, who took over for an injured Gronowski. Oladokun started all 15 games en route to earning honorable mention all-MVFC recognition, as well as a spot on the league's All-Newcomer Team. Oladokun completed 62.3 percent of his passes for 3,164 yards and 25 touchdowns in helping lead SDSU to an 11-4 record and a berth in the FCS semifinals. Oladokun was later selected in the seventh round of the National Football League Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Lujan took over play-calling duties in 2022 and directed a balanced offensive attack that was bolstered by the return of Gronowski, who earned second-team all-MVFC honors in helping lead the Jackrabbits to an outright league title with a perfect 8-0 record. The Jackrabbits began to hit their stride offensively during league play and racked up more than 200 rushing yards in each of their four FCS playoff victories. Two of SDSU's top-three yardage totals came in their final two postseason games, 473 yards versus Montana State and a season-high 506 yards en route to their victory over North Dakota State in the national championship game.

Overall, SDSU averaged 34.2 points and 384.6 yards of total offense per game en route to the program's first national title.

As he took over coaching duties for the position he played collegiately, Lujan worked with three different quarterbacks who started — and won — games for the Jackrabbits in 2019. Redshirt freshman J’Bore Gibbs started six games before suffering a season-ending injury in late October, but earned a spot on the Missouri Valley Football Conference All-Newcomer Team after passing for 10 touchdowns and averaging 191 yards of total offense per game.

True freshman Keaton Heide started the final five games of the season, including the team’s FCS playoff contest, and tallied a team-best 1,072 passing yards with seven touchdowns while completing 66.9 percent (85-of-127) of his passes. In addition, Kanin Nelson started two nonconference games in September en route to 293 passing yards and three touchdowns in 2019.

SDSU ranked second among MVFC teams with a passing efficiency rating of 154.4, compiling 21 touchdown passes against only seven interceptions. The Jackrabbits also stood fourth among league teams with an average of 195.7 passing yards per game.

In 2018, Lujan worked with a deep and talented group of running backs that contributed to a rushing attack that averaged 230.1 yards per game —which at the time was the highest total in the Division I era of Jackrabbit football (since 2004). Four different running backs rushed for at least 100 yards in a game that season, led by MVFC Freshman of the Year Pierre Strong, Jr. Strong gained 1,116 yards on only 117 carries — an average of 9.5 yards per attempt — and scored 11 touchdowns, becoming the first SDSU back to top 1,000 yards in a season since Zach Zenner in 2014.

Armon Binns
Assistant Coach - Wide Receivers

Armon Binns was named Northwestern’s Wide Receivers Coach in January of 2023. Binns comes to Evanston after spending one season at Youngstown State in the same role in 2022.

During his time in Youngstown, he coached Bryce Oliver who was a 1st Team All-Missouri Valley Football Conference selection. Oliver led the conference in regular season receiving touchdowns. Oliver set the single game record for receptions and tied the school record for career touchdown receptions. Binns also coached Max Tomczak who was selected to the Missouri Valley Football Conference All-Newcomer Team.

Prior to joining the Penguins staff, Binns worked at his alma mater the Cincinnati as a Quality Control Coach during the 2021 and 2020 seasons. Binns assisted with the Wide Receivers helping mentor Alec Pierce, a 2022 2nd Round NFL Draft pick for the Indianapolis Colts. Pierce was a 2nd Team All-American Athletic Conference selection in 2021. Michael Young, who was a 2nd Team All-American Athletic Conference selection in 2020 and signed with the Indianapolis Colts as an Undrafted Free Agent in 2022. Tre Tucker, who was a 2nd Team All-American Athletic Conference selection in 2020. And Tyler Scott, who was a 2nd Team All-American Athletic Conference selection in 2022. The 2021 team won the American Athletic Conference Championship and was selected for the College Football Playoff where they played in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic. The 2020 team also won the American Athletic Conference Championship and made an appearance in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl.

Prior to joining to the Bearcats staff, Binns was the Wide Receivers Coach at Hampton in 2019. Binns coached Jadakis Bonds, a First-Team All-Big South Conference selection. Bonds led the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision and the Big South during the regular season in touchdown receptions. Bonds set the Big South record for consecutive games to start the season with a touchdown reception. Bonds also set the school single season record for touchdown receptions and tied the record for single season receptions.

Prior to joining the Pirates staff, Binns was the Senior Offensive Analyst at the Notre Dame in 2018. Binns assisted with the Wide Receivers helping mentor Chase Claypool a 2020 2nd Round NFL Draft pick for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Miles Boykin a 2019 3rd Round NFL Draft pick for the Baltimore Ravens. And Kevin Austin who signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars as an Undrafted Free Agent in 2022. The team was selected for the College Football Playoff where they played in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.

Binns played Wide Receiver in the NFL from 2011-2015. He signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars as an Undrafted Free Agent in 2011, also spent time playing for the Cincinnati Bengals, Miami Dolphins, and Kansas City Chiefs.

