Marshall's Gale Selected for NCAA Expert Coaching Program

5/24/2004

INDIANAPOLIS - Marshall University Associate Head Football Coach Mark Gale is one of 12 college football coaches that have been selected by the NCAA for its Expert Coaching Program.

Following on the heels of its successful Advanced Coaching Program, the NCAA has selected the twelve coaches for its Expert Coaching Program--the second level of its ethnic minority initiative program--scheduled for June 1-3 in Indianapolis.

Gale, who came to Marshall University as an assistant in 1990, has won more games than any other assistant coach in Marshall history. The Oklahoma native, has coached in 152 Thundering Herd wins and in only 38 losses.

He is also, one of the most decorated assistant football coaches in the nation. Gale was named one of three finalists for the American Football Coaches Association's 2003 Division 1-A Assistant Coach of the Year Award in December. He was also one of only 500 high school and college assistant coaches out of more than 350,000 nominees from across the nation to be named an AFLAC National Assistant Coach of the Year Award last year, and was one of only 20 ethnic minority football coaches selected by the NCAA to participate in the first NCAA Advanced Coaching Program.

The Coaches Academy is an NCAA initiative created to address the critical shortage of ethnic minorities in head coaching positions in the sport of football. Of the current 117 Division I-A head football coaches, five are African-American and two are Hispanic. Only three percent of head coaches in all NCAA Divisions are ethnic minorities, excluding the historically black colleges and universities.

The Expert Coaching Program was created for ethnic minority football coaches with at least six years of experience. The mission of the Expert Coaching Program is to teach and reinforce various aspects of securing, managing and excelling in NCAA head coaching positions at the Division I-A level; and to provide participants with an experience that emphasizes the importance of skill enhancement, networking and exposure to key stakeholders in intercollegiate athletics. NCAA athletics administrators, football coaches, and business and communications officials will present during the three-day program. Workshop topics will include: new and innovative approaches to coaching; developing and strengthening relationships with student-athletes; cutting-edge game strategies; game-day coaching skills; and off-the-field concerns.

The NCAA hosted its first Coaches Academy program-the Advanced Coaching Program-in Orlando this past January prior to the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) convention. There are three distinct levels of the NCAA Coaches Academy: Expert, Advanced and Executive. In addition to the Expert Coaching Program, the Advanced Coaching Program is geared toward football coaches with at least four years of experience, while the Executive Coaching Program is for football coaches with at least eight years of experience. A select number of coaches who attended the Advanced Coaching Program were also selected to participate in the Expert Coaching Program.

The NCAA will administer the Expert Coaching Program with support from the AFCA, the Black Coaches Association (BCA) and the National Football League (NFL). The Expert Coaching Program will precede the BCA annual convention, which also is being held in Indianapolis at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.

The participants for the 2004 NCAA Expert Coaching Program are:

Ronald English, University of Michigan (D-IA), secondary coach
Albert Preston, University of Notre Dame (D-IA), assistant coach
Mark Gale, Marshall University (D-IA), associate head coach
Rodney Gardner, University of Georgia (D-IA), assistant coach/recruiting coordinator
David Kelly, Duke University (D-IA), associate head coach
Vantz Singletary, University of Hawaii, Manoa (D-IA), defensive line coach
Donald Thompson, University of Illinois, Champaign (D-IA), assistant coach
Norries Wilson, University of Connecticut (D-IA), offensive coordinator
Charles Bankins, Hampton University (D-IAA), recruiting coordinator/running backs coach
James Reese III, Tennessee State University (D-I-AA), head coach
James Salgado, Northeastern University (D-IAA), assistant head coach/defensive backfield coach
William Lund, Colby College (DIII), special teams coordinator/linebacker coach