Colorado State University Pueblo

Colorado State University Pueblo second-year head football coach Philip Vigil has announced the hiring of Brian Natkin as the ThunderWolves’ co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach for the 2024 season. 

"Extremely excited to welcome Coach Brian Natkin to the Pack. Coach Natkin brings a wealth of knowledge that spans from the Division II level up to the NFL. This is a home run hire for us here and I can't wait to get to work with him. He is a great coach, a great father, and he truly cares about his players and it shows in how they perform," Vigil said. "Being able to bring in the caliber of coaches, like Brian Natkin is a reflection of respect that people have for Pack Football. What the former players, Coach (John) Wristen, Dr. (Paul) Plinske have established here has allowed us to to bring in truly elite people."
 
Natkin comes to the Pack after spending the 2023 season as the offensive line coach at NCAA FBS member Sam Houston State, that is a member of Conference USA. Before working with the Bearkats, Natkin spent four years (2019-22) as the assistant offensive line coach with the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals.
 
“I am extremely excited for the opportunity to work for Coach Vigil and to be a part of the tradition of the CSU Pueblo football program,” Natkin said.
 
Prior to working with the Cardinals, he spent the 2018 season as the offensive line coach and run game coordinator at Hutchinson Community College. Before working at Hutchinson, Natkin spent six seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater, UTEP.
 
He began his tenure at UTEP in 2012 as the offensive line coach, before coaching tight ends in 2013 and serving as the special team coordinator and tight ends coach from 2014-17 and was the interim offensive coordinator during the 2017 season.
 
Natkin has also served as the offensive line coach at both Northern Colorado  in 2006 and at Midwestern State from 2007-10, where he helped the Mustangs to a combined 41-15 record and the 2009 Lone Star Conference title. He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant for two seasons (2004-05) at UTEP working with the tight ends and the offense.
 
As a player, Natkin was a tight end at UTEP where he was a three-time First-Team All-WAC selection from 1998-2000. As a senior in 2000, he led all NCAA Division I tight ends with 64 catches for 787 yards and converted 46 receptions (71.4 percent) for first downs en route to earning unanimous All-American honors as he was named an All-American by the Associated Press, AFCA Coaches, FWAA, Walter Camp, TSN, FN and Rivals and was named the nation’s top tight end in 2000 by Sports Illustrated. He was UTEP’s first-ever unanimous All-American in football.
 
Natkin was a part of a UTEP team in 2000 that won a WAC Championship and earned an appearance in the Humanitarian Bowl, where the Miners lost to Boise State. Additionally, he was named UTEP’s Male Athlete of the Year in 2000-01, inducted into UTEP’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016 and named to UTEP’s Centennial Football Team.
 
In his college career, he recorded 172 receptions for 1,934 yards and 11 touchdowns. He concluded his college career playing for the East Team in the East-West Shrine Bowl and the South Team in the Senior Bowl.
 
After being undrafted in the 2001 NFL Draft, Natkin played a rookie free agent deal with the Tennessee Titans in 2021 and he played three games with the Titans during the 2021 season. He made his NFL debut on Monday Night Football on Nov. 12, 2021, against the Baltimore Ravens. In that game, he caught one pass for 27 yards and then had one catch for 15 yards in the Titans next game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
 
In 2003, he joined the St. Louis Rams as a fullback in the preseason and was with the team until being released following the final preseason game.
 
The San Antonio, Texas, native, prepped at Churchill High School and earned his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from UTEP in 2003. He has twins Brock and Lauren and a daughter, Taylor.