| Rich Ellerson | |
|---|---|
| Ellerson at his introductory press conference at Army
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| Sport(s) | Football |
| Current position | |
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Army |
| Conference | 15–21 |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | January 1, 1953 |
| Playing career | |
| 1974–1976 | Hawaii |
| Position(s) | Center, linebacker |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981–1983 1984–1985 1986 1987–1991 1992–1995 1996 1997–2000 2001–2008 2009–present |
Hawaii (GA) Arizona Western C.C. (DB) Idaho (ST) Cal State Fullerton (ST) Hawaii (ST) BC Lions (DL) Calgary Stampeders (DC) Hawaii (DC) Arizona (ST) Southern Utah Arizona (DC) Cal Poly Army |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 75–62 |
| Bowls | 1–0 |
| Tournaments | 1–2 (NCAA D-I-AA/FCS playoffs) |
| Statistics | |
| College Football Data Warehouse | |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 3 Great West Football (20048–2005, 2008) | |
| Awards | |
| NCAA Division I-AA Coach of the Year (2003) AFCA Region 5 Coach of the Year (2004) Great West Conference Coach of the Year (2004) |
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Rich Ellerson (born January 1, 1953) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head football coach at the United States Military Academy, a position he has held since the 2009 season.[1][2] Ellerson served as the head football at Southern Utah University in 1996 and at California Polytechnic State University from 2001 to 2008. While at Cal Poly, Ellerson's teams secured three conference championships and compiled a 56–34 record, to make him the third winningest coach in school history.
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Ellerson attended Salpointe Catholic High School in Tucson, Arizona. On 28 September 2002, he was inducted into the Salpointe Catholic High School Sports Hall of Fame. He received a congressional appointment to the United States Naval Academy, which he attended for his freshmen year of 1972–73. He subsequently attended the University of Hawaii between 1974 and 1977 where he played for the Hawaii football team as a center and linebacker.[3]
After graduating college in 1977, he served as a Hawaii graduate assistant under head coach Dick Tomey.[3]
From 1992 to 1995, he served at Arizona as an assistant head coach and defensive line coach, working alongside with defensive coordinator Larry MacDuff. During his entire four year tenure, Arizona was ranked as a top-ten team in total defense and was the number-two defense against the rush in 1992 and 1993. He also worked with special teams, and helped mentor placekicker Steve McLaughlin to a Lou Groza Award-winning season in 1994.[3]
In 1996, Ellerson served as the head coach at Southern Utah, where he oversaw an improvement to a record of 4–7 from 2–9 the previous season. That year, Southern Utah was the leading the NCAA Division I-AA (now Division I FCS) team in rushing offense.[3]
He returned to Arizona from 1997 to 2000 as the defensive coordinator and kickers coach. In his final season there, he coached the Wildcats to become the eighth-ranked rush defense in the nation allowing just 88.5 yards per game on average. Arizona also led the Pac-10 Conference in rush defense and was second in total defense allowing 317.5 yards per game and turnovers recovered with 33.[3]
In 2001, Ellerson took over as the head coach at the California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) in San Luis Obispo, California. While at Cal Poly, Ellerson led the Mustangs to a 52–38 record during his eight year tenure.[3] With a winning percentage of .622, he currently ranks as the third most successful coach in school history.[4]
During his first year, Ellerson led Cal Poly to their first winning season in four years, finishing with a 6–5 record. In 2003, Ellerson was named NCAA Division I-AA Coach of the Year. He led the Mustangs to a winning 7–4 record and a national ranking as high as 14th during the season. In 2004, he was named the Great West Football Conference Coach of the Year and AFCA Region 5 Coach of the Year. He led Cal Poly-SLO to secure the Great West championship. In 2005, Cal Poly finished with a 9–4 record and earned its first playoff berth in 12 years. They were defeated by Texas State in the quarterfinals. The Mustangs recorded a 6–0 record at home. The Mustangs narrowly missed qualifying for the 2006 playoffs. In 2007, Cal Poly achieved a 7–4 record and third place in the Great West. The Mustangs finished the season with a #24 final ranking.[3]
Under Ellerson, Cal Poly employed a triple-option offense, similar to the ones traditionally used at the service academies.
In 2008 it was speculated he was a candidate to replace Washington's head coach, Ty Willingham.[5] However, he instead accepted an offer to become Army's head coach in December 2008.[6]
According to media speculation, other potential candidates for the vacant Army head coaching position included: Mike Sullivan, a West Pointer and wide receivers coach for the New York Giants; Greg Gregory, South Florida offensive coordinator and former Army assistant coach; Charlie Taaffe, former Maryland offensive coordinator, Canadian Football League coach, and Army offensive coordinator; and Ed Warriner, Kansas offensive coordinator who spent 13 years as an Army assistant coach.[7] Army also gauged the interest of both Navy's offensive and defensive coordinator, Ivin Jasper and Buddy Green, respectively.[8]
Ellerson has several family ties to the Academy. His father and two of his brothers attended West Point. His brother, John, was a captain of the Army football team while at West Point from 1960 to 1963.[2] Rich Ellerson said, "I grew up with that special connection to Army Football. At that age, watching my big brother captain the Army football team, living on Army posts, it was just the biggest thing in our life. It was the foundation of my football experience, not just my Army football experience, and obviously, football is a big part of my life."[9]
He also said: "More than any other place in America, this is an important job. This is the United States Military Academy. We're playing football. We need to be good at this. We need to be. Everybody wants to win. We need to." He also expressed a belief in the importance in working with recruits at the United States Military Academy Preparatory School (USMAPS) in order to improve the pool of candidates for the varsity team.[9]
Ellerson also referred offhandedly to Navy, in comparing the type of offensive scheme he plans on bringing to Army. "I'm a triple option guy, and our triple option looks similar to some other team that we see every once in awhile, but it is not exactly alike ... What we do fits well with the Academy at every level."[9]
In his first season at the helm Ellerson's team showed very positive signs of improvement. The team finished the season with a 5–7 record. Going into the final game of the season against Navy a win would have placed Army in the EagleBank Bowl, their first bowl berth since the 1996 Independence Bowl. They would lose to rival Navy by a score of 17–3. Again, a vast improvement considering losses of 34–0 in 2008 and 38–3 in 2007. In his second season, Ellerson continues to turn around the Army football program. In 2010 he led Army to a 7–6 record, its first winning season since 1996 and also an invitation and victory in the 2010 Armed Forces Bowl, the program's first bowl win since 1985. The progress had Ellerson as one of the ten finalists for the 2010 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year.
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Utah Thunderbirds (NCAA Division II Independent) (1996) | |||||||||
| 1996 | Southern Utah | 4–7 | |||||||
| Southern Utah: | 4–7 | ||||||||
| Cal Poly Mustangs (NCAA Division I-AA Independent) (2001–2003) | |||||||||
| 2001 | Cal Poly | 6–5 | |||||||
| 2002 | Cal Poly | 3–8 | |||||||
| 2003 | Cal Poly | 7–4 | |||||||
| Cal Poly Mustangs (Great West Football Conference) (2004–2008) | |||||||||
| 2004 | Cal Poly | 9–2 | 4–1 | 1st | |||||
| 2005 | Cal Poly | 9–4 | 4–1 | 1st | L NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal | ||||
| 2006 | Cal Poly | 7–4 | 2–2 | ||||||
| 2007 | Cal Poly | 7–4 | 2–2 | ||||||
| 2008 | Cal Poly | 8–3 | 3–0 | 1st | L NCAA Division I First Round | ||||
| Cal Poly: | 56–34 | 15–6 | |||||||
| Army Black Knights (Division I FBS independent) (2009–present) | |||||||||
| 2009 | Army | 5–7 | |||||||
| 2010 | Army | 7–6 | W Armed Forces | ||||||
| 2011 | Army | 3–8 | |||||||
| Army: | 15–21 | ||||||||
| Total: | 75–62 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title | |||||||||
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