JACKSON -- Millsaps College head football coach Mike DuBose announced today the resignation of assistant head coach and special teams coach Aaron Pelch who will join the NFL's Oakland Raiders on Monday, March 9 as the assistant special teams coach.

"Aaron did a tremendous job for us these last three years at Millsaps" DuBose said.  "He is a very talented individual that will be in this profession for a long time.  We wish him the best."

Pelch was part of three consecutive Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference championships and a pair of playoff appearances, as the Majors boasted a 26-7 overall mark and 18-1 mark in league play.

Pelch joined the Majors' staff in 2006, and in his first year, helped four players garner All-SCAC recognition, including three defensive linemen. In SCAC play, the Majors' defensive line ranked second in rushing defense (124.8 ypg), while as a unit, the front line totaled 173 tackles, 30 tackles-for-loss, 7.5 sacks, four forced fumbles and three QB hurries.

Led by Casey Younger in 2007, the SCAC's Co-Defensive Player of the Year, the defensive line picked up right where it left off the previous season, ranking first in the SCAC in rushing defense at 93.3 ypg – an improvement of 31.5 ypg in 2006. Younger and Denarold Anderson, also a First Team All-SCAC selection, ranked third and fourth in the conference with 7.0 and 6.5 sacks, respectively. 

Also the special teams coach from 2006-08, Pelch helped Millsaps grab back-to-back-to-back Special Teams Players of the Year in return specialists Chris Jackson, John Milazzo and Michael Galatas.  Jackson averaged 15.5 yards per punt return in 2006, good enough for fourth in the country. 

In the kicking game, the Majors ranked eighth in the country in punt return defense in 2007, surrendering just 4.05 yards per return.  The average rose to 8.16 yards a return last season, still among the Top 100 in all of Division III.  Will Lawrimore led the SCAC in punting average (39.5 ypp) in 2008 and found his name on the list of First Teamers.

Pelch, and his wife Gemaa, headed out to the West Coast Sunday afternoon.