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John Hauser served three months as director of player personnel at Illinois. He was hired in January 2012 as part of Tim Beckman's first staff of Illinois and left on March 30, 2012 to be an assistant coach at the Citadel. He coordinated on-campus recruiting efforts and relations with high school coaches, among other duties, for the Fighting Illini.
Prior to coming to Illinois, Hauser four seasons as defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach at Wayne State in Detroit, Mich., where he led the Warriors to the NCAA Division II national championship game for the first time in school history in 2011.
WSU ranked 14th in sacks (3.00 per game) in the nation in 2011, 39th in rushing defense (123.31 yards per game), and 49th in scoring defense (23.88 points per game). The Warriors were ranked second in the final AFCA poll after setting a school record with 12 wins, four playoff victories and eight road wins. Senior safety Jeremy Jones was named to the Associated Press Little All-America first team for the second-straight season.
In 2010, Jones became the first defensive player in school history to earn first-team All-America accolades (Daktronics All-America first team). Jones was the 2011 GLIAC Defensive Back of the Year and also earned three All-America honors (AFCA first team, AP Little All-America first team and Daktronics second team). In addition, junior cornerback Aaron Cornett was an all-GLIAC performer in 2011.
Also in 2010, WSU led the conference in red zone defense (35.0 percent) and interception return yards (328), was second in interceptions per game (1.54), and tied for second in both takeaways (28) and interception returns for a touchdown (2). The Warriors also had the most red zone interceptions in the league with four.
In addition, the 2010 Warrior defense was tied for 34th nationally in sacks (2.45 per game) and 38th in scoring defense (20.73 points per game). Hauser's defensive unit compiled 28 sacks, second-most among GLIAC teams during the regular season. WSU set a then-school record for overall wins (nine) in 2010, conference victories (eight) and the highest AFCA ranking in school history (12th).
In his second season (2009), Hauser guided Jones to All-GLIAC honors as well as Joe Claiborne, Aaron Cornett, Kenny Loney and Brent Wisniewski to Academic All-GLIAC laurels. Dante Dunn and Cornelius Dillard earned All-Region honors in 2008 as well as first-team All-GLIAC accolades.
Hauser led a remarkable turnaround in the Warrior defense going from 125th in scoring defense in 2007 (34.8 points per game) to sixth in 2008 (14.6 ppg). The Warriors also finished ninth in the country in turnover margin, 29th in sacks and 42nd in tackles for loss in 2008.
Before coming to WSU, he spent the previous five seasons (2003-07) at Northern Illinois including the last two as defensive backs coach. He spent his first three years in DeKalb as a graduate assistant. In 2007, NIU rookie strong safety Alex Kube was named to The Sporting News Freshman All-American squad. The previous year, defensive back Dustin Ustchig earned second-team All-Mid-American Conference honors.
In Hauser's initial season at NIU, the Huskies won 10 regular-season games. He worked with the NIU secondary as a graduate assistant coach in 2004, when the Huskies played in the Silicon Valley Classic, and in 2005, when NIU advanced to the Mid-American Conference championship game. He guided Lionel Hickenbottom (2004) and Ray Smith (2005) to All-MAC honors at safety.
Prior to his time at NIU, Hauser briefly worked on the football staff at his alma mater, Wittenberg University, where he was a four-year letterwinner at free safety. During his playing career, Wittenberg won 44 of 50 games, captured three North Coast Athletic Conference Championships and made four consecutive appearances in the NCAA Division III Playoffs.
As a player, Hauser was a three-time All-NCAC selection - in 2000, 2001 and 2002 - and was twice named to the Football Gazette All-North Region squad. As a senior, he earned Division III All-America honors and was selected to participate in the 2002 Aztec Bowl, a Division III all-star game.
Hauser transferred to Wittenberg after beginning his collegiate playing career at Ball State, where he was a walk-on member of the football squad. He graduated from Bishop Hartley High School in Columbus, Ohio, as a seven-time varsity letterwinner in football (four) and baseball (three).
A free safety, linebacker and running back on the gridiron, he earned second-team All-State honors at linebacker in 1997 and was a first-team All-Central Catholic League selection. On the diamond, Bishop Hartley won the state Division 4 title in 1996 with Hauser at shortstop.
Hauser graduated from Wittenberg in 2002 with a bachelor's degree in business management. He earned his master's degree in adult education from NIU in 2007. He is married to the former Seanna Elliott.
