Assistant Coaches
MIKE SIMPSON
DEFENSIVE COORDINATORMike Simpson enters his 12th season as defensive coordinator with the Albany football program, and has nearly 17 years experience as a defensive coach. The Great Danes ranked 14th nationally among NCAA Division II teams in pass efficiency defense with an 89.3 rating. Albany defenders forced 26 turnovers, and were among the nation's leaders in scoring defense at 18.1 points per game.
Prior to his present appointment, Simpson was an assistant defensive line coach at both Columbia University and Williams College, served as a graduate assistant at Norwich University, and had a two-year internship with the National Football League's Dallas Cowboys.
Simpson, 42, graduated from East Stroudsburg (Pa.) University in 1978, and as a player helped lead that program to two Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championships and a 25-game winning streak. As a defensive end, he led the team in quarterback sacks as a senior.
An all-New York City player at Midwood High School in the mid-1970s, Simpson has a master's degree in educational administration.
STEVE HLADIO
OFFENSIVE LINESteve Hladio was recently an assisitant line coach at Harvard University, and now begins his second season as Albany's offensive line coach.
Hladio, 29, was a member of the Harvard coaching staff for the 1995 season, where he worked with the offensive line and tight ends. He served as a graduate assistant coach for two seasons at Boston College from 1993-95. The Eagles participated in the Carquest and Aloha Bowls during his tenure on the staffs of both Dan Henning, now an assistant with the NFL's Buffalo Bills, and Tom Coughlin, the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Additionally, Hladio was an assistant offensive line coach at the University of Cincinnati for two years, and held the same position with the Arena Football League's Massachusetts Marauders in the summer of 1994.
A student assistant in 1990 at his alma mater Shippensburg (Pa.) University, he received an undergraduate degree in social studies.
DECLAN WALSH
OFFENSIVE LINE/TIGHT ENDSDeclan Walsh is in his first season as an assistant coach, and will work with the offensive line and tight ends. He recently was an assistant at King's College in Pennsylvania, where he coached the quarterbacks and fullbacks, and was the junior varsity team's offensive coordinator.
Walsh, 23, was a four-year starter as an offensive tackle at Norwich University in Vermont. and was a second-team all-Freedom Football Conference selection. A native of Abington, Mass., he earned his B.A. in history with a minor in education, and achieved military leadership positions of staff sergeant and first lieutenant. Walsh's brother, Ed, was an Albany graduate assistant coach in the early 1990s.
FRANK DERRICO
OFFENSIVE BACKFIELDFrank Derrico, who in 1995 directed Amsterdam High School to the New York State Class B championship, is in his second season with the Albany football program. Derrico works with the quarterbacks and runnings backs, and helped install a multiple offensive scheme.
Derrico, 50, served as Amsterdam's head coach for 17 seasons, and posted a 121-40-6 (.743) overall record. His teams won seven Big 10 League titles, three Super Bowl crowns and two regional championships. The Rams, 11-2 overall, captured the '95 state championship.
Derrico, a native of Amsterdam, graduated from the University of Bridgeport in 1970. A three-time Amsterdam Recorder Coach of the Year, he was appointed as the Rams' mentor in 1979. His first three clubs were stingy defensive units, and held 21 of 27 opponents off the scoreboard. In fact, his 1981 squad allowed just 13 points the entire season.
Derrico's 1986 and 1991 teams finished 10-0 and 11-0, respectively, and each won Class A Super Bowl titles.
CHAD MARTINOVICH
RECEIVERSChad Martinovich prepares for his first season with the Albany program as a receivers coach. He coached the outside linebackers at Hamilton College in New York the last two years, and was an intern defensive line coach at Division I-AA Bucknell University in 1994.
Martinovich, 24, won three varsity letters as a quarterback from 1991-93 at Hobart College, where he received his undergraduate degree in history. A graduate of Seton Catholic High School in Plattsburgh, N.Y., Martinovich was the North Country Superbowl MVP as a senior, and earned nine varsity letters as an ice hockey and track athlete.
RICH TURI
DEFENSIVE BACKSRich Turi, who has coached football at the collegiate and scholastic levels since the 1950s, is in his second year as defensive backs coach. His UA secondary allowed just eight touchdown passes one year ago.
Turi, 65, recently served for four seasons as defensive coordinator at Siena College, and held that position at both Salisbury State (Md.) University and Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, New York. He also coached the defensive ends at Williams College in Massachusetts from 1970-85.
Turi was a high school head coach at both Park Ridge in New Jersey, and locally at Hoosick Falls Central. Retired as an earth science teacher in the Hoosick Falls school system, he continues to serve as Vice President of the Adirondack School Boards Association.
