Dec. 26, 2008

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - Rich Ellerson, Cal Poly's head football coach for the last eight seasons, has accepted his third head coaching assignment, this time with the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y.

Ellerson, the son of a career U.S. Army officer, becomes Army's 36th head football coach, replacing Stan Brock -- who compiled a 6-18 record for the Cadets in only two years on the job.

"While we are sad to see him go, I want to congratulate him and wish him well in his new position," Mustang director of athletics Alison Cone said of Ellerson. "I would like to thank him for again showing people the tremendous potential of Cal Poly football and that we will be conducting a very quick but very thorough search to find the very best football coach to continue Cal Poly's tremendous success."

Cone set no timetable for hiring a successor to Ellerson,"but we expect to try to have a candidate in place for the recruiting weekends in January," she said, noting that the National Letter of Intent signing day for football is Feb. 4.

"We want to do everything we can to get the position filled expeditiously," Cone added, "and I also want to emphasize that we're looking forward with great anticipation to the continued growth of our football program."

Ellerson guided the Mustangs in 2008 to an 8-3 record, their sixth consecutive winning season, third Great West Conference title in five years and their second berth in the NCAA Division I FCS playoffs. Cal Poly dropped a 49-35 decision to Weber State in the opening round of the playoffs at Alex G. Spanos Stadium on Nov. 29.

Ellerson finished second in balloting for the Eddie Robinson Award, presented annually by The Sports Network to the NCAA Division I Coach of the Year in the Football Championship Subdivision. He also was nominated for the award in 2005.

"Cal Poly has been so good to me and to my family that leaving is very difficult," said Ellerson. "The relationships and experiences will be with us for the rest of our lives.

"I could only have left for a job like Army, which is more than a great coaching opportunity. It is as important a coaching job as exists in college football," Ellerson added. "I will always consider myself part of the Mustang family."

Ellerson is the son of a career U.S. Army officer -- Col. (Ret.) Geoffrey Ellerson graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1935) -- and two of his brothers are Army graduates as well. His oldest brother, Maj. Gen. (Ret.) John, lettered three times in football and served as the team captain in 1962 while another brother, Col. (Ret.) Geoffrey D. Ellerson Jr., graduated from West Point in 1963. Ellerson's nephew, Geoffrey Ellerson III, is an Army Colonel currently serving in Iraq.

"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," Ellerson said. "I grew up with Army football. I was part of a typical Army family. When I was a kid, I was watching those guys at West Point, my father was a West Point graduate and we were living on Army posts all over the world. I just grew up thinking that West Point was the center of the university. It's a little bit of a catharsis."

Ellerson was 56-34 in eight seasons at Cal Poly, earning his third Great West Conference Coach of the Year Award last month. He was named NCAA Division I-AA Independents Coach of the Year in 2003 and a year later was honored as AFCA Region 5 Coach of the Year.

Five Mustangs have earned American Football Coaches Association All-America honors under Ellerson, including wide receiver Ramses Barden twice, and eight players have been selected to play in postseason all-star games, including four in the East-West Shrine Game.

Cal Poly won 48 of its last 70 games under Ellerson, including 18 of its last 30 games on the road and a 30-6 mark at home. The Mustangs scored in 71 of their last 75 quarters under Ellerson. His eight teams posted six shutouts and were never shut out.

This year Cal Poly finished No. 1 in the FCS in total offense (487.45) and scoring offense (44.36), No. 2 in passing efficiency (167.72) and sacks (3.36), No. 3 in rushing offense (306.45) and No. 9 in sacks allowed (0.82) under Ellerson. Individually, senior quarterback Jonathan Dally finished No. 1 in passing efficiency (171.55), Barden was No. 2 in receiving yards per game (114.27) and No. 8 in scoring (9.82) and senior defensive end Sean Lawyer was tied for No. 10 in sacks (0.82).

Among postseason honors accumulated during the Ellerson Era were three Buck Buchanan Award winners -- linebacker Jordan Beck in 2004, defensive lineman Chris Gocong in 2005 and linebacker Kyle Shotwell in 2006 -- and six American Football Coaches Association All-Americans, including wide receiver Ramses Barden twice (2007 and 2008). The others were cornerback David Richardson in 2003, Beck in 2004, Gocong in 2005 and nose tackle Chris White in 2006.

In all, nine Mustangs have earned Sports Network All-American honors, including several players twice. Beck, Gocong and Barden (twice) earned Walter Camp Football Foundation All-America honors under Ellerson.

