INDIANAPOLIS---The NCAA has selected the 20 football coaches who will participate in its second annual NCAA Advanced Coaching Program, which takes place January 7-9, at the Seelbach Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky.  

The Advanced Coaching Program is phase one of the NCAA’s overall Coaches Academy, which began in January 2004.  The Coaches Academy is one of the NCAA’s initiatives to address the critical shortage of ethnic minorities in head coaching positions in the sport of college football.  Of the current 117 Division I-A head football coaches, three are African-American and two are Hispanic.  Less than 2.9 percent of head football coaches in all NCAA Divisions are ethnic minorities, excluding the historically black colleges and universities. 

The mission of the NCAA Coaches Academy is to assist ethnic minority football coaches with career advancement through skills enhancement, networking and exposure opportunities and to raise awareness regarding the substantial pool of talented ethnic-minority coaches.

The Advanced Coaching Program is designed to teach and reinforce various aspects of securing, managing and excelling in head coaching positions at the Division I-A level.  Workshop topics will center on communication skills; fiscal responsibility; building a successful program; marketing and fundraising; moral/ethical considerations; academic issues and health and safety concerns. 

The Advanced Coaching Program is one of three programs of the NCAA’s Coaches Academy.  The Advanced Coaching Program is geared toward coaches with at least four years of experience; the Expert Coaching Program is geared toward coaches with at least six years of experience; and the Executive Coaching Program is for coaches with at least eight years of experience and is centered on mentorship, as opposed to a structured workshop program.

The NCAA administers its Coaches Academy with support from the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), the Black Coaches Association (BCA) and the National Football League (NFL).   The NCAA Advanced Coaching Program will precede the AFCA convention, which also will be held in Louisville, January 9-12.

The 20 football coaches selected for the Advanced Coaching Program are:

• Bryan Applewhite, running back coach, University of Wyoming, Division I-A
• Carey Bailey, assistant football coach, Oklahoma State University, Division I-A
• Ronald Burton, assistant coach-defensive line, U.S. Air Force Academy, Division I-A
• Earnest Collins Jr., assistant football coach, University of Kansas, Division I-A
• Renato Diaz, assistant football coach, Widener University, Division III
• Frederick Farrier, associate head coach/offensive coordinator, Shaw University, Division II
• James Franklin, assistant coach/recruiting coordinator, University of Maryland, College Park, Division I-A
• Henry Frazier III, head football coach, Prairie View A&M University, Division I-AA
• William Inge, co-defensive coordinator, University of Northern Iowa, Division I-AA
• Lyndon Johnson, outside linebackers coach/recruiting coordinator, University of Connecticut, D I-A
• Ernest Jones, defensive coordinator/defensive backfield coach, Oberlin College, Division III
• Brian Jones, assistant football coach, University of Missouri, Columbia, Division I-A
• Aaron Kelton, assistant head football coach/defensive coordinator-recruiting coordinator, Virginia State University, Division II
• Lawrence Livingston, head football coach/offensive line coach, University of Texas at El Paso, Division I-A
• Michael Lynn Jr., head football coach, Bowie State University, Division II
• Randy Melvin, assistant football coach, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, Division I-A
• Curtis Modkins, assistant football coach, Georgia Institute of Technology, Division I-A
• Larry Porter, assistant football coach, Oklahoma State University, Division I-A
• Tommie Robinson, assistant football coach, Georgia Institute of Technology, Division I-A
• George Small, head football coach, North Carolina A&T State University, Division I-AA

[Editor’s Note:  The Coaching Academy workshop sessions are closed, with the exception of participants and facilitators.  Media are welcome to interview NCAA staff and participants about the Academy prior to the start of the program.]