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The architect of the University at Albany's football program, Bob Ford has established a solid reputation with his positive attitude and a coaching philosophy that instills loyalty among each member of his team and staff. Ford, who has been UAlbany's only head coach since the program was reinstated after a 46-year absence, was appointed on April 27, 1970. Since then, he has compiled a 33-year varsity record of 201-132 as the Great Dane mentor, while his 210 career victories ranks second among active NCAA Division I-AA head coaches. His UAlbany teams own a 71-37 mark for a .657 winning percentage over the last 10 years. He was honored at the 69th Maxwell Awards for recording his 200th career win at UAlbany on Nov. 5, 2005. In 2003, UAlbany shared its second consecutive Northeast Conference championship by finishing in a tie for first place in the conference standings with a 7-4 overall mark. The Great Danes were fourth among the Division I-AA leaders in rushing, while tailback Gary Jones was named to the Associated Press All-America Team for the second time in his career. The Great Danes put together their most celebrated season in 2002 by winning the program's first-ever Northeast Conference title and capping the year with a 24-0 upset of previously unbeaten Duquesne in the ECAC Division I-AA Football Classic. Ford, who guided his team to an 8-4 record, was named the NEC Coach of the Year. UAlbany placed 14 players on the all-conference squad. Ford, who served as president of the American Football Coaches Association to begin this decade, led UAlbany to a 7-2 record in its inaugural campaign as a I-AA program in 1999. The Great Danes went 7-3 overall in 2001, and finished among the conference's top teams for the third straight year. As a Division II program, Ford led the Great Danes to their second consecutive Eastern Football Conference championship, an EFC Atlantic Division title, and a 10-1 record in 1998. He was named the conference's coach of the year for the second straight fall. Ford also received the Gordon White-Herschel Nissenson Division II Coach of the Year Award by the Metropolitan New York Football Writers Association. Ford also directed his 1997 team to a school-record 11-1 mark and an EFC championship. For his efforts, he was named the Football Gazette Division II non-scholarship national Coach of the Year, and voted the top Region I coach by GTE and the American Football Coaches Association. At one time, Ford was the youngest head football coach in the nation, when the 26-year-old took over the reins at St. Lawrence University in 1965. In his first season, he guided the Saints to an Independent Collegiate Athletic Conference (ICAC) title. He arrived in Albany five years later to start the first gridiron squad at the University since 1924. After three seasons at the club level, the program was upgraded to varsity status in 1973, and finished with a 7-2 record. One year later, the Great Danes completed the school's only undefeated season with a 9-0 mark. Ford's 1977 team earned a NCAA Division III playoff berth. After a season-opening loss, the Great Danes rebounded with nine consecutive victories. Albany defeated Hampden-Sydney in a thrilling 51-45 contest to begin the postseason before losing to eventual national champion Widener in the semifinals. In 1978, Coach Ford's mystique grew before a national audience on ABC television. His last-minute addition of a field goal kicker direct from the soccer team paid off in a victory over third-ranked Ithaca. Dario Arango kicked a 45-yard field goal in the last two minutes to provide a 9-6 victory. In 1985, the Great Danes rallied from a three-touchdown deficit for a 33-21 victory over Plymouth State and the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) North championship. The '85 team, which produced one of the greatest comebacks in Ford's coaching career, boasted offensive and defensive units which were nationally ranked, and supported by five Pizza Hut and one Associated Press All-America players. UAlbany's football program is also known for the high standards required of its coaching staff. Ford's "coaching factory" has allowed many of his assistants to earn their master's degrees while working at the collegiate level. According to a recent review, more than 100 coaches, who have started their careers under Ford's tutelage, are currently employed with 60 different high schools, colleges, and professional teams from around the nation and the world. A starting quarterback in his senior year at Springfield College in Massachusetts, Ford was given the "Greatest Desire to Improve" Award by the school's athletic department. He received an undergraduate degree in physical education from Springfield in 1959, and later would earn his doctorate from the College in the same discipline. He gained a master's degree from St. Lawrence in educational administration in 1960. Ford's first coaching opportunity came as an assistant at St. Lawrence in the fall of 1959. He then moved to Albright College in Pennsylvania as an assistant for four seasons, where he coached the secondary and offensive backfield, and was part of a program which produced a 21-game winning streak. At Albright, Ford also coached the wrestling and golf teams. He returned to Springfield in 1964 as a secondary coach, and later was named defensive coordinator at his alma mater in 1969. Beginning in 1977, Ford was UAlbany's director of athletics for five years. During that time, he managed a program which sponsored 25 varsity sports for men and women. A 1986 inductee into the Wachusett Regional High School Hall of Fame, Ford is presently active in the National Football Foundation & Hall of Fame, and serves as vice president of the NFFCHF's Capital District Chapter. He was honored by that organization in 2000 with their Service to Football Award. Ford has been a member of the American Football Coaches Association's Board of Trustees since 1994, and presently is serving on the AFCA's Division I-AA All-America Team Selection Committee. Ford received the New York State Athletic Administrators Distinguished Service Award in 2005.
