Less than a month after shifting responsibilities within its coaching staff, Western Kentucky now must fill two coaching holes.

Quarterbacks coach Kevin Wright and defensive backs coach Travaris Robinson both resigned from the program over the weekend, leaving the Hilltoppers with two coaching vacancies roughly six weeks before the start of spring practice on March 28.

Wright, who had been demoted last month from the offensive coordinator job he held each of the past two seasons, primarily cited family reasons for his departure, according to WKU head coach David Elson.

“He just decided that he was just going to try and keep his family up in Indianapolis, and they’d never really officially moved here,” Elson told the Daily News today. “His main focus was with his family, and just moving on and trying to find something up there.

“He’s got some irons in the fire, so to speak. He’s got some different opportunities and the main thing for him is to just get reunited with his family.”

After arriving at WKU from Tulsa (Okla.) Union High School in 2007, Wright’s offense put up 33.2 points a game against mainly Football Championship Subdivision opponents in 2007. But against mostly Football Bowl Subdivision foes in 2008, Wright’s spread-option offense dipped to just 17.5 points a contest as the Hilltoppers finished 2-10, the most losses in school history.

Wright was demoted in favor of offensive line coach Walter Wells late last month.

Despite the dip in production, Elson said Wright had a positive impact on the WKU program in his two seasons.

“He brought a lot of things to the table for us,” Elson said. “He really put a lot of time and effort in getting us transitioned into the spread and we appreciate all his time and effort.

“We realize that family comes first, and we wish him all the best as well.”

With Wright out of the picture and the more power-oriented Wells calling the plays, Elson said again today that the offense might look a bit different in 2009. The spread-option approach will still be present, but WKU might install more plays under center and more overall diversity.

“We’re going to diversify maybe a little bit,” Elson said. “There’s not anything that we’re not capable of doing. Walt’s got plenty of knowledge in that area as well.

“The next (quarterbacks coach) will really be the best fit for our staff and has some experience developing quarterbacks. We’ve got guys that don’t have a ton of college playing experience, so we want a guy to come in and be a really good teaching technician.”

Robinson, who coached his first and only year at WKU in 2008 after spending the previous year as an Auburn graduate assistant, takes over as defensive backs coach at Southern Mississippi.

It’s an opportunity Robinson simply couldn’t pass up, according to Elson.

“They had an opening, they called and requested to speak with and interview him and he went and they offered him the job,” Elson said. “And quite honestly, they’re paying a lot of money down there.

“He was appreciative of the opportunity and it was just one of those things where he had to do what was best for his family and we wish him the best.”

Elson said the 28-year-old Robinson has a bright future in the coaching business.

“You’ll definitely see him continue to progress along the totem pole in our profession.” Elson said. “He had a positive impact on our program.”

Elson said he has already received interest from candidates for both jobs, but said that there is no concrete timeframe to make hires.

“Word travels fast and I’m already getting flooded with resum/s and e-mails and things,” Elson said. “But we don’t have anybody right now.

“We’ll want to fill it as soon as possible. We’ve got to go through our university process and I would probably say hopefully within the next couple of weeks will have them filled.”