BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Samford head football coach Chris Hatcher announced three new additions to his staff Tuesday afternoon.
 
Ricky Turner will serve as the program's director of football operations. Derrick Foster has been hired to coach the team's running backs, and Mike Krysl joins the staff to coach the special teams.

Turner served the 2015 season on the Samford staff as the team's special teams quality control coach and player personnel assistant. He was responsible for analyzing and breaking down opponent special teams film, assisting with the preparation of the special teams game plan each week and making practice schedules and scout cards. He also assisted with on-campus recruiting. Prior to coming to Samford, Turner served as a football intern at Kennesaw State from January to April of 2015.

Turner also worked as a student assistant at the University of South Carolina from 2011 to 2014. Turner is a graduate of South Carolina, graduating Cum Laude from the school with a Bachelor of Science degree in Sport and Entertainment Management.
 
"Ricky worked hand-in-hand last year with (former operations director) Jay Chapman, and he's a bright young, up-and-coming coach," Hatcher said. "He is very familiar with how we want things done here. There were a lot of qualified candidates for the job, but every time we were talking about different people, his name kept coming up and we feel very good about him."
 
Foster comes to Samford from Northwestern State, where he coached the running backs in 2013, and the wide receivers in 2014 and 2015. In 2012, he served on the Tennessee coaching staff where he assisted the offensive coordinator and helped coach the team's running backs. Prior to his time at Tennessee, Foster coached wide receivers at Valdosta State in 2011.
 
Foster was a three-year starting receiver at Southwest Baptist, including a record-shattering 2007 campaign. He graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Sport Management from Southwest Baptist in 2010 and a Master's in Public Administration from Valdosta State University in 2013.
 
"Derrick Foster brings tremendous energy to the program," Hatcher said. "He has knowledge about the type of offense that we want to run. He has worked in a very similar system at a couple of different stops. He is an Alabama native that has tremendous ties in south Alabama for recruiting purposes, and whenever you have a guy that is passionate about the state your school is in, that is an added bonus."
 
Krysl joins the Bulldogs' coaching staff after serving as director of player personnel at Georgia Southern over the last two seasons. He was an assistant coach at West Virginia State from 2013-14. In 2010 and 2011, he served as a graduate assistant coach at his alma mater, Central Missouri. He served the 2012 season as offensive coordinator at Lexington High School.
 
Krysl was a two-year letterwinner at fullback at Central Missouri. He completed two degrees from Central Missouri, earning a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education followed by his Master's degree in Athletic and Sports Business Administration in 2011.
 
"Mike Krysl is a special teams guy, and that is what he prides himself in being," Hatcher said. "After having done the special teams myself, along with Bobby Blick last year, I see the importance in having one guy run those teams. We share a lot of the same philosophies, even though some things are different with him running it. But philosophically, we were very close and I feel comfortable with turning those teams over to him as I move to having a larger role with the offense."