Mike Simpson is in his 21st season as defensive coordinator with the UAlbany football program. He has more than two decades of experience as a defensive coach. The Great Danes have won or shared two Northeast Conference championships (2002, 2003) and captured two Eastern Football Conference titles (1997, 1998) during his tenure. In 2005, UAlbany was ranked among the NCAA Division I-AA national leaders in rushing defense (11th), scoring defense (11th) and total defense (15th). The Great Danes have been ranked 11th among the nation's leaders in scoring against in two of the past three seasons. Linebackers Mike Grever, Josh Bazan and Colin Disch have earned Division I-AA All-America recognition under his tutelage. Simpson was one of 25 coaches who participated in the 2006 NCAA Expert Coaches Academy, which addressed the critical shortage of ethnic minorities in head coaching positions in the sport of college football, primarily at the Division I level. The Academy's mission is to assist coaches with career advancement, networking and exposure opportunities. Prior to his present appointment, Simpson was an assistant defensive line coach at both Columbia University and Williams College, served as a graduate assistant at Norwich University, and had a two-year internship with the National Football League's Dallas Cowboys. He also interned with the New York Giants in the summer of 2003 and Miami Dolphins in 2002. Simpson graduated from East Stroudsburg (Pa.) University in 1978, and as a player helped lead that program to two Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championships and a 25-game winning streak. As a defensive end, he led the team in quarterback sacks as a senior. An All-New York City player at Midwood High School in the mid-1970s, Simpson has a master's degree in educational administration.
Peter Rossomando begins his sixth season as a member of Bob Ford's staff. He is in his second year as UAlbany's offensive coordinator and offensive line coach. Rossomando has coached several Division I-AA mid-major All-Americans, including Geir Gudmundsen, who signed as a free agent with the Buffalo Bills in the spring of 2004, Mike Laroche, Brandon Shaw and Aaron Kimball. In 2004, the Great Danes ranked seventh nationally in rushing at 254.7 yards per game, plus led the Northeast Conference for the sixth straight year in that category. UAlbany shattered the NEC rushing record with 3,215 yards on the ground the previous year. Rossomando, 34, served as the offensive coordinator and line coach at SUNY-Cortland prior to his arrival in the Capital Region. He handled weekly game plans, coached the kickoff return and field goal special teams and recruited New York City and Long Island. Rossomando coached the offensive line and was video coordinator at Division I-AA Northeastern for one season. He also worked at New Haven from 1994-99, and served as both line coach and academic coordinator during his first three seasons with the program. He spent two years as the Chargers' defensive line coach and special teams coordinator. New Haven reached the NCAA Division II playoffs on two occasions during his tenure and won the Lambert Cup Trophy twice. From 1990-93, Rossomando played on the offensive and defensive lines at Division I-AA Boston University, where he earned a B.S. in clinical exercise physiology. The Terriers won the 1993 Yankee Conference championship with an undefeated record. A native of Staten Island, N.Y., Rossomando received All-America and all-state scholastic honors and was the 1989 Staten Island Player of the Year. He and his wife, Jessica, have two children, Reese and Gianna. More Assistant Coach Biographies
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