Stonehill Appoints Talley as Head Football Coach

February 27, 2007


Easton, Mass.-- Robert Talley, who served for the past two seasons as Special Assistant and Assistant Offensive Line Coach for the National Football League's San Francisco 49ers, has been named as Head Football Coach at Stonehill College. Talley, who becomes the sixth Skyhawk varsity mentor in school history, succeeds Chris Woods, who resigned last month to become an assistant coach at Harvard University.

Talley brings over 16 years of coaching experience to his new position at Stonehill, including 15 years at the collegiate level alone. A 1991 graduate of Boston University with a bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Talley served Defensive Coordinator at Dartmouth College for five years and was on the Big Green staff for a total of eight seasons, serving as Secondary Coach prior to being promoted to Defensive Coordinator. Talley also served for five years as an assistant coach at the University of Massachusetts, where he was Defensive Ends Coach and Special Teams Coordinator, and he also served as Linebackers Coach at Colby College prior to joining the Dartmouth staff.

"Robert brings great experience, knowledge and passion for college football to our staff at Stonehill, and this is a very exciting day for the College and for our program," Stonehill Director of Athletics Paula J. Sullivan says of Talley's appointment. "The leadership abilities he has demonstrated in various positions both at the collegiate and professional levels have prepared him well to be a head coach, and I join our entire community in welcoming him to Stonehill."

"I am very thankful to both (Stonehill President) Father Mark Cregan and Paula Sullivan for the opportunity to be the head coach at Stonehill," Talley says. "My goal has always been to have a positive effect on the lives of young men, and this position gives me the opportunity to do that. Stonehill embodies the qualities of both athletic and academic excellence that will create a positive atmosphere in moving forward, and I am looking forward to putting my footprint on the program in the years to come.

"The moment I arrived back in the New England area and set foot on campus, everything just felt right," Talley continues. "I look forward to working with the players to get them to play up to and beyond their abilities in order for us to enjoy success."

Talley joined the 49ers staff in March 2005 and served as Head Coach Mike Nolan's special assistant during that time span. He has also served on the coaching staffs of five other NFL organizations, including as Head Coach Bill Belichick's assistant defensive line coach with the New England Patriots in 2002. Talley was also an assistant with the NFL's New York Giants, Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears and Jacksonville Jaguars, working with both the defensive line and defensive backs during his respective tenures.

"Robert is an outstanding coach and has been a huge part of the progress we have made here," 49ers Head Coach Nolan says of Talley. "He has the potential to be an outstanding head coach at Stonehill and has a lot of good times ahead of him."

"I was excited to hear of Robert's hiring as Head Football Coach at Stonehill College," New York Giants Head Football Coach Tom Coughlin says of Talley. "He is an outstanding young coach who has an excellent opportunity, and from what we saw, 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-athlete."

A native of Staten Island, N.Y., Talley served as co-captain during his senior season at Boston University in 1990 and is the school's career leader in tackles. A two-time All-America performer for the Terriers, Talley earned all-Yankee Conference honors during each of his final three seasons of play.

Talley joins Cliff Sherman, David Swanton, Connie Driscoll, Rich Beal and Woods as Stonehill's head coaches since the inception of varsity football in 1988. The Skyhawks kick off their 2007 campaign on Saturday, September 8th with a Northeast-10 Conference match-up at Assumption.

Stonehill enjoys a national reputation for athletic and academic success, as the Skyhawks captured their first-ever Northeast-10 Conference President's Cup during the 2005-2006 academic year as the top all-around program in the nation's largest Division II league. Stonehill was also ranked first among all Division II institutions by the National Collegiate Scouting Association's (NCSA) Power Rankings that combine athletic achievement and academic success and was rated 11th in the NCSA's all-divisions power rankings that combine statistics from three major academic and athletic sources. Stonehill ranks in the top 10 percent of colleges nationwide in enriching educational experiences, according to the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). Nearly 45 percent of all Skyhawk student-athletes achieved a 3.20 grade point average during the past academic year.