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CAA Office For Diversity And Inclusion To Enhance NCAA Coaches Academy Program; Congratulates Kansas State University And Prince On Recent Head Football Hire

For Immediate Release

Friday, December 9, 2005


Contact(s)
Gail E. Dent Associate Director of Public and Media Relations 317/917-6117

INDIANAPOLIS --- The NCAA Office for Diversity and Inclusion will enhance its NCAA Coaches Academy Program in 2006 and has extended its congratulations to Ron Prince, a past participant in the NCAA Coaches Academy, and Kansas State University regarding Prince�s appointment as head football coach at KSU earlier this week. Prince was a participant in the 2005 NCAA Coaches Academy Expert Program held this past June.

"The NCAA Expert Coaching Program was created to recognize and support highly qualified and experienced individuals just like Ron Prince who are ready, willing, and able to be all-around successful head football coaches in DI-A," said Charlotte Westerhaus, vice-president of the NCAA Office for Diversity and Inclusion. Westerhaus recently spoke at a sports conference where she discussed the NCAA Coaches Academy and the appointment of Prince as head coach. The NCAA Office for Diversity and Inclusion directs all facets of the Coaches Academy.

The NCAA Coaches Academy was created by the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee (MOIC) in 2003 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. Prince�s appointment brings the current number of African-American head football coaches at the 117 NCAA Division I-A member schools to four. Also included in the total are head football coaches Sylvester Croom (Mississippi State University), Karl Dorrell (UCLA), and Tyrone Willingham (University of Washington). Less than 2.9 percent of head football coaches in NCAA Divisions I, II and III are ethnic minorities, excluding the historically black colleges and universities.

"On behalf of the MOIC, we�re extremely pleased that Tim Weiser and the officials at Kansas State University selected Ron Prince as the school�s next football coach," said Robert Vowels, chair of the NCAA MOIC. "We truly believe the Coaches Academy and other programs we have created to further enhance the skills of coaches is working. We�ll continue to find viable candidates who are ready to coach and lead our NCAA student-athletes on the playing field and in the classroom," Vowels said.

The NCAA originally structured the Coaches Academy in three tiers�the Advanced Program, for coaches with at least four years of experience; the Expert Program, for coaches with at least six years of experience; and the Executive Program, for coaches with at least eight years of experience. The NCAA is in the process of enhancing its Coaches Academy to broaden the pool of participants; provide more instruction to help coaches make better career decisions; elevate the leadership and diversity training in the programs; and to integrate more athletics directors and other university officials who can provide best practice scenarios. The NCAA also plans to create another tier centered on college football seniors who are interested in coaching the sport. An additional tier will be added for coaches in sports other than football. The next academy program is slated for the summer of 2006.

The NCAA Coaches Academy has received high marks from past participants, college presidents and athletics administrators. 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).


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