1. Background and Career Path: Coach Williams’ journey to becoming a renowned coach started with his passion for the sport. As a player, he excelled as a defensive lineman during his high school years, which provided him with a solid foundation of knowledge and skills. After completing his playing career, Coach Williams transitioned smoothly into coaching at various levels before finding his niche at Livingstone College.

2. Development of Defensive Linemen: One of Coach Williams’ greatest assets is his ability to transform raw talent into formidable defensive linemen. Through his meticulous attention to technique and his commitment to player development, he has consistently produced top-tier players who excel on the field. Under his guidance, Livingstone College’s defensive line has become known for their tenacity, strength, and disciplined play.

3. Strategic Recruiting: As the Recruiting Coordinator, Coach Williams has played a crucial role in bringing in talented athletes to Livingstone College. His extensive network and knowledge of the recruiting landscape have allowed the program to attract exceptional prospects. Coach Williams understands the importance of recruiting not just talented athletes but individuals who align with the values and culture of the team, ensuring a cohesive and successful unit. Since arriving at Livingstone College, Coach Williams has produced 4 All Conference players and 1 National All American, as well as an underrated defensive back who transferred to a power 5 university after just one season at Livingstone College.

4. Mentorship and Leadership: Coach Williams is not only a skilled coach but also a mentor and leader for his players. He fosters an environment of growth, instilling discipline and determination in his athletes. His dedication to their overall development, both on and off the field, has earned him the respect and admiration of the players under his tutelage.

5. Impact on the Livingstone College Football Program: Coach Williams’ contributions to the Livingstone College football program are immeasurable. His expertise in coaching defensive linemen and his exceptional recruiting abilities have elevated the team’s performance and reputation. The program has seen increased success in recent years, with the defensive line becoming a formidable force in the conference and attracting talented recruits from across the country.

Coach Austin Coach Michael Austin has been a driving force behind the success of Livingstone College’s turnover-hungry defense. As the defensive coordinator, Coach Austin has instilled a tenacious and aggressive mindset in his players, emphasizing the importance of creating turnovers and making game-changing plays. Under Coach Austin’s guidance, the Livingstone College defense has become known for its ability to force turnovers and capitalize on opponent’s mistakes. This disruptive style of play has been instrumental in the team’s success, often providing a spark and momentum shift during crucial moments in games. Leading the charge for the defense is Jaden Echols, a two-time All-Conference linebacker. Echols’ exceptional skills and leadership have been instrumental in the team’s defensive success. With his speed, instincts, and relentless pursuit of the ball, Echols has consistently made impactful plays, whether it’s interceptions, forced fumbles, or key tackles. Coach Austin’s coaching philosophy revolves around creating a disciplined and aggressive defense. He emphasizes the importance of proper technique, sound fundamentals, and relentless effort in order to create turnovers. Through film study, practice drills, and game planning, Coach Austin ensures that his defense is well-prepared to exploit weaknesses in the opposing team’s offense.

The success of Coach Austin’s turnover-hungry defense has not gone unnoticed. Opposing offenses have struggled to find success against Livingstone College, often falling victim to forced turnovers and costly mistakes. This has given the team a significant advantage, allowing the offense to capitalize on short fields and swing the momentum in their favor. Coach Austin’s ability to develop a turnover-focused defense and cultivate the talents of players like Jaden Echols showcases his coaching prowess. His attention to detail, strategic approach, and ability to motivate his players have made him highly regarded in the coaching community. The impact of Coach Michael Austin and his turnover-hungry defense led by Jaden Echols has been instrumental in the success of Livingstone College’s football program. Their ability to create turnovers and make game-changing plays has elevated the team’s performance and helped secure victories.

In conclusion, Coach Michael Austin’s turnover-hungry defense at Livingstone College, led by two-time All-Conference linebacker Jaden Echols, has become a formidable unit. Through Coach Austin’s expertise and leadership, the defense has developed a reputation for its ability to force turnovers.