Binns was a standout Wide Receiver for the University of Cincinnati from 2007-2010. As a Senior he led the Big East in receiving yards, receptions, and touchdowns and was voted 1st Team All-Big East. During his junior year he led the team in touchdown receptions and was voted 2nd Team All-Big East. Binns is one of only seven UC wide outs to eclipse the 1,000-yard plateau in a single season. He still ranks among Cincinnati’s top-10 all-time in career/single season receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. Binns was a part of 2 Big East Championship teams in 2008 and 2009. He was inducted into the James P. Kelly UC Athletics Hall of Fame in 2019 along with the 2009 football team.

He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Cincinnati in 2012 and earned a master’s degree from Arizona State University in 2018.

Binns, a native of Pasadena, California, and his wife Lauren have three children, sons Noah and Eli and daughter Eden.

Bill O'Boyle
Assistant Coach - Offensive Line

O'Boyle most recently served as the offensive line coach at the University of Colorado. He, along with Coach Lewis, joined Deion Sanders' staff in December of 2022 after the duo spent five seasons together at Kent State.

With the help of O'Boyle and his linemen, the Buffaloes ranked third nationally in red zone offense and 33rd in team passing efficiency. For the season, they averaged 28.0 points per game and 363.6 yards of total offense.

When O'Boyle arrived at Kent State, the Flashes began having historical success on the offensive side of the ball. With their up-tempo offensive, O'Boyle's offensive lines paved the way for one of the most balanced attacks in the country. In 2021, Kent State ranked fourth nationally in total offense and third in rushing offense while setting program records for both total offense and passing offense. The year prior, the Flashes were third nationally in rushing offense and 11th in passing offense rushing for over 200 yards every game and passing for over 300 yards in all but one.

In 2019, O'Boyle helped guide Kent State to its first ever bowl win, besting Utah State 51-41 in the Frisco Bowl. It would be his first of two bowl game appearances with the Flashes playing in the 2021 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.

Prior to Kent State, O'Boyle spent two years as the offensive line coach and run game coordinator at South Dakota. In 2017, his Coyote team had the best season in program history reaching the second round of the FCS Playoffs and a victory over No. 22 Nicholls in the first round. Overall, South Dakota bested four ranked teams that season.
From 2013-15, O'Boyle spent three seasons at Southern Illinois where he started out as the offensive line coach and later took on duties of co-offensive coordinator and assistant head coach. In three seasons at SIU, O'Boyle helped the Salukis improve in scoring offense and passing offense each season.

In 2014, the Salukis set a program record for touchdown passes. After O'Boyle was promoted to assistant head coach in 2015, SIU averaged nearly 500 yards of total offense per game, second-best in program history. SIU also set a program record with 298 passing yards per game in 2015.

In 2012, O'Boyle served as offensive coordinator at Colorado Mesa. His previous 18 seasons were spent working at Division II Chadron State.

From 2005 to 2011, O'Boyle was the head coach at Chadron State with an overall record of 57-21. He helped the team to three straight undefeated Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championships. Under O'Boyle, the Eagles won 28 straight RMAC games and earned three NCAA Division II playoff berths, advancing to the quarterfinals in '06 and '07 and to the second round in 2008. While at Chadron, he coached NFL running back and two-time Harlon Hill Trophy winner Danny Woodhead.

In 2006 O'Boyle was recognized by Football Gazette as the National Coach of the year as well as the Sportexe Division II Coach of the Year. He was also a three-time RMAC Coach of the Year. A year later, he was named the Division-II Liberty Mutual National Coach of the Year for the 2007 season.

Prior to being named head coach, O'Boyle was the offensive coordinator at Chadron State from 1999 to 2004 and an assistant coach from 1994 to 1998. He spent the previous four seasons at his alma mater, Western Illinois as the offensive line coach. O'Boyle's first coaching assignment was also at Chadron State in 1987 serving as the offensive line coach.

Paul Creighton
Assistant Coach - Special Teams Coordinator/Tight Ends Coach

Paul Creighton joins Northwestern after his time with the Washington football staff as the Special Teams Quality Control.

Creighton came to UW with previous head coach Kalen DeBoer from Fresno State, where he spent the 2020 and 2021 seasons as the Bulldogs' tight ends coach.

In 2021, he was part of the offensive staff that helped Fresno State finish the season ranked No. 1 in the Mountain West in total offense (464.8 yards per game), and second in both scoring offense (33.4 points per game) and passing offense (330.1 yards per game). In 2020, Fresno State also led the conference with 479.3 yards of total offense per game.

The Bulldogs' pass offense was also highly successful in 2020, producing a conference-best 479.3 yards total offense per game, and the league's second-highest points per game total (32.8). Fresno State also led the Mountain West and was fifth in the nation in passing yards per game, with 356.3 per game.

Before joining DeBoer's first staff at Fresno State, Creighton spent the previous six years as tight ends coach at UC Davis. He was also both recruiting coordinator (2014-16) and special teams coordinator (2017-19) for the Aggies.

