New University of Toledo co-defensive coordinator Craig Kuligowski has developed a reputation as one of the top hand-fighting defensive line coaches in the nation.
That’s backed up by the number of NFL draft picks he has coached.
Twenty-four of his former players have gone on to become draft picks, including six first-rounders: Quinnen Williams, Aldon Smith, Sheldon Richardson, Charles Harris, Shane Ray, and Ziggy Hood. Half of those draft picks (including all of the first rounders except Williams, who went to Alabama) came from Missouri, while eight came from Miami and four from Alabama.
For Kuligowski, there are two main characteristics of players he has coached who have gone on to play in the NFL — and those characteristics he sees with some of the players on Toledo’s roster now.