Coach Marcel Caver has been an integral part of the success of Livingstone College’s explosive wide receiver core, led by the talented Devontay Deloatch. Caver’s coaching expertise and his ability to develop and refine the skills of his players have significantly contributed to the team’s overall performance. Coach Marcel Caver brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to his role as the Wide Receiver Coach at Livingstone College. With a deep understanding of the intricacies of the position, Caver is well-versed in teaching his players the fundamentals of route running, catching technique, and overall game strategy. His dedication to player development and his commitment to excellence have made him highly regarded in the coaching community. Under Coach Caver’s guidance, Livingstone College’s wide receiver core has flourished. One standout player who has benefited greatly from Caver’s coaching is Devontay Deloatch. Deloatch has emerged as a dynamic playmaker for the team, showcasing exceptional speed, agility, and hands. Coach Caver’s coaching philosophy revolves around pushing his players to reach their maximum potential. He emphasizes the importance of attention to detail, discipline, and hard work in order to excel on the field. Through personalized training sessions, film analysis, and constructive feedback, Caver ensures that each receiver under his tutelage has the tools necessary to succeed. The explosive wide receiver core at Livingstone College, led by Devontay Deloatch, has become a force to be reckoned with. Deloatch’s ability to create separation from defenders, make difficult catches, and turn short gains into big plays has made him a standout performer. His success can be attributed, at least in part, to the exceptional coaching and mentorship provided by Coach Caver. The impact of Coach Caver and his explosive wide receiver core led by Devontay Deloatch has not gone unnoticed. Their performances have garnered attention from rivals and fans alike, raising the profile of Livingstone College’s football program. Coach Caver’s ability to develop top-tier talent and produce outstanding results on the field is a testament to his expertise and dedication.

Coach Caver has been instrumental in the success of Livingstone College’s explosive wide receiver core. Through his coaching prowess, he has helped players like recently transferred Matthew Henry, Devontay “Tay” Deloatch and Angel Carrillo reach their full potential and become key contributors to the team’s success. Coach Caver’s dedication to player development and his unwavering commitment to excellence make him a valuable asset to the program.

The post After competitive 23’ season, Livingstone College coaching staff is gearing up for CIAA title run in 2024 appeared first on WE SPEAK MEDIA.

The Home Depot has awarded $1.8 million to HBCUs since the program launched in 2009.

Schools seeking to participate in the contest can enter in either of two ways.

1. A nomination process for HBCU faculty, staff, students and community supporters to nominate their HBCU to participate in the program via Twitter and/or Instagram using the school’s sponsor-provided hashtag, which can be found at retoolyourschool.com. Accredited HBCUs with a minimum of 100 nominations will thenqualify to enter the voting period.
2. Schools may accept the nomination or opt-in to the program via the nomination application link found in the eBlast to each of the school’s President and Point of Contact. Within the nomination application, a school administrator must provide primary contact information and official school logo to be included on the website for voting.

Nominations must be submitted between January 29, 2018 at 12:00 a.m. (midnight) EST and February 22, 2018 at 11:59 p.m. EST, to enter the voting period.

Voting begins February 26, 2018 at 12:00 a.m. (midnight) and ends April 15, 2018 at 11:59pm.

During the voting period, there are two ways to vote.

1. Votes can be cast an unlimited number of times online at www.retoolyourschool.com
2. Useyour school’s unique, designated hashtag to cast unlimited social votes through Twitter and Instagram (hashtags can be found at retoolyourschool.com).

Nine schools receiving the highest number of votes during the voting period will advance to the final round and submittheir campus improvement project proposals. A panel of distinguished judges will evaluate each school’s proposal.

Judges will consider the quality of each proposal and the school’s ability to execute the project within the specified budget. Proposals for all three grant levels must highlight how each project will make a lasting, positive impact on the HBCU campus.

A total of $360,000 will be granted to the nine HBCUs with winning proposals. The schools will be categorized in one of three clusters, based on each school’s student population. Each cluster will have three winners vying for one $50,000, one $40,000 and one $30,000 grant.

The breakdown is as follows: Cluster 1 is open to schools with a student enrollment of 4,000 students or more; Cluster 2 is open to schools with a student enrollment of 1,201–3,999 students; and Cluster 3 is open to schools with1,200 students or less.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony in Mayat The Home Depot headquarters in Atlanta, GA.

TheHome Depot Retool Your School Grant Program, launched in 2009, encourages and recognizes innovative projects that contribute to the campuses of accredited HBCUs. Since the program’s inception, more than $1.8million in grant money has been awarded to HBCUs to make sustainable improvements to their college campuses.

Set to celebrate a milestone 10th year in 2019, The Retool Your School Program continues to align with initiatives that celebrate the legacy and sustainability of HBCUs. In 2017, the program provided corporate support to the HBCU 9 Sesquicentennial Celebration, a partnership between the Department of Education’s White House HBCU Initiative, the US Department of Agriculture, and the Arbor Day Foundation to celebrate nine HBCUs that turned 150.

