INDIANAPOLIS---The NCAA has selected 20 coaches who one day aspire to be head coaches in Division I-A football for its NCAA Football Coaching Academy, June 11-13, in Indianapolis, Indiana.  

The Football Coaching Academy is one of the NCAA initiatives that addresses the critical shortage of ethnic minorities in head coaching positions in the sport of college football, primarily at the Division I level.  Of the current 117 Division I-A head football coaches, five are African-American.   In Division I-AA, there are two African-American head football coaches and one Native American head football coach.  Less than 2.7 percent of head football coaches in all NCAA divisions are ethnic minorities, excluding the historically black colleges and universities.

The participants for the NCAA Men’s Football Coaching Academy are:

• Trent Boykin, assistant head coach, Kentucky State University
• Miles Brandon, co-defensive coordinator, Prairie View A&M University
• Terrance Brooks, head football coach, Kalamazoo College
• Deondri Clark, head football coach, Shaw University
• Nathan Cochran, assistant football coach, University of Wisconsin, Platteville
• Otis Covington, assistant head coach, Fort Valley State University
• Nelson Edmonds, academic advisor/assistant football coach, University of Wisconsin, Whitewater

• Garry Fisher, defensive coordinator, Shenandoah University
• Dwayne Foster, assistant football coach, Prairie View A&M University
• Jeremy Gold, defensive line coach, University of Northern Iowa
• Thomas Kearney, assistant head coach, Iowa Wesleyan College
• Brandon McCray, head football coach, MacMurray College
• Larry McDaniel, assistant coach, Kent State University
• John Morgan, head football coach, Fort Valley State University
• Alvin Parker, offensive coordinator, Elizabeth City State University
• Christopher Patterson, assistant football coach, Saint Augustine’s College
• Peter Quaweay, secondary coach, University of Rhode Island
• Christopher Simpson, assistant football coach, University of Wisconsin, Whitewater
• Christopher Taylor, head football coach, Saint Peter’s College
• KiJuan Ware, assistant football coach, Georgetown University

The NCAA Football Coaching Academy is designed to reinforce various aspects of securing, managing and excelling in head football coaching positions at the intercollegiate level.  Recognized football coaches and athletics and higher education administrators serve as faculty for the three-day workshop. 

The NCAA Football Coaching Academy workshop will focus on:

• Communication Skills (interviewing and public speaking)
• Fiscal Responsibilities (maintaining and managing a budget)
• Building a Successful Program (managing staff, game strategy, maintaining relationships with senior officials at the university--athletics administrators/alumni/student-athletes/faculty/community)
• Compliance Considerations (NCAA rules and regulations/infractions)
• Academic Issues (fraud, support, retention, success)

Speakers scheduled to present at the NCAA Football Coaching Academy include: Barry Alvarez, former head football coach and current athletics director at the University of Wisconsin; Floyd Keith, executive director, Black Coaches Association; Randy Walker, head football coach, Northwestern University; past NCAA Expert Coaches Academy graduates—Ron Prince, Kansas State University head football coach and Norries Wilson, Columbia University head football coach; and Charlotte Westerhaus, NCAA vice-president for the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.  

The NCAA began its Coaches Academy in 2003.  Additionally, the Association hosts an Expert Coaches Academy program, which also provides skill enhancement at an elevated level.