Army hires Cal Poly's Ellerson as head coach

WEST POINT, N.Y. -- Army filled its football coaching vacancy by heeding a core West Point value: History matters.

Rich Ellerson grew up around Black Knights football and is leaving his coaching job at Cal Poly to come to a place he knows well. His father and two brothers graduated from the U.S. Military Academy, where brother John led the 1962 team to a 6-4 record. And he's worked before with former Army coaches known for running successful schemes on both sides of the ball.

Ellerson replaces Stan Brock, who was fired Dec. 12 after a pair of 3-9 seasons. This season ended with a 34-0 loss to Navy. Brock, a former New Orleans Saints offensive lineman, was Army's offensive line coach for three years before replacing Bobby Ross in early 2007.

Academy officials who announced the selection Friday said Ellerson expressed interest in the position when it was open in the past. They were impressed by his familiarity with a program in need of a quick turnaround.

"I will never receive, nor have I ever received a finer compliment professionally or personally than to be entrusted with the Army football program at this point in its history," said Ellerson, who turns 55 on Jan. 1.

Before his eight years as Cal Poly's coach, Ellerson worked with former Army coach Jim Young at Arizona, where Ellerson was an assistant. Young, who ran a successful option attack at Army, had retired from the Black Knights after the 1990 season and assumed a volunteer role on the Arizona coaching staff.

Ellerson also assisted Army coach Bob Sutton when he installed his "Desert Swarm" defense at West Point, which helped carry the Black Knights to a 10-2 record and a berth in the Independence Bowl in 1996.

Cal Poly made it to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs twice under Ellerson and was ranked as high as No. 3 this season. He was 56-34 in his eight years at Cal Poly.

Athletic director Kevin Anderson said he's long admired Ellerson's work with the triple option at Cal Poly.

"One of our primary goals of the search was to find someone capable of turning around our program immediately, and we are confident Rich is the perfect individual to accomplish that," he said.