This year, the Retool Your School program, in partnership with the African American Film Critics Association,will present the inaugural 72-Hour Build a Film Challenge, a contest for HBCU filmmakers— currently enrolled students and alums—to create unique and entertaining short films about the HBCU experience. The winner will be revealed at this year’s African American Film Critics Association Awards February 7,in Los Angeles.

“Each year, we see continued growth and engagement with the program,” says Melissa Brown, Senior Marketing Manager at The Home Depot. “The Retool Your School program stimulates anunrivaled culture of community. We are proud to support our nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and value their rich legacy and ongoing contribution to our nation’s history.”

For more information on The Home Depot Retool Your School Grant Program, visit www.retoolyourschool.com.

AboutTheHomeDepot®

The Home Depot is the world’s largest home improvement specialty retailer, with 2,284 retail stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, 10 Canadian provinces and Mexico.  In fiscal 2016, The Home Depot had sales of $94.6 billion and earnings of $8.0 billion. The Company employs more than 400,000 associates.  The Home Depot’s stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: HD) and is included in the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor’s 500 index.

The post The Home Depot Announces the 2018 Retool Your School Grant Program for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) appeared first on WE SPEAK MEDIA.

To Celebrate Martin Luther King Day, ten youth poets representing the Omari Hardwick bluapple poetry Network of the Jason Taylor Foundation will take part in a day of service event entitled Write To Ride, inspired by the original freedom riders of the civil rights movement. bluapple’s C.O.R.E. (Collective Of Raw Expression) is a group of young writers assembled from across Broward and Miami-Dade County public schools. The goal of the C.O.R.E. is to foster not only great poets, but also compassionate and engaged community members to be ambassadors for the Network, their respective schools, and for society as a whole.

Paying tribute to the brave activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated southern United States in 1961 and subsequent years, the C.O.R.E. students will use public transportation to visit three partnering organizations, including Broward Partnership, Lippman Youth Shelter, and Women in Distress.  At each location, students will provide in-kind donations including hygiene packs and fleece blankets that they have assembled, and will also deliver poetry performances and writing workshops.

Additionally, each C.O.R.E. member prepared for the ride by reading “March”, a three-part graphic memoir authored by Congressman John Lewis, a key figure of the civil rights movement. Members will then distribute copies of the “March” trilogy to teens at the Lippman Youth Shelter upon their visit. Funding from Broward College has assisted the bluapple Poetry Network in providing this essential and historically charged opportunity.

“Write to Ride is such a positive initiative. I’m glad to be able represent something so important along with the other C.O.R.E. members,” said Ramis Hashimi, a youth poet from Stoneman Douglas High School. “With all the negativity in the world, it’s nice to be a part of a group of eclectic young poets and spread a little bit of joy to a world that sometimes seems dark. It’s exciting to meet people and offer them support through tough times and to honor civil rights heroes from our American history. This feels like a good way to remember the positive parts of our world.”

About the Jason Taylor Foundation

In July 2004, Miami Dolphins legendary Defensive End and recent Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, Jason Taylor, established the Jason Taylor Foundation, a 501 (c)(3) organization. The Foundation’s mission is to support and create programs that facilitate the personal growth and empowerment of South Florida’s children in need by focusing on improved health care, education and quality of life.

Since opening its doors, the Jason Taylor Foundation has impacted tens of thousands of children through innovative programming including The Jason Taylor Reading Room, Cool Gear for the School Year, the Jason Taylor Children’s Learning Center, Jason Taylor Scholars and the Omari Hardwick bluapple Poetry Network, among others. For more information on the Jason Taylor Foundation, please visit www.JasonTaylorFoundation.org or follow on Facebook: www.facebook.com/jasontaylorfoundation or Twitter and Instagram: @jtfoundation99 or @bluapplepoetry.

About Broward College MLK Day Of Service

Through funding from the Florida Legislature, Broward College, in cooperation with the MLK Day of Service Advisory Board made up of citizens from Broward County, seeks to perpetuate the same goals for the upcoming year by promoting an MLK Day of Service. This project offers awards to organizations or groups to develop and complete a service project that will positively impact the community, while honoring Dr. King’s legacies of non-violent activism, racial equality, service to others and social uplift.

The post Jason Taylor Foundation’s bluapple Poetry Network receives Broward College Grant for MLK Day of Service Event “Write to Ride” inspired by the Freedom Riders appeared first on WE SPEAK MEDIA.

He completed 33 of 53 passes for 396 yards.

He scored four touchdowns.

He had one interception.

He led the Boilermakers to victory with a 38-35 win over Arizona in the Foster Farms Bowl.

