Pederson, Gilmore and Wyatt to be Part of NCAA Expert Coaches Academy

Nebraska Athletic Director Steve Pederson will serve as the keynote speaker at the opening session of the 2007 NCAAExpertCoachesAcademy set for Thursday through Saturday in Miami, Fla. Among the 26 minority coaches selected to be a part of this year’s event are Nebraska assistants Ted Gilmore and Buddy Wyatt.

 

The ExpertCoachesAcademy 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.

 

Pederson will address the ExpertCoachesAcademy during Thursday morning’s opening session. In addition to his duties as Nebraska Athletic Director, Pederson also serves as the chairman of the NCAA Football Issues Committee.

 

Gilmore is entering his third season as the Huskers’ receivers coach and his 11th season as a Division I assistant coach. In the off-season, Gilmore added the duties of recruiting coordinator for Nebraska. In addition to his time at Nebraska, Gilmore has also held assistant jobs at Colorado, Purdue, Houston, Kansas and his alma mater, Wyoming. Last season, Gilmore guided a strong receiving corps including second-team All-Big 12 pick Maurice Purify and Terrence Nunn, who moved into second place on Nebraska’s all-time receiving chart. Gilmore welcomes his entire receiving corps back for the 2007 season.

 

Wyatt joined the Nebraska staff as defensive line coach prior to the Cotton Bowl game, following four seasons as an assistant coach at Alabama. Wyatt had 15 years of Division I coaching experience before coming to Nebraska, including stops at Alabama, Texas A&M, Colorado, Northwestern, Oklahoma State and Minnesota. This season, Wyatt will guide a young Nebraska defensive line that must replace all four starters from last year’s team.

 

Among the other speakers on the agenda at the ExpertCoachesAcademy are NCAA President Dr. Myles Brand; Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany; Grant Teaff, the Executive Director of the American Football Coaches Association; and head coaches Tyrone Willingham of Washington and Ron Prince of KansasState.

 

The mission of the ExpertCoachesAcademy is to assist the coaches with career advancement, networking and exposure opportunities, and to raise awareness regarding the substantial pool of talented and qualified coaching candidates. The workshops the coaches will participate in cover the following areas?communication, fiscal responsibility, building a program, compliance and academics.

 

This marks the second consecutive year Nebraska has had an assistant coach participate in the ExpertCoachesAcademy. A year ago, former offensive coordinator Jay Norvell was one of the coaches selected to participate.