Jim Craft enters his third season as Pacific’s offensive coordinator, bringing a wealth of experience at the Division I level and a wide knowledge of the vaunted West Coast offense to the Forest Grove sidelines.
In his first two seasons, Craft has built a team comprised exclusively of underclassmen into one of the top passing attacks in all of NCAA Division III football. The Boxers finished 2011 ranked third in the Northwest Conference and 23rd among Division III teams with an average of 282.3 yards per game. Pacific’s four quarterbacks combined for a pass efficiency rating of 134.63, third best in the NWC and 65th among all Division III programs.
Craft’s team successes have also resulted in some significant individual success. Junior quarterback T.C. Campbell has set single game records for passing yards and touchdowns in his first two years and broke the single season record with a 59.4 completion percentage. Wide receiver Jordan Fukumoto has been on the receiving end of two of the school’s longest ever passing plays while becoming Pacific’s first First Team All-NWC selection since 1984.
In his first season leading the Boxers, Craft saw Pacific finish fourth in the NWC in passing offense while using five different quarterbacks over the course of the year. The team capped that inaugural campaign with a 419-yard performance at Menlo that just missed a team single game record.
Craft arrived at Pacific prior to the 2010 season after a long career at his alma mater, Portland State. During that time, Craft became a student of the West Coast offense under the legendary Mouse Davis and former head coach Tim Walsh.
Craft was elevated to offensive coordinator for Portland State in 2009 by then Head Coach Jerry Glanville after the retirement of run-and-shoot master Davis. As the program’s play caller, Craft was charged with coordinating the offensive insertion calendar, game preparation and designing the offensive scheme. Among the season highlights was the selection of quarterback Drew Hubel to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District VIII Football Team.
Craft plans to run many aspects of a West Coast offense, with some run-and-shoot flairs that he learned under Davis. “The offense is exciting because we will run a multitude of sets,” Craft said. “Over the first couple of years we will constantly be evaluating and finding what tools we have for the best chance of success.”
Before being elevated to offensive coordinator at Portland State, Craft spent one season as the offensive line coach and one season as the wide receivers coach. Under Walsh, Craft spent five seasons as the tight ends coach and one year as quarterbacks coach. He also assumed the duty of special teams coordinator for four seasons. He coached Portland State all-conference performers Scott Weaver, Adam Whitehead and Tony Curtis, a former member of the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs.
As special teams coordinator, Craft saw the 2005 Vikings lead the Big Sky Conference in punt return average and ranked in the top 20 in the nation in both punt return average and kickoff return average. The Vikings were second in punt coverage in 2004, 19th in punt returns and 22nd in kickoff returns.
Prior to joining the Portland State staff, Craft spent the 1999 and 2000 seasons as the tight ends coach at Lewis & Clark College.
Craft played his collegiate football at Portland State from 1995 to 1998, catching 57 passes and scoring nine touchdowns. He earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Portland State in 1998 and a master’s in teaching in 2003. Craft, 36, resides in Tualatin with his wife, Kelley, daughters Kayla (10) and Stella Marie (1) and son Tyler (6).
