INDIANAPOLIS --- The NCAA has invited 20 coaches to its 2010 NCAA Expert Coaches Football Academy, in an effort to assist the coaches with career advancement, networking and exposure opportunities at NCAA colleges and universities.    The Academy is being held June 22-24 in Anaheim, Calif., in conjunction with the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) convention.

The coaches invited to the 2010 Expert Academy program are:

• Joel Beard, interim head football coach, Minnesota State University Moorhead
• Willie Bennett, co-defensive coordinator, Saint Augustine’s College
• Michael Bryant II, offensive coordinator/quarterback coach, Prairie View A&M University
• Luther Carr III, recruiting coordinator/wide receivers coach, University of Idaho
• Nathan Cochran, head football coach, Lincoln University (Missouri)
• Wayne Dickens, head football coach, Kentucky State University
• Carlton Hall, assistant football coach, Harvard University
• Matt Jeter, special teams coordinator/secondary, Drake University
• Eddie Johnson, associate head football coach, Savannah State University
• Roy Jones, assistant football coach, Prairie View A&M University
• Willie Jones, defensive coordinator/associate head coach, Stillman College
• Richard Mercado, special teams coordinator, State University of New York Maritime College
• Ronald Middleton, associate head coach, Duke University
• Matthew Montgomery, offensive coordinator, Saint Augustine’s College
• Kevin Moore, assistant football coach, Catholic University
• Alvin Parker, offensive coordinator, Elizabeth City State University
• Everette Sands, assistant football coach, The Citadel
• Scott Van Zile, offensive coordinator, Monmouth University
• Kijuan Ware, assistant football coach, Miami University (Ohio)
• Damon Wilson, head football coach, Bowie State University

The Expert Coaches Academy is an NCAA program that addresses the critical shortage of ethnic minorities in head coaching positions in the sport of college football, primarily at the Division I level.   

The NCAA hosts its program on the heels of a rise in the number of minority head football coaches following the 2009 season.   Last season, there were nine head coaches of minority descent out of the 119 Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools.   This year, there were a total of 15 minority head football coaches who were hired in 2009-10.  Of the coaches who have been invited to the NCAA Coaching Academy programs, 18 have secured head coaching positions in college football.   However, out of a total of 582 football programs in Division I, II and III, only 5.7 percent employ head football coaches of color, excluding the historically black colleges and universities.  

Though the NCAA does not have hiring authority over its member colleges and universities, the national office, through Diversity and Inclusion, is able to provide programming that better prepares coaches for many of the issues they will experience at the head coaching level.   The coaches who participate in the Expert Coaching Academy have expressed an interest in being a head coach at an NCAA college or university within their current division or in another NCAA division.   Diversity and Inclusion provides the coaches with program sessions and networking opportunities with current head coaches and athletics administrators who have hiring responsibilities or influence.   The focus of the program centers on ethnic minority football coaches, however, football coaches of other ethnicities have also been invited to participate.

Expert Academy programming covers the following  areas:

• Communications - media, booster relations, interviewing skills, and building a portfolio.
• Fiscal Responsibilities - fundraising, budgeting and development
• Building a Successful Program - managing coaching staffs, building a portfolio (game strategy), maintaining relationships with university/college presidents, athletic directors, alumni, student-athletes, faculty and members of the community 
• Compliance Considerations - gambling issues, NCAA rules and regulations/infractions, agents, choices/consequences, and integrity
• Academic Issues - academic support, academic fraud, retention, NCAA rules and regulations, academic success