Moon Township, Pa. – Robert Morris University head football coach Bernard Clark finished off his staff with the hiring of defensive backs coaches John Faircloth and Bart Tanski. Faircloth will be in charge of the safeties while Tanski will mentor the cornerbacks.
 
Faircloth comes to Moon Township after spending the previous two seasons as a defensive graduate assistant as Colorado State University. With the Rams, Faircloth helped coach the defensive line and held recruiting territories through the Midwest in addition to Virginia and Washington, D.C. He was also responsible for opponent scouts and ran the scout team.
 
"Coach Faircloth came to me on a strong recommendation from a friend on the staff at Colorado State University," said Clark. "What I loved about Coach Faircloth when I spoke with him was the technical details of what he was trying to teach his defensive backs. What we need back there is a guy that is going to be extremely detailed when it comes to alignments, assignments and technique."
 
Faircloth also coached for two seasons at Black Hills State University in South Dakota where he helped tutor the wide receivers and assisted with special teams. Prior to that, Faircloth was an undergraduate assistant at Mars Hill for two seasons helping the Lions to the 2011 South Atlantic Conference Championship. Faircloth began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant at Pender High School in the 2009 season.
 
Faircloth earned his bachelor's degree in physical education from Mars Hill University and his Masters of Education from Colorado State University in 2017.
 
Tanski spent three seasons on the staff of the Syracuse Orange. He served as a defensive graduate assistant in 2015-16 before taking on the position of defensive quality control coach in 2017. He worked with both the linebackers and the defensive backs during his time there in addition to lending his expertise to the special teams.
 
"Coach Tanski, again, came with a strong recommendation from the defensive coordinator at Syracuse University," said Clark. "When he came on his interview, he was extremely technical and very sound in his fundamentals and I thought he would be a great addition."
 
Prior to joining the Orange, Tanski worked two seasons at Findlay where he coached the team's wide receivers (2014), outside linebackers (2014) and defensive backs (2013). While tutoring the receivers, Tanski helped develop Lloyd Henry into an All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference First Team selection and set school records for receiving yards and receptions. He also served as Findlay's assistant special teams coordinator in 2013.   
    
Named Ohio's Mr. Football in 2007, Tanski was a walk-on at Bowling Green. He played quarterback and wide receiver for the Falcons, eventually earning a scholarship and serving as team co-captain in 2012.
    
Tanski holds a bachelor's degree in engineering technology from Bowling Green. He also has two master's degrees, one in business administration from Findlay, and the other in instructional design, development and evaluation from Syracuse.