Talley goes from NFL ranks to sidelines for Skyhawks

By Jim Fenton, Enterprise staff writer

EASTON - Stonehill College has gone to the NFL to find its new head football coach.

Robert Talley, who spent the past two years as a special assistant to San Francisco 49ers coach Mike Nolan, has been hired to run the Skyhawks' program.

Talley, who has been associated with five other NFL teams, including the New England Patriots, was scheduled to be introduced at a press conference on campus this morning.

A 1991 graduate of Boston University, where he was a two-time All-America defensive back, Talley replaces Chris Woods, who resigned after three seasons to become an assistant coach at Harvard University.

"I'm anxious to get going," said Talley, who met the players for the first time on Monday. "The biggest thing you can see is the commitment from the administration. It's going to help with recruiting.

"I really think the school did a great job as far as making this position very appealing to me. That commitment will pay big dividends with recruiting and on the field."

Talley is currently only the second African-American head football coach at the college level in New England, along with Mel Mills of Becker College. There were only 16 African-American head coaches in the nation at NCAA schools playing football in Divs. 1, 2 and 3.

A New York City native, Talley left the 49ers to take over a struggling program that has not had a winning season since 1996.

After working as an assistant coach at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst (1991-95), Colby College (1996) and Dartmouth College (1997-2004), the 38-year-old Talley wanted to be a head coach.

Leaving the 49ers, where Talley assisted Nolan in a number of areas, including working with the offensive line in 2006, breaking down films, scouting opponents and acting as a liaison, was something he had to do in order to get a start as a head coach.

"That's probably one of the most asked questions, how do you go from the 49ers to Stonehill," said Talley. "To me, the NFL has always been something I've been excited about, to coach at the highest level.

"But my No. 1 goal has always been to be a head coach at an institution that cares about student-athletes and is committed. To me, it's not that big of a question. We can get caught up in the professional level and there are a lot of positives about it and a lot of negatives about it.

"The sense of community you get at a place like Stonehill, you're not going to find in the NFL. That's my goal and that's what I'm looking for in my career. As soon as I mentioned it to a couple of my friends, they told me about the great academics and that it's a great institution."

Talley, a defensive specialist, spent summers from 1998-2004 in camps with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings, the Patriots and the New York Giants as part of the NFL's Minority Coaching Fellowship Program.

He was able to work closely with coaching staffs and was helpful to Romeo Crennel when he was the defensive coordinator for the Patriots in 2002.

"I was very fortunate because Romeo Crennel was the defensive coordinator and also the defensive line coach," said Talley, who was a defensive coordinator for five seasons at Dartmouth. "I had a chance to get in there and coach. He had to look over whole defense and gave me a little more to do. It was really a rewarding experience, a great organization to be around and great football knowledge to soak up."

Talley made an impression on the NFL teams that he worked with those summers.

"I am excited to hear of Robert's hiring as head football coach at Stonehill College," said Giants head coach Tom Coughlin in a release issued by the school. "He is an outstanding young coach who has an excellent opportunity, and from what we saw (in Jacksonville and New York), he will make the most of it.

"Robert's tireless effort, perseverance and integrity have earned him swift promotion through the coaching ranks. His energy, personality and understanding of people will give him a tremendous advantage in recruiting the prospective student-athletes."

Said Nolan in a statement, "Robert is an outstanding coach and has been a huge part of the progress we have made here. He has the potential to be an outstanding head coach at Stonehill College and has a lot of good times ahead of him."

Talley, who set the BU record for career tackles, knows the Skyhawks need vast improvement after winning just one game in 2006.

"When we got to San Francisco, we really had to build it back up," he said. "You look at a place like Stonehill, we're going to have to build it up."