Cody Deti begins his second season with the Illinois State football coaching staff and will continue to oversee the Redbird secondary.
Deti helped the Redbird secondary improve dramatically in his first season with ISU in 2011. The Redbird defense was ranked No. 9 in the country, after finishing No. 112 the previous year, and the Redbird secondary improved 22 spots on the national list in pass efficiency defense.
Much of that was due to the leadership of senior Otis Merrill and the emergence of freshman Mike Banks. Merrill was an All-MVFC Second Team selection at defensive back, after starting the final 10 games of the seaoson and recording 41 tackles and an interception. Banks started all 11 games as a true freshman and was named to the MVFC All-Newcomer Team at defensive back.
Deti came to Illinois State after serving as the defensive coordinator for head coach Scott Downing for five seasons at Northern Colorado, a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) program out of the Big Sky Conference.
Deti's defense improved every season, as the 2009 team allowed 20 yards less per game than 2008 and the 2008 team allowed almost 100 yards less per game than 2007.
Prior to his stint at Northern Colorado, Deti spent three seasons on head coach Danny Hope's staff at Eastern Kentucky, where he worked with the defensive secondary and helped the Colonels to a 7-4 record and 7-1 mark in the Ohio Valley Conference in 2005.
Prior to coaching at Eastern Kentucky, Deti spent three seasons at Princeton. He joined the Tigers staff in 2000, serving as the co-secondary coach, while also coaching outside linebackers. In 2001, he moved to the offensive side of the ball, coaching tight ends, and spent his final season at Princeton as the wide receivers coach.
From 1997-99, Deti was a graduate assistant coach at Purdue, where he coached alongside Brock Spack who served as the team's defensive coordinator. In his time with the Boilermakers, the team made two appearances in the Alamo Bowl and one in the Outback Bowl.
Deti played defensive back at Wyoming (1992-93), while Downing was the defensive coordinator for the Cowboys, before his career was cut short by an injury. He stayed active with the program by serving as a student assistant coach from 1994-96 and was part of the 1996 WAC Championship squad.
Deti comes from a long line of football coaches, as his grandfather John was the head coach at Laramie High School for 33 years and his father John was the head coach at Laramie for 26 years.
Deti earned his bachelor's degree in health science from Wyoming in 1997 and his master's degree in history and philosophy of sport from Purdue in 1999.
He resides in Bloomington, Ill., with his wife, Megan and their children, Samuel, and Maddisyn.
