GATEWAY CONFERENCE Indiana State hires Niles native as coach

Lou West has been Toledo's defensive coordinator for four years.
VINDICATOR STAFF/WIRE REPORTS
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Lou West, defensive coordinator at Toledo the past four years and a native of Niles, was named football coach Monday at Indiana State.
He succeeds Tim McGuire, who was fired last month after seven seasons without a winning record for the Gateway Football Conference school.
West will remain with Toledo, which won the Mid-American Conference championship, through the Dec. 27 Motor City Bowl against Connecticut.
"I've always dreamed of having the opportunity to become a head coach," West said. "I am very excited about the opportunity to join an outstanding institution such as Indiana State."
Success at Toledo
Over the past four years, the Rockets won two MAC championships, three MAC West titles and received three bowl invitations.
Indiana State athletic director Andrea Myers said the Sycamores were looking for a coach who had been a part of a successful program and had ties to the Midwest.
"In Lou, we are hiring a coach with an extremely successful background and a man of great integrity," she said.
Extensive background
Before coaching at Toledo, West coached safeties at Notre Dame for two seasons. During his second season, the Irish went 9-3 and made an appearance in the Fiesta Bowl. He previously coached defensive backs at Virginia Tech during 1995-98 and at Kent State in 1994 and defensive backs, outside linebackers and tight ends at Cincinnati during 1988-93.
As a player, he was a defensive back at Cincinnati in 1973-76 and began coaching as a graduate assistant at Arizona in 1977. He also had assistant coaching jobs at Kansas, Western Michigan, Minnesota and Middle Tennessee State.
West, 50, was hired at Indiana State four weeks after Myers fired McGuire, who never won more than five games in a season. His teams compiled a 24-55 record, including 4-7 last season.