Toledo near his hometown of Tiffin, Ohio. At Toledo, he joined the staff of head coach Chuck Stobart who had coached Heater at Michigan. Heater spent five years on the Toledo coaching staff, working as the running backs coach from 1977–1978 and as the secondary coach from 1979–1981. Wisconsin In 1982, Heater was hired by Wisconsin as the defensive backfield coach under head coach Dave McClain. Shortly after being hired at Wisconsin, Heater told a Wisconsin newspaper, "I don't think I'll be a legendary coach, but I want to do my job and do it well. If I do those things, I'll get where I want to go. I'm not going to worry about tomorrow. I'll just do well today and things will take care of themselves." Heater remained at Wisconsin for three years. Ohio State In March 1985, Heater was hired by Ohio State as the secondary coach under head coach Earle Bruce. He spent three years on Bruce's staff at Ohio State and left when Bruce was fired at the end of the 1987 season. Notre Dame In February 1988, Heater was hired as the defensive secondary coach at Notre Dame under head coach Lou Holtz. He was on the Notre Dame coaching staff in 1988 when Notre Dame won its last national championship. He remained on Holtz's staff at Notre Dame for three years through the 1990 season. Colorado State In February 1991, Heater was hired as the defensive coordinator at Colorado State University. He joined the staff of Earle Bruce under whom he had coached at Ohio State four years earlier. At the time of the hiring, Bruce said, "Chuck is an outstanding coach who will fit well in our program." Heater remained with Colorado State for two years but left after the 1992 season when Earl Bruce was fired as the team's head coach. Colorado In 1993, Heater was hired as the recruiting coordinator for the Colorado Buffaloes football team. Colorado head coach Bill McCartney had been an assistant coach at Michigan during Heater's senior year. In February 1994, after the NCAA eliminated the position of recruiting coordinator, McCartney hired Heater as his defensive secondary coach. In March 1995, Colorado's new head coach Rick Neuheisel moved Heater to a new position as the team's tight ends coach. He remained the tight ends coach at Colorado for four years from 1995 to 1998 and also resumed