MAC Football Media Preview

2010 MAC Football Preview Photo Gallery

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Cleveland, Ohio - The Mid-American Conference (MAC) hosted the 2010 Football Media Day on Friday, July 30th at Ford Field in Detroit. The MAC Football Media Day kicks off the season, which officially begins on Thursday, Sept. 2, and will conclude with the 2010 Marathon MAC Football Championship on Friday, Dec. 3 from Ford Field.

Joining MAC Commissioner, Dr. Jon Steinbrecher were all 13 head coaches from our member institutions and two student-athletes from each university. Special guests at media day included Bill Hancock, Executive Director of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) and ESPN Game Day college football analyst Desmond Howard.

MAC Football Media Day Participants:
Dr. Jon A. Steinbrecher, MAC Commissioner
Bill Hancock, Executive Director, BCS
Desmond Howard, ESPN Game Day

MAC East Division:
Akron Head Coach Rob Ianello
LB Mike Thomas
OL Mike Ward

Bowling Green Head Coach Dave Clawson
RB Willie Geter
LB Eugene Fells

Buffalo Head Coach Jeff Quinn
DB Davonte Shannon
OL Peter Bittner

Kent State Head Coach Doug Martin
QB Spencer Keith
DB Brian Lainhart

Miami Head Coach Mike Haywood
QB Zac Dysert
DB Jordan Gafford

Ohio Head Coach Frank Solich
LB Noah Keller
WR LaVon Brazill

Temple Head Coach Al Golden
RB Bernard Pierce
DB Jaiquawn Jarrett

MAC West Division:
Ball State Head Coach Stan Parrish
RB MiQuale Lewis
DE Robert Eddins

Central Michigan Head Coach Dan Enos
LB Nick Bellore
WR Kito Poblah

Eastern Michigan Head Coach Ron English
OL Bridger Buche
DB Latarius Thomas

Northern Illinois Head Coach Jerry Kill
RB Chad Spann
DE Jake Coffman

Toledo Head Coach Tim Beckman
WR Eric Page
LB Archie Donald

Western Michigan Head Coach Bill Cubit
WR Jordan White
S Jamail Berry

Bill Hancock, BCS Executive Director (Bio):
Hancock, 59, was recently named BCS Executive Director in November 2009, and had served as BCS administrator since October of 2005. Hancock has an extensive career in collegiate athletics. A 1972 journalism graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Hancock spent four years at the university's athletics department as assistant sports information director. He served 11 years on the staff of the Big Eight Conference, first as media relations director then as assistant commissioner in charge of championships and marketing. Hancock served 13 years as director of the NCAA's Division I Men's Basketball Championship.

An avid outdoorsman, Hancock has run 15 marathons and has ridden a bicycle across the United States twice. His memoir about the transcontinental bicycle journey, "Riding With the Blue Moth," has been among the top-selling sports books since its release in 2005. His second book, "This One Day in Hobart," is a historical chronology of his home town in Oklahoma.

Bill and his wife Nicki, are the parents of two children and three grandchildren. Their eldest son, Nate, is a corporate trainer with an engineering company, Black and Veatch, in Kansas City. Their youngest son, Will, was killed Jan. 27, 2001, at the age of 31 in the crash of an airplane carrying members of the Oklahoma State University men's basketball team home from a game in Boulder, Colo.

Hancock has served on the United States Olympic Committee staff at nine Olympic Games and two Pan American games. His hobbies are grand-parenting, cycling, running, classical music and American history.

Desmond Howard (bio):
Desmond Howard currently works for ESPN Game Day as a college football analyst. Howard won the Heisman Trophy in 1991 at the University of Michigan and went on to a storied NFL career which spanned 11 years and was voted the MVP of Super Bowl XXXI in 1996 as a member of the Green Bay Packers. Howard is the only special teams player to win the award. He is one of only four players to win both the Heisman Trophy and Super Bowl MVP: Roger Staubach, Jim Plunkett and Marcus Allen are the others.

Howard, a native of Cleveland, earned All-American and All-State honors as a tailback at St. Joseph's High School in Cleveland. Howard took his talents to Michigan where he set or tied five NCAA and 12 Michigan school records. In 1991, he led the Big Ten in scoring with 138 points and won the Heisman Award, Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award and earned first-team All-American honors. Howard also earned a Bachelor's degree in communications in 1992.

His NFL career as a wide receiver, punt returner and kickoff returner spanned 11 years with Washington (1992-94), Jacksonville (1995)
Green Bay (1996, 1999), Oakland (1997-98) and Detroit (1999-2002). Howard was originally drafted in the first round, fourth overall, by the Washington Redskins. He was selected by Jacksonville in the 1995 NFL Expansion Draft and joined the Packers in 1996. His most notable season was in 1996-when Howard's 99-yard kickoff return sparked a 35-21 Packers win over New England in Super Bowl XXXI as Howard totaled 154 kickoff return yards and 244 all-purpose yards, which tied a Super Bowl record.

Howard played two seasons in Oakland before being traded to Detroit where he spent the rest of his career with the Lions before his retirement in 2002. In his 11 NFL seasons, Howard caught 123 passes for 1,597 yards, rushed for 68 yards, returned 244 punts for 2,895 yards and 359 kickoff returns for 7,595 yards. He totaled 15 touchdowns (7 receiving, 8 punt returns) and gained 12,155 all-purpose yards.

Following his playing career, Howard joined ESPN as a college football analyst. He joined Chris Fowler, Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit for ESPN College Gameday. He also is color commentator for the Detroit Lions pre-season games.