New Saluki Football grad assistant CJ Polkinghorn taking non-traditional coaching route

CARBONDALE, Ill. — New Saluki Football graduate assistant CJ Polkinghorn grew up playing 8-Man Football at tiny Elkader High School in the northeast corner of Iowa. His graduating class had just 30 students.

“I didn't take your traditional coaching route,” Polkinghorn explained. “I never played in college. My high school team had 14 kids on the roster, so I played everything — center, running back, linebacker, D-line, kicked a couple balls, returned a couple balls, so a little bit of everything.”

Lacking high-level playing experience, Polkinghorn pursued his football dreams by joining the staff at Northern Iowa as an undergrad, where he spent three years assisting the program and was awarded the Dennis Reimer Football Volunteer Scholarship. After graduation, he worked the 2025 season as a grad assistant at Division II Henderson State, where he coached nose tackles.

At SIU, Polkinghorn will serve as the offensive GA, assisting Dan Clark with the offensive line.

“One of my good friends in this profession is (O-line coach) Rick Nelson at Northern Iowa,” Clark said. “He gave CJ rave reviews on what type of coach he thinks he could be. He said CJ has the work ethic — he's the first one in the office, last one to leave, and when you hear those type of traits about a young kid in this profession, you want those guys in your program.”

Clark said there many great examples of coaches who took a non-traditional path to coaching.

“I think you could go through the college and NFL ranks right now and find some pretty successful coaches that never played,” Clark said. “It’s obviously proven it doesn't matter, when you find guys who like to work and they love football.”

Polkinghorn said he’s elated to return to the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

“It's the SEC of FCS-ball,” he said. “I mean, there's nothing better than it. There's some great players in this league, and they may be getting paid, but they're not out here money-chasing. They're here for ball, which is something that's unmatched in this league.”