Wes Nurse - Football Coach - University of Montana Athletics

Wes Nurse

Title:
Safeties
Email:
nathan.dellinger@mso.umt.edu
Phone:
243-2969

Nurse was hired as Montana’s safeties coach in March of 2026.

He came to Missoula after four seasons serving as Eastern Washington’s cornerbacks coach where he led several players to All-Big Sky honors and helped produced consistently strong takeaway rates.

During his time with the Eagles, he mentored first team All-Big Sky picks Jaylon Jenkins and Drew Carter, among others. He also helped EWU produced the third-most interceptions in the conference in 2025.

Nurse now returns to the state of Montana after having served as Defensive Coordinator at Carroll College in Helena before his time at EWU. There he led the Fighting Saints to a Spring 2021 Frontier Conference Championship and NAIA Playoffs appearance, their first since 2014. Carroll led the Frontier Conference with six interceptions in four games while six players earned All-Conference recognition.

Nurse coached at Big Sky rival Cal Poly prior to Carroll College and has had two coaching stints at UC Davis. He coached cornerbacks and the nickels group at Davis for the 2015-18 seasons, including the Aggies’ 2018 squad that tied EWU (and Weber State) atop the conference leaderboard at 7-1. DB Keleen Culberson earned Big Sky Honorable Mention honors in 2016. In his first stint at UC Davis in 2011 he also coached standout cornerback Jonathan Perkins who earned All-Great West Conference second-team honors after intercepting two passes, broke up a team-high 10 passes and blocked a kick.

After UC Davis, Nurse went on to coach cornerbacks at the University of North Dakota for two seasons. Nurse also spent a season at Minnesota-Crookston where he worked with the running backs and tight ends.

Prior to his stint in California, Nurse served three seasons on the staff at Houston. For the Cougars, he was a quality control assistant working with both the defense and special teams. During his tenure at Houston, the Cougars climbed to as high as No. 12 in the FBS polls (2009) and the 2008 and 2009 UH squads appeared in the Armed Forces Bowl.

Before coaching in Houston Nurse accepted his first full-time coaching job at The Citadel for the 2007 season. While at the military institution, Nurse coached the defensive ends, safeties and outside linebackers. The Bulldogs' defensive unit was the top ranked one in the Southland Conference and he was part of a 7-4 season, which was the first at The Citadel in 10 seasons.

Nurse played at Boise State where he was a three-year starting safety, twice earning All-Western Athletic Conference first-team honors and team MVP accolades in 2003, helping BSU win four conference titles. The Broncos compiled a 52-11 record during his four years on the field and won all four bowl games the team appeared in.

He was later a graduate assistant on the Bronco coaching staff from 2005-07 under Dan Hawkins and Chris Petersen for two years and worked alongside current UM offensive coordinator Brent Pease in 2006-07. Three of the defensive backs Nurse worked with during this stint went on to be drafted in the NFL (Gerald Alexander, 2nd round; 2006, Orlando Scandrick, 4th round; 2008 and Kyle Wilson, 1st round; 2010). In his final season with the Broncos, he helped Boise State coaching staff defeat Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl.