Eastern Michigan hires Ron English as football coach

Dec 22, 2008 - 11:29 PM YPSILANTI, Michigan (Ticker) -- Eastern Michigan officially named Ron English as its new football coach Monday.

English, who spent the last two seasons as Louisville's defensive coordinator, became the fifth black head coach in major college football.

At Eastern Michigan, English has replaced Jeff Genyk, who was fired last month after posting a 16-42 record in five seasons with the Eagles. Eastern Michigan went 3-9 this past season, posting a 2-6 record in the Mid-American Conference.

"When we began this search for a new head football coach at Eastern Michigan University, we wanted someone that we felt could take our program in a new direction," athletic director Derrick Gragg said. "After going through an exhaustive search process, we have selected Ron English to lead our football program."

Prior to taking the defensive coordinator job at Louisville, the 40-year-old English spent five seasons as an assistant under Lloyd Carr at Michigan. He was the Wolverines' defensive coordinator during his final two years in Ann Arbor.

"In a lot of ways, this is like a homecoming for me," English said at an introductory news conference. "I realize this program hasn't been as successful as others in recent years, but I look forward to changing the culture around here."

"He has proven himself as a tremendous defensive coordinator over a long career, and we feel that he is prepared to take over our football team as a head coach," Gragg said.

Thanks to Carr, who served as an unpaid advisor during Eastern Michigan's coaching search, English now joins Miami's Randy Shannon, Buffalo's Turner Gill, Houston's Kevin Sumlin and New Mexico's Kevin Locksley as the only black head coaches in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

"I don't know if any of us would want to be labeled a black head coach," English said. "I think we all would like to be labeled head coach."

Locksley, a former offensive coordinator at Illinois, was hired by the Lobos earlier this month.

The ranks of black head coaches in the FBS previously had been cut in half following this season's ousters of Washington's Tyrone Willingham, Kansas State's Ron Prince and Mississippi State's Sylvester Croom.

"I think it is certainly an issue, has been an issue and will continue to be an issue," English said. "I have to acknowledge that I'm proud to be one of those. But I'd like to be a head coach first."