WESTERVILLE – The Otterbein football program has announced four additions to its coaching staff under first-year head coach Dave Marquis.

Jake Kennedy has been named offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, and Jaymar Hines will serve as defensive coordinator. Also joining the Cardinals' staff are Ian Grant as offensive line coach and Brody Kidwell as a graduate assistant safeties coach.

They join Bobby Buckler (graduate assistant linebackers and special teams coach) and Clayton Adams (graduate assistant tight ends coach) on Marquis' staff.

"I couldn't be more excited about the staff we've put together," Marquis said. "Every coach joining this team is someone I know personally or has either worked with or played for people I trust and respect. They bring a great mix of energy, passion and experience, and they are all outstanding teachers of the game. Most importantly, they believe in the vision we have for this program and are ready to pour everything into developing our players on and off the field."

Kennedy comes to Otterbein from Bellefontaine High School in Bellefontaine, Ohio, where he taught marketing and served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the football team.

A Bellefontaine native, Kennedy's coaching tenure at BHS began in May 2020. In 2022, he helped lead the team to an 8-3 record and conference championship. The Chieftains boasted the top offense in the conference that year, amassing 4,129 total yards and 363 points en route to earning seven All-Conference selections.

The success continued in 2023, as the Chieftains broke 10 school records, including total yards of offense (5,219) and points (493) in a season, and advanced to the regional semifinals as part of an 11-3 campaign with seven All-Conference honorees.

Kennedy has also assisted in the development of quarterback Tavien St. Clair, who was recently named the Marcus Dupree National Player of the Year after throwing for 2,536 yards and accounting for 38 total touchdowns as a senior this past fall. St. Clair was the No. 1-ranked 2025 high school football player by Rivals.com and earned multiple All-State accolades in high school. He combined for 5,536 yards and 62 touchdowns through the air as a sophomore and junior.

Kennedy coached collegiately at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, serving as the Tigers' running backs coach in 2019 as they posted a 7-3 record and won the NCAC title. He coached two All-Conference running backs, including Offensive MVP Jaheem Washington.

After the 2019 season, Kennedy paused his coaching career to play professionally overseas for the Graz Giants of the Austrian Football League, where he was a finalist for MVP in 2019, and the New Yorker Lions of the German Football League from 2020 to 2021.

Kennedy graduated with a business management degree in 2019 from Wittenberg, where he was a three-year starter at quarterback and two-year captain for the football team. During his time at Wittenberg, the Tigers posted a combined 29-4 record and won three conference championships while he accounted for 8,700 total yards and 93 touchdowns. He holds program records for career passing yards (7,949) and passing touchdowns (75) and passing touchdowns in a game (7).

Kennedy earned an education licensure from Bowling Green State University in 2024 and is currently working toward a master's degree in curriculum and instruction from Western Governors University.

Hines comes to Westerville from Denison University in Granville, Ohio, where he served as defensive backs coach since 2023. He coached multiple All-NCAC performers in the Denison secondary, and the Big Red ranked in the top 20 nationally in third-down defense in both 2023 and 2024.

In 2023, defensive back Jaylin Epps was named First Team All-NCAC after recording a career-high 15 pass breakups and two interceptions along with 15 total tackles, including 10 solo, under Hines' tutelage. Epps ranked first in the NCAC and tied for second nationally in passes defended (1.70 per game). Fellow Big Red defensive backs Collin Murphy and Roshaune Downie were All-NCAC Third Team selections that year.

Murphy went on to be named to the All-NCAC First Team and D3football.com All-Region 4 First Team in 2024 after intercepting a team-high four passes while adding eight pass breakups, 45 total tackles, a forced fumble and blocked kick. Epps was a Second Team All-NCAC pick in 2024 after tallying a team-high 10 pass breakups, 27 total tackles and a fumble recovery.

Prior to Denison, Hines worked at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati, Ohio, as defensive backs coach in 2023 and as a defensive backs intern at fellow OAC member Ohio Northern University in Ada from 2022 to 2023.

Hines played defensive back on the football team and ran sprint events as a member of the track and field team at Ohio Northern, where he graduated with a degree in athletic training in 2021.

A native of Cincinnati, Hines tallied 32 tackles, two interceptions and six pass breakups in 28 career games, including eight starts, for the Polar Bears.

Grant joins the Otterbein staff from NCAA Division-I FCS Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., where he served as assistant offensive line coach in 2023 before adding director of on-campus recruiting to his job title in 2024.

Prior to his time at Marist, Grant served as a varsity assistant football coach and the head junior varsity football coach at Allentown High School in Allentown, N.J., from 2020 to 2023. As a varsity assistant, he led multiple position groups, including offensive line, defensive line, tight ends and fullbacks.

Grant was an offensive lineman on the football team at Marist and was a consistent starter beginning in his sophomore year. He graduated in 2020 with a degree in business administration and finance concentration and minor in sports communication and is on track to earn a master's degree in marketing communications with a strategic leadership concentration from Marist this summer.

Kidwell comes to Westerville after graduating from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., with a degree in hotel administration in May 2024. Kidwell played safety on the NCAA Division-I FCS Cornell football team and earned a pair of Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week accolades in his career. He was elected captain of the team in 2023 and went on to finish second on the team in tackles that year.

A native of New Albany, Ohio, Kidwell played for his dad, Bubba, at New Albany High School.