@OLcoachvince
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Vince Natali is in his third season as the offensive line coach for the Indiana State football program and his first as the run game coordinator.
In 2014, the Sycamores had a historic season that saw them finish with an 8-6 overall record and, most importantly, their first trip to the NCAA FCS Playoffs since 1984 and their first postseason victory since 1983.
Of Indiana State's eight victories in 2014, six were against nationally-ranked FCS opponents. The Sycamores also returned the Victory Bell to Terre Haute for the first time since 1987 when they earned a 27-20 victory in Muncie over FBS opponent Ball State on Sept. 13. The Sycamores also earned a victory over Top-10 FCS opponent Northern Iowa and remained in the national polls a school-record 10 consecutive weeks.
The offensive line showed much improvement in 2014, protecting Second-Team All-MVFC quarterback Mike Perish along the way during his record-setting senior season. Natali mentored center Aaron Jelovic, a Second-Team honoree as well, who arrived in Terre Haute just one year prior. Jelovic led all ISU offensive linemen in knockdown blocks with 110. As a unit, the Sycamore offense also showed improvement in total offense (358.4 YPG) and rushing touchdowns (16).
In 2013, Natali mentored senior center FN Lutz III, who earned Second-Team All-MVFC status that season. Lutz returned to start all 12 games after missing the entire 2012 campaign. Lutz led all linemen in knockdown blocks with 76, helping the Sycamore offense average more than 20 points per game.
Natali came to Indiana State from Utah State where he spent the 2012 season as an offensive graduate assistant. At Utah State, Natali assisted the offensive coaches with daily football operations, and worked primarily with the Aggie offensive line. The Aggies had a record-setting year for total offense (6,108 yards), rushing yards (2,663) and total points (454), en route to defeating Toledo in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl by the score of 41-15. Center Tyler Larsen and tackle Eric Schultz were First-Team All-WAC performers under his guidance. Guard Jamie Markosian was also a Second-Team All-WAC honoree.
"I had the opportunity to work with Vince in 2012 at Utah State," Sycamore head coach Mike Sanford said. "He is an extremely intelligent, hardworking guy. Vince possesses great knowledge of the offensive system that we are going to install here at Indiana State as far as how the offensive line is going to be coached."
Prior to his one-year stint at Utah State, Natali worked for two of the world's largest accounting and advising firms at KPMG in Albuquerque, N.M. (2008-09), and PricewaterhouseCoopers in Chicago, Ill. (2010-11).
Natali was a two-year starter and four-year letterwinner (2004-07) at center for the University of New Mexico. He earned first-team All-Mountain West Conference honors during his senior season as he led the team with 118 knockdowns and allowed just one sack. Along with earning First-Team All-MWC, Natali was a Secone-Team ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-American during his senior season.
During that season, Natali anchored an offensive line that led the MWC in scoring offense and ranked second in total offense. Natali was the team's top-graded lineman and finished the season with double-digit knockdown blocks in eight games.
Natali was also a tremendous performer in the weight room during his collegiate career, as he earned the team's Beefmaster Award for players weighing 276 pounds and above in 2007. Overall, Natali was a three-time Academic All-MWC honoree and graduated in 2006 from UNM with a degree in finance, posting a 3.86 GPA. He then earned his MBA from New Mexico in 2008.
Natali was born Feb. 10, 1985, in Park Ridge, Ill. His older brother, Steve, was an offensive lineman at Northwestern (2000-02).
