DURHAM, N.C. – Two North Carolina Central University football assistant coaches,
Jon Bradley and
Kenyatta McCoy, have been selected as NFL summer interns as part of the Bill Walsh NFL Minority Coaching Fellowship program.
McCoy, who is entering his third season as cornerbacks coach at NCCU, will join the New York Giants coaching staff for OTA (Organized Team Activities) offseason workouts from June 6-10, as well as the team's training camp in late July.
McCoy said he is looking to take away from this NFL experience "a better way of teaching young men, and more knowledge of defensive schemes and situational football."
Bradley, who is approaching his third season as defensive line coach at NCCU, will spend his NFL summer internship at the Washington Redskins training camp, which also begins in late July.
Bradley said he hopes to "improve myself as a coach, as well as take from them (NFL coaches) and bring back to NCCU to implement with what we do here to help build our program."
NCCU head coach
Jerry Mack, who has been selected for three NFL internships in his coaching career with the New York Jets (2009, 2010) and Buffalo Bills (2008), understands first-hand the benefit of this opportunity.
"We are extremely proud of Coach Bradley and Coach McCoy," Mack said. "They have done an excellent job developing their position groups and now have an opportunity to learn at the highest level of the profession. The knowledge and relationships from this opportunity will allow our program to continue to stay on the cutting edge."
During the 2015 season, 61 full-time coaches on NFL staffs previously participated in the fellowship program, including current head coaches Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburg Steelers and Marvin Lewis of the Cincinnati Bengals.
Established in 1987, the Bill Walsh NFL Minority Coaching Fellowship program provides NFL training camp positions to minority coaches every year. The program, which was named after the man who conceived the idea – late Pro Football Hall of Fame head coach Bill Walsh – exposes talented minority college coaches to the methods and philosophies of summer NFL training camps. Walsh introduced the concept to the league in 1987 when he brought a group of minority coaches into his San Francisco 49ers' training camp.
The program has tutored more than 1,800 minority coaches through the years and has grown to the point that now every NFL team participates during training camp.
Jon Bradley
Jon Bradley, who played four seasons in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Detroit Lions, joined the NCCU football staff as assistant defensive line coach in January 2014 and is now solely responsible for the Eagles defensive front.
He spent the 2011 and 2012 seasons on the Arkansas State University coaching staff as an assistant with the defensive and offensive lines. During his two years with ASU, the Red Wolves captured back-to-back Sun Belt Conference titles and posted consecutive GoDaddy.com Bowl victories.
A three-time all-conference defensive lineman at Arkansas State, Bradley garnered first-team all-Sun Belt honors during his final two seasons after recording eight sacks in 2002 and a team-high four sacks in 2003. He capped his college career by playing in the 2004 Blue-Gray Classic, a post-season all-star game.
A native of West Helena, Ark., he played running back, fullback and defensive line in the NFL, spending three seasons with the Buccaneers (2004-06) and one season with the Lions (2007).
Bradley graduated from Arkansas State with a bachelor's degree in sports management with an emphasis in business in 2011.
Kenyatta McCoy
Kenyatta McCoy joined the NCCU coaching staff prior to the 2014 football season as cornerbacks coach.
Before NCCU, he served as special teams coordinator and running backs coach at the University of Pikeville (Kentucky) in 2012.
He worked four seasons (2008-11) at Kentucky State University, serving as special teams coordinator/wide receivers coach (2011), defensive coordinator/defensive backs coach (2009-10), recruiting coordinator/strength and conditioning coach (2008-09) and video coordinator (2008).
McCoy spent the 2007 season as cornerbacks coach at Murray State University, where he also served as the assistant video coordinator. Prior to his stint at Murray State, McCoy was the quarterbacks, tight ends and wide receivers coach at Lincoln University (Missouri) for two seasons (2005-2006). He also served as Lincoln's passing game coordinator, academic advisor, recruiting coordinator and pro liaison.
From 2004-2005, McCoy was the varsity assistant head coach at Westwood High School in Memphis, Tennessee. As assistant head coach, McCoy served as the team's offensive coordinator, as well as strength and conditioning, quarterbacks and defensive backs coach. Prior to working at Westwood, McCoy was the assistant offensive coordinator at Ridgeway High School in Memphis. McCoy helped lead Ridgeway to a 14-1 record and the Tennessee Class 3A State Championship.
McCoy is a member of the American Football Coaches Association and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.
In 2007, McCoy graduated from the NCAA Football Coaches Academy, a program designed to assist ethnic minority football coaches with career advancement through skills enhancement, networking and exposure opportunities while raising awareness regarding the substantial pool of talented ethnic minority coaches.
McCoy holds a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (2001) and a master's degree in recreation and sports sciences from Ohio University (2013).