A native of Ridgewood,N.J., he received his B.A. in education from William Paterson College, and a master's degree in science and teaching from Union (N.Y.) College.
DON MION
DEFENSIVE LINEDon Mion, who served as head coach at Shaker High School in Latham, N.Y. for 11 years, joins the Albany football staff for his first season as defensive line coach.
Mion, 44, guided Shaker High to four Section II playoff appearances, including the 1986 and 1990 seasons when each club posted a 7-2 record. Prior to being installed as head coach in 1986, he was an assistant at Shaker for six years. In addition, Mion was a University at Albany graduate assistant in the mid-1970s and an assistant coach at both Syracuse and Mohonasen high schools.
Mion received his B.A. in social studies with a minor in education from the University at Albany in 1975, and went on to earn his master's degree in the same discipline. A three year starter at linebacker, he recorded 115 tackles as a senior, and set the school's single-game record (24). Mion, a graduate of Colonie (N.Y.) Central High School, was a scholastic head wrestling coach at Shaker and Syracuse.
JOHN VITULLO
OUTSIDE LINEBACKERSJohn Vitullo, who has been Cornell University's assistant varsity linebackers coach and junior varsity defensive coordinator the last two seasons, is in his first year coaching UA's outside linebackers.
Vitullo, 24, was the first four-year starter in Ivy League history as Cornell's inside linebacker. A native of New Hartford, N.Y., he earned second-team all-Ivy honors, and played in the Epson-lvy Bowl All-Star Game in Osaka, Japan. Vitullo, a two-time captain, was chosen the '95 Pop Warner Most Valuable Player, and finished his career with 257 tackles. He received his B.S. in business management and applied economics. Vitullo was the '91 Tri-Valley League Athlete of the Year at New Hartford High School as both a wrestler and football standout.
RICK KOOP
ACADEMIC ADVISORRick Kopp has served as academic advisor for athletics, since he was appointed on an interim basis in 1995. He also acts as the University's liaison to the New York Giants with regard to all operational aspects of the National Football League organization's training camp.
Kopp, 50, has more than two decades of experience as a coach in both collegiate and high school football. He has been a college assistant at the University at Albany, SUNY-Cortland and Ursinus College in Pennsylvania.
A successful coach on the New York State scholastic scene, Kopp directed Altmar-Parish-Williamstown High School to four winning seasons and two Oswego County championships in the 1970s. He was also the head football coach at Fulton, Riverhead and Port Washington high schools.
He received a B.S. in physical education from Southern Connecticut State University, and has a master's in athletic administration from SUNY-Cortland.
JOHN JANECEK
STRENGTH AND CONDITIONINGJohn Janecek was named as strength and conditioning coach in September 1994. He supervises Albany's 19-sport intercollegiate athletics program, and planned the restructuring of the University's athletic training and fitness facilities.
Janecek, 32, was previously the head strength/conditioning coach at Tennessee State University, where he was responsible for a 14-sport, Division I program. Certified in CPR and first aid, he also served as an assistant strength coach on the Division I level at Vanderbilt University and the University of Nebraska.
A native of Lincoln, Neb., Janecek earned his undergraduate degree in fitness and leisure management from the University at Nebraska at Kearney, where he was a two-time national qualifier as a heavyweight wrestler. Janecek, who also worked as a personal trainer at a health resort in Kona, Hawaii, and his wife, Carmen, have one daughter, Lindsey.
JACK KOELMEL
HEAD ATHLETIC TRAINERJack Koelmel begins his 24th year as the head athletic trainer at the University at Albany. He is responsible for all as aspects of the sports medicine program, including preventive training, injury rehabilitation and nutrition counseling.
Koelmel, 49, received a bachelor's degree in physical education from Norwich University in Vermont, where he played basketball and football and worked as a student assistant trainer. An instructor in the care and prevention of athletic injuries, Koelmel earned a M.A. in educational administration from Albany in 1973.
A 1979 University Merit Award winner, Koelmel is a member of the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA). He was a volunteer trainer at the 1993 Empire State Games.
Koelmel and his wife, Margo Ferrara, reside in Ballston Spa with his stepchildren, Frances, Carl and Ross.
COACH FORD SAYS: (On His Role with American Football Coaches Association) "It has meant tremendous growth for me professionally. I've been involved with some outstanding human beings. I have also been on the ground floor and watched (AFCA Executive Director) Grant Teaff transform this into a great professional organization. I have an opportunity to rub shoulders with some of the great names in coaching at every meeting. It's helped to place some of our past assistants within the group's committee structure and to be involved. To evaluate my contribution in comparison to what I've gotten out of it, the latter far outweighs the former. It's been an absorption process for me, and a great experience."