LAKE CHARLES – "Cowboy Up!"
 
That was the rally cry from Lance Guidry when he was named McNeese's 15^th head football coach in school history back on Dec. 16.
 
Less than a month later, he's strengthening that motto with the hiring of three of the greatest Cowboys to ever play the game – Kerry Joseph, Zack Bronson, and Charlie Ayro. All three are also members of the McNeese Sports Hall of Fame.
 
Guidry made the announcement on Tuesday in addition to the hiring of Dennis Smith from Florida A&M who also has coaching stints at Florida International and the University of Miami.
 
Joseph will coach wide receivers and will be co-offensive coordinator, Bronson defensive backs, Ayro linebackers and Smith running backs and work with special teams.
 
Landon Hoefer, who has been the Cowboys' quarterback coach the last two seasons, has been promoted to offensive coordinator. Lark Hebert will move from linebackers' coach to the defensive line as well as being the team's camp coordinator and director of football operations, and Eman Naghavi will take on the role of recruiting coordinator in addition to remaining the offensive line coach.
 
Toby Willis will continue to coach tight ends and serve as the team's video coordinator while Carlos Perez returns to coach the defensive ends.
 
"KJ, Zach 'B' and Ayro, all I can say is 'Wow'," said Guidry. "Being able to hire these three former all-Americans and McNeese Hall of Fame inductees is huge for our program. They all were great players but they are even better people and role models.
 
"I felt this was very important to hire these guys because who better to sell McNeese than three products of McNeese. It was an honor to play with two of the three and now it will be an honor to work with them. McNeese got better today, that's for sure."
 
Joseph, McNeese's all-time career leader in touchdown passes and second in career passing yards and total offense, spent last season as a training camp intern with the New Orleans Saints working on the offensive side of the ball under head coach Sean Payton after he officially retired from a 10-year career in the Canadian Football League. Over the past few years, the New Iberia native spent many of his off-seasons as a player working in strength and conditioning and helping youth football.
 
He broke into the CFL in 2003 with Ottawa and then moved to Saskatchewan in the 2006 dispersal draft after the Renegades folded. He helped the Roughriders win the third Grey Cup in franchise history in 2007, the same year he was named the league's Most Outstanding Player. He also played for Toronto, Edmonton and Saskatchewan before retiring for football in December 2014.
 
"I believe KJ will impact this program as a coach the same way he did as a player in the mid-90s," said Guidry. "It was not only his talents that made him great, but it was his desire to be the best on and off the field. This desire is what made him arguably the best QB to ever wear the blue and gold. He will become a super star in this coaching profession."
 
Joseph, who won 41 games and three Southland Conference championships as a starter for the Cowboys from 1992-95 including leading the program to its first-ever playoff victory (1992) and first national semifinal appearance (1995), will recruit the Lafayette area.
 
He was inducted into the McNeese Sports Hall of Fame in 2006 and the Southland Hall of Honor in 2012.
 
Bronson, a 1996 consensus all-American and 2007 McNeese Sports Hall of Fame inductee, spent the 2007 and 2008 seasons as a graduate assistant on the Cowboys' coaching staff, helping the team to back-to-back conference championships.
 
Following his GA stint at McNeese, Bronson coached football and track at Westside High School in Houston from 2009-12 and spent the last two seasons on the staff at Beaumont-Kelly.
 
"Zack's biggest asset has always been his ability to relate to all people and players," said Guidry. "He was one of the all-time greats to play at McNeese, however it's his humble disposition that makes him a mentor and the ideal role model. He will always be the standard of what a NFL safety looks like, walks like, plays like, but more importantly, acts like."
 
As a player for the Cowboys from 1993-93, the Jasper, Texas native won two conference championships and was a member of that memorable 1995 team that finished the season 13-1 with an appearance in the 1-AA (now FCS) semifinals.
 
He's the only player in school history, and one of six in league history, to be named a first-team all-conference performer all four years.
 
Following his collegiate career, Bronson signed as an undrafted free agent by the San Francisco 49ers in 1997, and during his rookie season, recorded 24 tackles with an interception. He went on to play eight seasons in the NFL, seven with the 49ers (1997-2003) and one at St. Louis (2004). He ended his career with 247 tackles, 19 interceptions and two touchdowns.
 
His 346 interception return yards with the 49ers is ranked as the 10^th-most in franchise history and currently holds the franchise record with the longest interception return of 97 yards.
 
Bronson will recruit the Beaumont and Golden Triangle areas.
 
Ayro spent the 2002 and 2003 seasons on the McNeese staff after finishing up a record-breaking and hall of fame career when he set the school's career record in total tackles with 486, a mark that still stands. He helped coach the Cowboys to the 2002 FCS national title game and back-to-back conference championships.
 
He has been involved in coaching for nearly 15 years. After he earned his master's degree at McNeese, he went on to coach six seasons at Lamar Consolidated as linebacker coach from 2004-09 and helping the Mustangs to the Division I 4A Texas State Championship in 2007. He served as defensive coordinator at LaGrange High School here in Lake Charles from 2010-12 and most recently, defensive coordinator at Seven Lakes HS in Katy the last three years.
 
"You don't become an all-time leading tackler in McNeese history without mastering your craft and truly understanding what the opposition is trying to do," said Guidry. "Charlie will be a great teacher of the game and will keep the 'DWA' brand alive and well."
 
A consensus all-American for the Cowboys from 1995-98, he led the team in tackles three seasons and in addition to his career record in the category, his 171 tackles in 1998 still stands as a single-season record. Also that year he was named the conference's defensive player of the year and was named to five all-America teams.
 
Ayro, a 2010 inductee into the McNeese Sports Hall of Fame, will recruit the Houston area.
 
Smith is an energetic young coach who brings strong ties to talent-rich South Florida. He spent last season at Florida A&M working with the tight ends and directed the FAMU special teams unit.
 
Prior to FAMU he worked two seasons as wide receivers and special teams coach at Itawamba Community College in Fulton, Mississippi where his receiving group ranked second among Mississippi junior colleges in total receptions with 227.
 
A 2005 graduate of the University of Miami, he worked as assistant director of football operations at The U in 2006 before spending six seasons at Florida International, serving in various roles including assistant director of football operations (2007); graduate assistant coach for offense (2008-10); director of player personnel and quality control (2011); and recruiting coordinator and tight ends coach (2012), helping FIU bring in the top recruiting class in the Sun Belt Conference in 2011 and 2012.
 
"Dennis has a variety of qualities that makes him one of the most important hires for McNeese," said Guidry. "His experience as an FBS director of football operations and recruiting coordinator will help define our daily, weekly, and seasonal football activities. Spending most of his coaching career in Florida, he'll help our program reach out to new recruiting grounds in the future."
 
Smith will recruit the New Orleans area and in Florida.
 
Guidry is expected to name a defensive coordinator in the coming days.