Son of NFL Hall of Famer one of three new coaches on QU football staff; 2025 schedule released

QUINCY — Quincy University football coach Jason Killday has three new assistant coaches on his staff, and one of them is the son of an NFL Hall of Fame quarterback.

Kade Warner will be the Hawks’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He spent the past two seasons as the offensive coordinator at Maricopa Community College in Phoenix. His father, Kurt Warner, played for 12 seasons and was a two-time Most Valuable Player in the National Football League, leading the St. Louis Rams to a Super Bowl XXXIV championship and Super Bowl losses with the Rams and Arizona Cardinals.

Kade Warner began his collegiate playing career as a walk-on wide receiver at the University of Nebraska (2017–20) before transferring to Kansas State University, where he played from 2021–22. Warner was team captain for his final year in 2022, totaling a career-high 46 receptions for 456 yards with five touchdowns.

After college, he signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent in May 2023 and remained with the team through fall camp. He signed in December 2023 with the XFL’s Houston Roughnecks, but when the United Football League was created, Warner was selected by the San Antonio Brahmas in the UFL’s dispersal draft. He was released in March 2024, re-signed in May 2024 and waived in August 2024.

Dan McKeown, who was the defensive coordinator last year at Western Illinois University, is now the defensive coordinator at Quincy. The Leathernecks gave up an average of 43.4 points and 492 yards per game last season when they posted a 4-8 record.

Before making the move to Western Illinois, he was the defensive coordinator for five seasons at Saginaw Valley State. The Cardinals defense allowed 23.9 points per game in 2023 and was second in the conference in sacks (27) and interceptions (15) while leading the league in defensive touchdowns (five). The Cardinals ranked first in the league against the pass, allowing 183 yards per game, and fourth against the run.

The Saginaw Valley State defense was one of Division II’s best in 2022, allowing 19 points per game as the team posted an 8-3 record. The defense allowing only 97 rushing and 225 passing yards. Saginaw Valley finished 7-4 in 2021, and the defense recorded 32 turnovers, ranking fifth-best in Division II. 

Before his time at Saginaw Valley, McKeown coached at Lawrence Tech University in Southfield, Mich., where he spent two seasons and was the defensive coordinator in 2018.

McKeown spent five seasons at Siena Heights University (2012-16) in Adrian, Mich., serving as the defensive backs coach and the strength and conditioning coach from 2012-15. Siena Heights’ secondary ranked second in pass defense (167.2) and second in defensive pass efficiency (105.0) in the Mid-States Football Association in 2023. Siena Heights won a share of the Mid-States Football Association Mideast title in 2014, and the secondary led the league in defensive pass efficiency (93.7) and was third in pass defense (167.2).

McKeown took over as the defensive coordinator at Siena Heights in 2016, and the secondary again was the top pass defense in the league, ranking first in pass defense (174.6 YPG) and ranking second in defensive pass efficiency (114.6). Siena Heights also was second in total defense (325.1 YPG).

McKeown started coaching at Bradshaw Mountain High School in Prescott Valley, Ariz., from 2009-11. He played defensive back at Adrian College from 2002-05 and was a four-year starter, serving as team captain his senior year. He holds the school career record for interceptions with 15, and he led the nation in interceptions in 2004 with nine.

Jeff Fantuzzi will be the offensive line coach for the Hawks. He was hired in February to be the offensive line coach at NCAA Division III Millikin before taking the position at Quincy. Hd spent 2024 as the offensive line coach and run game coordinator at Adams State University, a Division II school in Alamosa, Colo. During his one season, the Grizzlies allowed 10 fewer sacks than they did in 2023. 

Fantuzzi was at Northern Michigan University as the offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator from January 2023 to January 2024. Northern Michigan’s offense ranked in the top three in the GLIAC in yards per carry and least sacks allowed. 

He served in the same position for the 2022 season at the University of North Carolina Pembroke, and he was an assistant coach for North Park in Chicago in 2021. He was an assistant at Manchester University in North Manchester, Ind., and spent the early part of the spring 2020 season as the offensive tackles and tight ends coach at Albion in southern Michigan. He was the special teams coordinator in 2018 at NCAA Division III Finlandia University in Hancock, Mich. Fantuzzi made his debut in the coaching ranks as a graduate assistant at Wayne State (Mich.) in Detroit. during the 2015 and 2016 seasons. He spent one season as an assistant coach at Anchor Bay High School in Ira, Mich.

A native of Macomb, Mich., Fantuzzi was a member of three offensive lines at Central Michigan from 2009-11. 

2025 Quincy University Football Schedule