Tim Salem Tight Ends/Special Teams - Eighth Season Tim Salem, who is in his eighth year at UCF, is in his third campaign as the Knights’ ght ends coach and special teams coordinator. Salem spent the previous five years as UCF’s offensive coordinator.
Special teams units also shined in 2009. UCF was fi h na onally in punt return defense and 10th in kickoff return defense. UCF was also 13th in kickoff returns as three different Knights enjoyed a kickoff return of at least 72 yards on the year. Meanwhile, Adam Nissley came into his own as a ght end and became a solid blocker, while also catching 10 passes for 159 yards.
UCF’s special teams units excelled in 2010, as the Knights recorded the top season in program history. UCF went 11-3, won seven games in Conference USA play, claimed the league tle and defeated Georgia in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. The bowl victory was the first for the Knights, who finished the campaign ranked in the top 25 in both na onal polls.
Salem guided UCF to one of the best seasons in program history during the 2007 campaign. Behind a high-powered offense, the Knights won 10 contests, claimed the C-USA tle for the first me and par cipated in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. Salem also spent me as the program’s running backs coach. In that role in 2007, he helped Kevin Smith record one of the best seasons in college football history. The consensus All-America tailback rushed for 2,567 yards, good for second all- me on the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision single-season list. He also found the end zone a na on-leading 29 mes on the ground.
The Knights concluded the year first na onally in kickoff returns and 12th in punt returns. Quincy McDuffie ranked second in kickoff returns, while Josh Robinson was eighth in punt returns. McDuffie garnered All-C-USA First Team honors for his special teams play, while Robinson was a second-team pick. Under Salem’s guidance, the Knights also ranked third in the country on kick return defense, and were the No. 2 overall special teams unit behind only TCU.
THE SALEM FILE Hometown: Minneapolis, Minn. College Educa on: Arizona State, 1985 Coaching Experience: Tight ends/special teams - UCF, 2009-Present Offensive coordinator - UCF, 2004-08 Running backs - UCF, 2007-08 Wide receivers - UCF, 2006 Tight ends - UCF, 2005 Quarterbacks - UCF, 2004 Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks - Eastern Michigan, 2003 Quaterbacks - Ohio State, 1997-00 Offensive coordinator - Purdue, 1994-96 Quaterbacks - Purdue, 1991-93 Running backs - Colorado State, 1989-90 Offensive coordinator/quaterbacks - Phoenix College, 1987-88 Graduate assistant - Arizona State, 1985-86
Smith garnered C-USA Co-Offensive Player of the Year recogni on and was a candidate for the Doak Walker and Walter Camp Awards. He was selected with the first pick of the third round in the 2008 Na onal Football League Dra by Detroit. Under Salem’s direc on, UCF set several school single-season records in 2007, including points (502), touchdowns (62) and rushing yards (3,287). The Knights averaged 35.86 points per game, which ranked 17th na onally. The 2007 campaign was Salem’s first mentoring the running backs. The previous year, he coached UCF’s wideouts and the Knights ranked 30th na onally in passing offense (233.75) and 34th in total offense at 373.17 yards per game. Wide receiver Mike Sims-Walker thrived in Salem’s system, garnering All-C-USA First Team honors a er averaging 7.5 recep ons, good for third in the country. Sims-Walker was selected by Jacksonville in the third round of the 2007 NFL Dra . Several Knights posted impressive campaigns in Salem’s offense during the 2005 campaign, in which the Knights won the C-USA East Division championship and par cipated in the Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl. Smith was named the league’s freshman of the year a er rushing for 1,178 yards and nine touchdowns. Brandon Marshall and Sims-Walker combined for 2,050 yards and 20 touchdowns. During the 2005 season, Salem also tutored UCF’s ght ends. That year, Darcy Johnson had 36 recep ons for 435 yards with two scores. In his first season in Orlando in 2004, Salem also coached the squad’s quarterbacks. Salem has a strong background in college coaching. Prior to working at UCF, he was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Eastern Michigan in 2003 where he mentored Lou Groza Award finalist Andrew Wellock. From 1997-00, Salem served as the quarterbacks coach at Ohio State where he tutored Buckeye great Joe Germaine to the 1998 Big Ten Player of the Year honor. Germaine registered 10 300-yard passing games that season. Salem also worked for six seasons at Purdue as the quarterbacks coach, while also serving as the offensive coordinator for three years. The 1995 Boilermakers led the Big Ten in rushing. Prior to Purdue, Salem spent two years at Colorado State (1989-90) as the running backs and special teams assistant coach and two seasons at Phoenix College (1987-88) as the offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and assistant athle cs director. During his two seasons at CSU, Salem helped running backs Tony Alford (1989) and Brian Copeland (1990) each lead the WAC in rushing. A 1985 graduate of Arizona State, Salem began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at his alma mater for two seasons. Salem began his collegiate playing career at Minnesota where in 1980 he set the Big Ten record for consecu ve pass comple ons.
Tim Salem
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2011 UCF Football Yearbook
Salem is a na ve of Minneapolis, Minn., and starred at the prep level at St. Thomas Academy. His father, Joe, was the head football coach at Minnesota from 197984. Salem and his wife Wendy have three children, sons Taylor and Landan and daughter Kylan.