Jan. 12, 2016 Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo, University of Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema, Mississippi State University head coach Dan Mullen, Arkansas State University head coach Blake Anderson and University of Richmond head coach Danny Rocco have been elected to the Board of Trustees of the American Football Coaches Association. Niumatalolo, Bielema, Mullen, Anderson and Rocco were elected by members attending the 2016 AFCA Convention in San Antonio, Texas.
Niumatalolo, Bielema, Mullen, Anderson and Rocco join a group of distinguished head coaches who guide the organization. The Board formulates policy and provides direction for the AFCA, which was founded in 1922 by Amos Alonzo Stagg, John Heisman and others. The AFCA has more than 11,000 members from all levels of the profession.
Returning members of the AFCA Board of Trustees include incoming president Lee Owens of Ashland University; first vice-president Rich Rodriguez of the University of Arizona; second vice-president Bill Cronin of Georgetown College and third vice-president Frank Solich of Ohio University.
Also serving on the Board in 2016: Mike Riley, University of Nebraska; Gary Patterson, TCU; David Bailiff, Rice University; Mark Richt, University of Miami (Fla.); Pete Fredenburg, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor; Turner Gill, Liberty University; Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern University; Craig Bohl, University of Wyoming; Bronco Mendenhall, University of Virginia; Todd Knight, Ouachita Baptist University; David Cutcliffe, Duke University; Jeff McMartin, Central College (Iowa); Bobby Kennedy, University of Iowa, ex officio member and chairman of the Assistant Coaches Committee; Van Malone, Southern Methodist University, ex officio member and chairman of the Minority Issues Committee; and Sam Knopik, The Pembroke Hill School (Mo.), ex officio member and chairman of the High School Committee. New AFCA Executive Director Todd Berry serves as secretary-treasurer of the organization.
Niumatalolo will be the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) representative from AFCA District 1 (American Athletic Conference), Bielema and Mullen will be the FBS representatives from AFCA District 4 (Southeastern Conference), Anderson will be the FBS representative from AFCA District 3 (Sun Belt Conference) and Rocco will be a Football Championship Subdivision representative.
Niumatalolo completed his eighth, and best, season as the head coach at Navy, guiding the Midshipmen to an 11-2 record, the American Athletic Conference (AAC) Co-Western Division title, a victory in the Military Bowl against Pittsburgh and was named the 2015 AAC Co-Coach of the Year. He has a 68-37 record as a head coach at Navy, and is the program's all-time winningest coach. The Naval Academy is Niumatalolo's first head coaching job, but he is no stranger to the coaching profession, having served as an assistant coach at several different programs since 1990. Niumatalolo immediately shifted from his playing career as a quarterback at Hawai'i to being a graduate assistant. After several years as an assistant at his alma mater, Niumatalolo followed Paul Johnson to Navy in 1995, where he became the team's running backs coach before becoming the team's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 1997. Niumatalolo left Navy in 1999 for three seasons to coach at UNLV. He called plays in his final season there before returning to the Naval Academy in 2002 as the offensive coordinator. Niumatalolo was named the head coach at Navy at the end of the 2007 season and his tenure there has seen nothing but success. His Midshipmen have made a bowl game seven of the eight seasons that Niumatalolo has been leading them and he has an 8-0 record against Army.
Bielema completed his third season as the head coach at Arkansas and has an overall record of 86-44 in his 10 years as a head coach at Arkansas and Wisconsin. In 2015, he led the Razorbacks to an 8-5 mark, a third place finish in the Southeastern Conference's West Division, and a victory in the Liberty Bowl. Before taking over at Arkansas, Bielema led Wisconsin for seven years and immediately had an impact. In his first year as a head coach, Bielema led the Badgers to one of their most successful seasons in school history, setting a program record with 12 wins and was named as the Big 10 Coach of the Year. Bielema's tenure at Wisconsin was noted by great success year-after-year, with his Badger's never failing to make a bowl game and winning three straight Big 10 Conference titles from 2010-12. Before becoming a head coach, Bielema served on several staffs as an assistant, starting as a graduate assistant and linebackers coach at his alma mater, Iowa, from 1994-2001. After two years as the co-defensive coordinator at Kansas State under Bill Snyder, Bielema became the defensive coordinator at Wisconsin under Barry Alvarez in 2004, where he stayed until being named head coach.
Mullen completed his seventh season as the head coach at Mississippi State and has an overall record of 55-35 with the Bulldogs. His 55 wins rank him third among coaches in MSU history and his .612 winning percentage ranks him second. In 2015, Mullen led the Bulldogs to a 9-4 mark and a victory in the Belk Bowl. His tenure at Mississippi State has been marked by consistency and steady improvement. After barely missing a bowl game in his first year, Mullen's teams have made bowl games in every subsequent season, marking one of the most consistent periods of on-field success in the history of the program. In 2014, after leading the Bulldog's to only their third 10-win season, Mullen was named AFCA Regional Coach of the Year, SEC Coach of the Year by the AP and the Maxwell Football Club's Coach of the Year. Before taking over the reins at Mississippi State, Mullen rose through the ranks at the NCAA FCS and FBS levels, coaching positions at Wagner, Columbia, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Bowling Green State and Utah, before joining Urban Meyer's staff at Florida as the offensive coordinator in 2005.
Anderson completed his second season as a head coach at Arkansas State and has an overall record of 16-10. In 2015, he led the Red Wolves to a 9-4 mark and the Sun Belt Conference crown with an undefeated conference record. Before taking over at Arkansas State, Anderson coached at nearly every level of college football, starting as a graduate assistant and position coach at Eastern New Mexico from 1992-93. After a year at Howard Payne as a position coach, Anderson took over as the quarterbacks, wide receivers and defensive backs coach, and recruiting coordinator at Trinity Valley Community College before becoming the offensive coordinator in 1998. From there, he jumped straight to the FBS level as a position coach at New Mexico from 1999-2001. Anderson would then spend time as the offensive coordinator at Middle Tennessee, Louisiana-Lafayette, Southern Miss and North Carolina before landing his first head-coaching job at Arkansas State.
Rocco completed his fourth season as the head coach at Richmond and has a 33-13 record, with an overall mark of 80-38 in his 10 years as a head coach at Richmond and Liberty. In 2015, he led the Spiders to a 10-4 record, a co-championship in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) and a trip to the NCAA FCS Playoff Semifinals. Rocco's coaching career started in 1984 and saw him as a position coach at a wide variety of premier FBS programs under legendary coaches - Colorado under Bill McCartney, Boston College under Tom Coughlin and Texas under John Mackovic. Rocco's first head coaching position came at Liberty University in 2006 and he promptly had the Flames competing at high levels, winning the Big South Conference for four straight years from 2007-10. He moved to Richmond in 2012 and immediately had the Spiders competing at the same level, winning the Colonial Athletic Conference that first year. Rocco has been named Conference Coach of the Year five times, by the Big South from 2006 through 2009 and by the CAA in 2015.
The AFCA was founded in 1922 and currently has more than 11,000 members around the world ranging from the high school level to the professional ranks. According to its constitution, the AFCA was formed, in part, to "maintain the highest possible standards in football and in the coaching profession" and to "provide a forum for the discussion and study of all matters pertaining to football."