In 2019, UC Davis tight end Wes Preece earned Phil Steele All-America third-team honors. He was also made some level of All-Big Sky three years in a row, while setting a school record for career receiving touchdowns by a tight end, with 24.

UC Davis posted its most successful season as a Division I team in 2018, winning its first Big Sky championship and its first FCS playoff berth in program history, finishing 10-3.
Prior to UC Davis, Creighton coached at Colorado State University-Pueblo for three seasons (2011-13), as defensive line coach.
CSU-Pueblo went 33-0 in the regular season during his three years working with the defensive line. Creighton mentored three athletes who went on to professional football: Darius Allen (BC Lions, Edmonton Eskimos), Morgan Fox (Los Angeles Rams) and Mike Pennel (Green Bay, New York Jets).

A three-sport star at Niwot High School in Colorado, Creighton walked on at Colorado, playihng fullback and tight end, and earned a scholarship after one semester. He saw action in 47 games during his CU playing career and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Boulder in 2006.

Creighton’s first post-graduation move was to Auburn where he served two years as graduate assistant strength and conditioning coach. He returned to his alma mater in 2009 where he was a defensive graduate assistant for two seasons.

Creighton and his wife, Kathleen, have two children, June and James.

Aristotle Thompson
Assistant Coach - Special Teams Coordinator/Tight Ends Coach

Aristotle Thompson is joining the Northwestern Wildcats after his fifth season as the running backs coach at Cal. Thompson and Cal's Travers Family Head Football Coach Justin Wilcox worked together previously at Boise State, first in 2001 when Thompson was an assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Broncos and Wilcox was a graduate assistant in his first season in the coaching profession. The two teamed up again for the Broncos during the 2007 and 2008 seasons with Thompson the assistant director of football operations and Wilcox the defensive coordinator.

Coaching Career

California – Running Backs (2020 – 2024)
– With a promising group of running backs in the fold in 2024 led by Heisman Trophy candidate and preseason All-American Jaydn Ott, who is poised to set Cal's all-time records for rushing yards and rushing touchdowns after rushing for 2,212 yards and 20 touchdowns on 416 carries with averages of 5.3 yards per carry and 92.2 yards per game in his first two seasons at Cal in 2022 and 2023
– Helped Ott to honorable mention All-American (Phil Steele) and first-team All-Pac-12 selections (Associated Press, College Football Network, College Football News, Pac-12 Coaches, Phil Steele) as the Pac-12's rushing champion in 2023, leading the league and ranking among the nation's best in all-purpose yards per game (135.67, #6 NCAA), rushing yards per game (109.6 ypg, #9 NCAA) and rushing yards (1315, #14 NCAA, while also posting five of the Pac-12's top nine games for rushing yards while no one else had move than one, and tying for second in the Pac-12 with 15 total touchdowns (#19T NCAA) and 12 rushing touchdowns (#29T NCAA)

– Prior to Ott's 2022 arrival, Cal's run game showed moments of brilliance under the guidance of Thompson highlighted by a 352-yard rushing game to a key a 41-11 blowout at Stanford in 2021 that was one of four times the Bears rushed for 200 yards or more in 2021 (255, vs. Oregon State; 246 vs. Sacramento State, 213; vs. Colorado)
– One of Cal's trademarks since Thompson's 2020 arrival has been taking care of the football and in 2022 the Bears were among the Pac-12 and NCAA leaders in fumbles lost (3, #3T Pac-12, #6T NCAA), turnover margin (0.50. #3 Pac-12, #22T NCAA) and turnovers lost (12, #3T Pac-12, #12T NCAA) following a tremendous showing in 2021 when their 10 turnovers were the fewest ever by a Cal team playing a full schedule including only two lost fumbles to rank tied for second nationally and lead the Pac-12 for fewest fumbles
– Thompson's unit showed tons of promise in his first season in Berkeley in 2020 despite only playing four games and being limited in practice time due to COVID with the Bears notching their best effort on the ground with a season-high 241 rushing yards against Stanford that were the most since the team compiled 305 at Oregon State in 2018 and included a career-high 121 yards and one touchdown for Damien Moore as he became Cal's first true freshman to rush for more than 100 yards in the Big Game since Marshawn Lynch had 122 in 2004
– Moore earned an honorable mention selection for the Pac-12's Freshman Offensive Player of the Year in 2020 and the Bears' offense largely due to the play of the running backs was able to control the football much of the time with a 31:36 time of possession average that was fourth in the Pac-12 and 30th in the nation

Cal Poly – Running Backs (2009-19)
– During Thompson's time in San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly fielded a strong run game that featured at least one 1000-yard rusher in each of his final nine campaigns and helped the Mustangs put together five consecutive winning seasons from 2010-14
– Coached five players that earned FCS All-American honors over seven different seasons and also had one of his running backs recognized nationally or by the Big Sky for seven consecutive campaigns

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