Dan McCarney announced the hiring of John Skladany as defensive coordinator and linebacker coach for the Iowa State University football team.

Skladany, who was present at the fall recruit-signing press conference, comes to Iowa State by way of Colorado State University.

“He is a winner all the way,” McCarney said.

“He has experienced something I have by going to a team that is mediocre and turning them around.

“I spent a lot of time with him in Orlando and a lot of time with him in Ames when I interviewed him, and he was my first choice,” he said.

McCarney said there was a lot of interest in the position from coaches in high school to the National Football League.

“The first thing I want to do is get the proper personnel in the proper places,” Skladany said.

“But there are a couple of guys we can move speed-wise and size- wise.

“The players will intially be moved within the defense,” Skladany said. “I don’t know the players all that well, but we will get the best 22 players on the field.”

Skladany said the defense will have a little different look in 1997 as he brings the scheme executed at Colorado State and merge it with the scheme currently in place.

“The scheme used at Colorado State is a 4-3 with a little bit of an eagle. It uses a 50 defense with a 40 defense,” he said.

“It attacks offenses with different looks. It is an aggressive style of defense.”

The defense, according to Skladany is similar in form to the one used by Jimmy Johnson in Miami.

In past conversations, McCarney has said that the defense lacks an impact playmaker, Skladany said that the player who could fill the role currently is Chin Achebe. “Achebe is a guy that jumps out at me,” Skladany said.

“He has shown spurts of it (being an impact player), however he has two years left,” he said

Skladany earned his bachelor of arts degree from Central Connecticut State while playing football. He has also played in the NFL with the New England Patriots (1972), Washington Redskins (1973), the Birmingham Americans of the WFL (1974) and the Ottawa Roughriders of the CFL (1975) as a defensive lineman.

He has coached at Northern Arizona as a defensive backfield coach (1990-92), defensive coordinator at Ohio University (1985-89), Maine (1981-84), the United States Merchant Marine Academy (1980), as well as a graduate assistant at Ohio (1976-77).