INDIANAPOLIS – The University of Indianapolis promoted longtime assistant Chris Keevers to Head Football Coach, announced Wednesday. The Indianapolis native earns his first NCAA head coaching position after spending the previous 25 years as an assistant at UIndy, including the last nine seasons as the Greyhounds' defensive coordinator. He becomes the 15th head coach in program history, following the recent retirement of Bob Bartolomeo.
 
"I would like to thank (UIndy President) Dr. Robert Manuel and (Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics) Dr. Sue Willey for giving me this opportunity," said Keevers. "I'm excited and honored. I'd also like to thank Bob Bartolomeo. Our 15 years together at UIndy have been a fantastic learning experience for me. The staff and I are excited to get back on the road and continue working on our 2019 recruiting class."
 
Since starting his coaching career as a student assistant at Purdue, his alma mater, Keevers has worn numerous coaching hats. He has worked with all positions on the defensive side of the ball, while also spending time as both a special teams and strength & conditioning coach.
 
The 2018 season marked the 12th overall for Keevers as the Greyhound defensive coordinator. Last fall, he led a unit that ranked 13th in Division II in passing defense, 15th in scoring defense and 18th in total defense.
 
Since UIndy football joined the Great Lakes Valley Conference in 2012, Keevers has helped the Hounds to six conference titles and five NCAA Division II playoff appearances, a span that includes a stellar 66-17 (.795) overall record.
 
"Chris Keevers is the right man to lead this staff and program and to build upon the legacy his mentor, Coach Bart," said Willey. "There is no doubt in my mind that UIndy football will continue to be successful academically and athletically under Chris' leadership."
 
Prior to joining the UIndy staff in 1994, Keevers helped Division II St. Mary's College (Calif.) to three winning seasons as the Gaels' defensive line, special teams and strength & conditioning coach from 1991-93. He also spent three seasons as the defensive line graduate and student assistant at Purdue.
 
As a player, Keevers' career began at Coffeyville Community College (Kan.), where he was a Junior College All-America Honorable Mention honoree. He transferred to Big Ten-member Purdue University and excelled on the defensive line as a two-year starter. 
 
In 1986, he earned a spot on the Boilermaker d-line and started on the same side of the ball as future Pro Football Hall of Famer Rod Woodson. As a senior in '87, Keevers was named the ABC "Player of the Game" for his performance at Iowa in October of that season, and he later won the team's Leonard Wilson Award (for "unselfishness and dedication"). He was also nominated for the athletic department's Red Mackey Award (for "competitive spirit, a positive attitude, loyalty, self-discipline, hard work for the best interest of the team and a willingness to help others").
 
A graduate of local John Marshall Community High School, Keevers earned a communications degree in 1989 and a master's degree in education administration in '91 – both at Purdue.  He and wife Alexis have four children: Chris, Jessica, Tucker and Porter.
 
When asked about his successor, former head coach Bob Bartolomeo gladly offered his endorsement.
 
"I wholeheartedly support Chris Keevers for this job," said the recently-retired coach. "He's a guy that's a Greyhound through and through. He's been here for over 20 years and loves this university, loves this athletics department. He has a lot of respect, a lot of caring, a lot of deep ties with UIndy, and I think he deserves a chance.
 
"But besides being a loyal guy to this university, he's a very good football coach. He's been the architect of our defense the last few years and we've been very good on defense; since he took over (the defense), we haven't missed a beat. And I know he gets along with the rest of the staff, and hopefully keeping all those guys intact will be very important to this program. But he's a very good football coach; a great communicator with the kids and a tenacious recruiter that's brought some very good football players into this program."
 
Added Willey: "When you have a successful head coach like Coach Bart, you put a lot of stock in what he says and when he says we have the next head coach right here on our staff, well, that certainly spoke volumes to me. We currently have an exceptional group of coaches and we want to keep them together and move this program forward."