THROGGS NECK, N.Y. (June 28, 2010) – Maritime Special Teams Coordinator and Wide Receivers Coach Richard Mercado has been selected by the NCAA as one of 20 college level coaches to participate in its 2010 Expert Coaches Football Academy.  Last year, Coach Mercado attended the entry level Football Coaches Academy and was one of just 2 members of his class to be selected to advance to the Expert level.  The Academy convened from 22-24 June in Anaheim, California, and was held in conjunction with the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics convention. 

 

            Created in 2004 to address the critical shortage of ethnic minorities in head coaching positions in college football the Expert Coaches Football Academy assists coaches who have expressed an interest in becoming a head coach by providing them with career advancement, networking and exposure opportunities at NCAA colleges and universities. The Expert Academy 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 game strategy; maintaining relationships with university/college presidents, athletics directors, alumni, student-athletes, faculty and community members) 
• 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)

            The NCAA hosts this year's program on the heels of a rise in the number of minority head football coaches after the 2009 season.  Last season, there were nine ethnic-minority head coaches among the 119 Division I Football Bowl Subdivision schools and a total of 15 minority head football coaches were hired in 2009-10.  However, of the 582 football programs in Divisions I, II and III (excluding historically black colleges and universities), only 5.7 percent have coaches of color. 

 

            Although the NCAA does not have hiring authority over its member colleges and universities, the national office, through its Coaching Academy programs provides opportunities that better prepares coaches for many of the issues they will experience at the head coaching level.  Of the coaches who have been invited to the NCAA Coaching Academy programs, 18 have secured head coaching positions in college football.

 

In addition to the Expert Coaches Academy, the NCAA also directs the Football Coaches Academy for those coaches with less than eight years of experience, the Future Coaches Academy for student-athletes who want to learn more about the coaching field, and a Champions Forum to link participants from past Expert Coaches Academies with NCAA athletics directors who have hiring power and key networks in athletics.