Cal Poly has had a player in the East-West Shrine Game four of the last five years -- Beck in 2005, Gocong in 2006, Shotwell in 2007 and Barden on Jan. 17, 2009 in Houston, Texas.

Since becoming an inaugural member of the Great West Conference in 2004, Cal Poly has had 40 players named to the all-conference first team and has earned al least seven wins each of the last six seasons, a school record.

Cal Poly posted back-to-back 7-4 records in 2006 and 2007. The Mustangs were first in the nation in total offense, fifth in rushing offense and sixth in scoring offense en route to a No. 24 final ranking by The Sports Network in 2007. The 2006 squad posted three shutouts and finished ranked No. 16 in the nation by The Sports Network.

In 2005, Cal Poly finished 9-4 and earned its first FCS playoff berth in 12 tries, reaching the quarterfinal round before falling at Texas State. The Mustangs won five of six games against Big Sky Conference schools, the most in school history, and went 6-0 at home.

Ellerson's teams were 19-15 against the Big Sky in eight seasons, including 14 of 19 over the last five years.

Four Mustangs were drafted by NFL teams in the Ellerson Era, including third-round picks Beck (Atlanta Falcons) in 2005 and Gocong (Philadelphia Eagles) in 2006, Cal Poly's highest draft picks ever. Quarterback Seth Burford (San Diego Chargers, 2002) and defensive back Courtney Brown (Dallas Cowboys, 2007) were chosen in the seventh round.

Ellerson was hired on Dec. 6, 2000, as Cal Poly's 15th head football coach after serving as the defensive coordinator at the University of Arizona from 1997-2000.

Cal Poly was 6-5 in Ellerson's first year (2001), giving the Mustangs their first winning season since 1997. In 2002, Cal Poly faced a challenging schedule with a pair of Division I FBS opponents and four Big Sky Conference members. The Mustangs slipped to 3-8 for the fourth time in five years, but won three of their final six games after an 0-5 start. Four of the losses occurred in games not decided until the final moments.

Cal Poly returned to the winning side of things in 2003 -- a 7-4 mark, national rankings as high as No. 14 midway through the season and a playoff drive that ended on the penultimate weekend as Idaho State rallied late for a 38-31 victory in Mustang Stadium.

The 2004 Mustangs went 4-1 for the inaugural Great West championship and won their first seven games overall en route to a 9-2 mark for the most wins in seven years and a national ranking as high as No. 5.

Ellerson brought 22 years of coaching experience with him to San Luis Obispo, including a one-year head coaching stint at Southern Utah in 1996, where his Thunderbirds were the top rushing team in the nation (FCS).

While he has enjoyed great success at several FBS and FCS programs, Ellerson, who has also coached in the Canadian Football League, basked in much success at the University of Arizona, where he was a top defensive assistant for eight seasons.

In 2000, Ellerson's last season with the Wildcats, Arizona again led the Pac-10 and finished the regular season ranked eighth in the nation in rushing defense, allowing just 88.5 yards per game. The Wildcats also ranked second in the league in total defense (317.5 yards per game and turnovers gained with 33. Arizona concluded the year 5-6 under then-head coach Dick Tomey.

While at Arizona, Ellerson was also responsible for coaching the Wildcat kickers as Sean Keel improved from making only six of 19 attempts in 1999, to making 13 of 17 tries in 2000, ranking him third in the Pac-10 with 1.18 field goals per game.

Arriving in Tucson in 1992, Ellerson resigned from his assistant head coach and defensive line coach positions in February 1996 to become head coach at Southern Utah. In his only season at Southern Utah, he led the Thunderbirds to a 4-7 record, an improvement over the program's 2-9 season in 1995.

Prior to that, Ellerson was a four-year assistant at Arizona with defensive coordinator Larry MacDuff from 1992-95. The Wildcats' defensive system was ranked No. 2 against the run from 1992-93 and ranked in the top 10 in total defense all four years. He also helped improve Arizona's special teams play and coached placekicker Steve McLaughlin to the Lou Groza Award in 1994.

Ellerson turns 55 on New Year's Day. He was born in Yokohama, Japan, while his father was stationed there. A 1972 graduate of Tucson's Salpointe Catholic High School, Ellerson was a center and linebacker in a four-year playing career at the University of Hawaii, from which he graduated in 1977.

One of Ellerson's assistants at Cal Poly, Johnny Burnett, was a linebackers and defensive backs coach at Army for 17 years (1979-95).