This, though he tore the ACL in his left knee in a loss to Northwestern on Nov. 11.

“For somebody to play almost four games with that, three and a half, that’s amazing,” Coach Jeff Brohm told reporters after the game, according to ESPN.com.

Brohm said Sindelar would undergo surgery before the end of the year.

He had hesitated to continue to let his quarterback play after the injury, though.

“My first thing was no,” Brohm said, according to ESPN.com. “There’s no way he should play. I think he’s had his knee operated on more than a few times. I thought if he can wear that brace and keep it stable and if he feels like he can go, we can give it a try. I was very leery at first, but Elijah wanted to do it. We went through our trainers and doctor. He was able to pull it off.”

Purdue quarterback Elijah Sindelar, top right, holds the trophy next to teammates after their 38-35 win over Arizona during the Foster Farms Bowl NCAA college football game Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

The Boilermakers (7-6) had squandered a 17-point halftime lead when Khalil Tate threw his fifth touchdown pass with 3:21 remaining to give the Wildcats (7-6) the lead.

But Sindelar, with 1:44 remaining, responded with a 75-yard drive that ended with a 38-yard deep throw into the end zone to Anthony Mahoungou, giving the Boilermakers their first winning record since 2011 and their first bowl win over a major conference team since they topped Washington in the 2002 Sun Bowl.

Purdue had won only nine games in the previous four seasons before Brohm’s arrival on the scene.

“That’s a memory you’ll cherish for the rest of your life,” the first-season coach said. “They definitely earned it because they put in the hard work, have gone through the adversity and continued to hang in there.”

The post Playing with torn ACL, quarterback leads Purdue to big win appeared first on WE SPEAK MEDIA.

Beginning today, fans can visit http://www.hondabattleofthebands.com/the-bands and vote daily to help select the eight bands that will perform at the 2018 Invitational Showcase. Voting will close on Friday, October 20 at midnight Eastern.

“For more than 15 years, Honda Battle of the Bands has provided a stage for exceptional marching bands—a hallmark of HBCU culture,” said Stephan Morikawa, Vice President, Corporate Relations & Social Responsibility for Honda. “Honda is honored to celebrate these student musicians and their teamwork, and we look forward to their dynamic performances come January.”

This year’s theme, March On: Dream Together, highlights the distinctive culture of HBCUs—both on and off the field. It is a culture that impacts and inspires far beyond its community. In addition to music education, HBOB celebrates everything from the rich history and traditions of HBCUs to the life-long connections that fuel future leaders.

In the last two years, the HBOB Invitational Showcase has attracted a combined audience of nearly 120,000 fans via the live show and online livestream. Tickets for the anticipated event start at $10 and will be available for purchase on October 16 at HondaBattleoftheBands.com.

In addition to the marching bands, the 2018 Invitational Showcase will also feature the fourth-annual HBCU Power of Dreams Award. Honda established the award to honor extraordinary individuals who are positively affecting the lives of others and moving the HBCU community forward. Members of the HBCU community will have the opportunity to nominate an exceptional individual who is making a difference in the community. Honda will recognize the winner in a ceremony during the event.

For more information on Honda Battle of the Bands and to buy tickets, visit www.HondaBattleoftheBands.com.  To join the social media conversation, use #HBOB and visit the following social media handles for official updates:

• Facebook – Facebook.com/HondaBattleoftheBands
• Twitter – @The_Honda / Twitter.com/The_Honda
• Instagram – @the_honda / Instagram.com/the_honda

About Honda 
Honda seeks to be a company that society wants to exist, creating products and technologies that improve the lives of people while minimizing the environmental impacts of its products and business operations to ensure a sustainable future for society. Honda is also committed to making positive contributions to the communities where we do business, to socially responsible business practices and to the promotion of diversity in our workforce. From our involvement in STEM education and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to our support of pediatric brain tumor research, and volunteer efforts by Honda associates, including environmental clean-up activities, Honda believes in giving back to the communities where we live and work.

Honda supports a variety of initiatives aimed at advancing education and creating experiences of discovery that help young people see and achieve their own dreams. Honda’s partnership with the Hispanic Scholarship Fund is one of many programs demonstrating Honda’s commitment to the Latino community and to helping young people access The Power of Dreams.

• Voting now open to help decide which HBCU marching bands will perform
• “March On: Dream Together” theme for 2018 invitational showcase celebrates HBCU culture and community
• Tickets on sale Oct. 16 at HondaBattleoftheBands.com

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