USA Football, the sport's national governing body on youth and amateur levels, has announced that head coach of the United States' first junior national team in football, CHUCK KYLE of Cleveland St. Ignatius H.S., has selected three defensive assistants for Team USA's coaching staff.
Ann Arbor (Mich.) Pioneer High School head coach JEREMY GOLD will serve as Team USA's defensive line coach while CHRIS MERRITT, head coach of Christopher Columbus High School in Miami, Fla., will coach America's defensive backs. Dallas (Texas) Carter High School head coach ALLEN WILSON, will coach the team's linebackers. STEVE SPECHT, head coach at Cincinnati (Ohio) St. Xavier High School, was named the squad's defensive coordinator in late July. Kyle has also recently named West Des Moines (Iowa) High School head coach GARY SWENSON as his offensive coordinator. Offensive assistants for USA Football's Junior National Team will be named in the coming weeks.
Team USA will compete among a field of eight countries spanning four continents in the 2009 International Federation of American Football (IFAF) Junior World Championship. The tournament will take place June 27-July 5, 2009, in Canton, Ohio. All games will be played in historic Fawcett Stadium, adjacent to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. America's team will be composed of top student-athletes from the country's 2009 high school graduating class.
All 50 state high school athletic associations and the District of Columbia are invited to nominate at least 10 players to compose a talent pool from which Team USA's coaching staff will select its roster in spring 2009.
Merritt enters 2008 with an overall head record of 111-31-2 (.778) in 10 seasons as a head coach of the European Football League's (EFL) Hamburg Blue Devils, Columbus High School and seven games as the interim head coach of the German Football League's (GFL) Stuttgart Scorpions. During his three seasons with the Blue Devils, Merritt won three Euro Bowl championships from 1996-98, a German Bowl championship in 1996 and Charity Bowl title in 1998. Merritt has led his Explorers to district titles in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2007, including undefeated regular seasons in '05 and '07.
"Having the opportunity to compete again on the international stage for me is exciting and representing our country definitely makes it an honor," Merritt said.
Gold, 31, entering his 10th season as a coach on collegiate and high school levels, played linebacker at Central Michigan University from 1995-98. The Ypsilanti, Mich., native served as the defensive line coach at Wayne State University in 2002 and Grand Valley State University in 2003 and 2004. In 2003, Gold helped GVSU earn a Division II NCAA National Championship. From 2005 to 2006 Gold served as the University of Northern Iowa's defensive line coach before being named to lead the Pioneer H.S. program in 2007.
"I'm flattered and proud to be part of this historic coaching staff," said Gold. "Football is the world's greatest sport and a stage like this - a junior world championship in Canton, Ohio - will make a great impact on the sport internationally. There's work to be done at Pioneer High School this fall, but I'm already excited to drive I-80 to Canton."
Wilson, who owns a career head coaching mark of 222-78-4 (.737) entering 2008, led Tyler, Texas' John Tyler High School to the state's Class 5A State Championship in 1994 and directed Paris (Texas) H.S. to the 4A State Championship in 1988. The Associated Press named Wilson Texas' High School Coach of the Year in 1989 and 1995. He also earned his district's Coach of the Year honors 17 times in his 31 years as a high school head coach in the Lone Star State.
"It's a great honor to coach a group of players like those we'll have on our country's junior national team," Wilson said. "And it will be a privilege to coach alongside some of the most successful high school coaches in the country next summer in Canton."
Canada joins the United States as an automatic qualifier for the 2009 IFAF Junior World Championship. The U.S. earns an automatic bid as the tournament's host. Canada earns a place in the field due to the long-time strength of its junior national team program in international play. The Canadian team will hold the No. 1 seed once all eight qualifiers are finalized and placed in the tournament bracket. The United States will be seeded No. 2.
National football teams from Germany, Sweden, and France, respectively, recently earned respective first-, second-, and third-place finishes in the eight-nation European Junior Championship held in Sevilla, Spain, in mid-July. The European Federation of American Football (EFAF) will confirm its top three teams for Junior World Championship play in Canton by September 15.
USA Football's Junior National Team Coaching Staff:
COACH | COACHING POSITION | HIGH SCHOOL |
Chuck Kyle | Head Coach | Cleveland St. Ignatius H.S. |
Steve Specht | Defensive Coordinator | Cincinnati St. Xavier H.S. |
Gary Swenson | Offensive Coordinator | West Des Moines (Iowa) Valley H.S. |
Jeremy Gold | Defensive Line | Ann Arbor (Mich.) Pioneer H.S. |
Allen Wilson | Linebackers | Dallas Carter H.S. |
Chris Merritt | Defensive Backs | Miami Christopher Columbus H.S. |
About USA Football
USA Football, the national governing body of America's favorite sport on youth and amateur levels, hosts nearly 100 football training events per year offering education for coaches and game officials, skill development for players and resources for youth football league administrators. The independent non-profit manages U.S. national teams within the sport for IFAF competitions. Approximately 1.13 million American high school boys play football, more than doubling the next-most popular sport among that group. Endowed by the NFL and NFLPA through the NFL Youth Football Fund, USA Football (usafootball.com) is chaired by former U.S. Congressman and professional quarterback JACK KEMP.
