June 16, 2008

Lamar head football coach Ray Woodard has announced the hiring of Will Richard and Craig McGallion as the first two assistant coaches to join his staff.

"I'm excited about having both of these coaches join our staff," Woodard said.

Richard is slated to be an offensive coach while McGallion will be on the defensive side of the ball.

Richard spent the 2007 season as the offensive line coach under Woodard at Navarro College. The Bulldogs ranked third nationally in total offense (444.6 ypg), fourth in rushing offense (250.5 ypg) and 16th in passing offense (194.2 ypg), while scoring a school-record 428 points (35.7 ppg) in 2007.

Offensive lineman JaMarcus Webb was named first team all-America by the NJCAA and running back Tyrone Ross ranked 13th in the nation in rushing with 1,079 yards and eighth in touchdowns with 12.

All five of his staring offensive linemen signed Division I - FBS scholarships during the February signing period.

"Will has coached with me at Navarro College and I look forward to continuing our relationship at Lamar University," Woodard said.

In 2006 Richard was the assistant head coach and offensive line coach at South Lenoir High School in Deep Run, N.C. following a year at Blinn College in Brenham, Texas. While at Blinn, the Buccaneers ranked 24th in the nation in total offense with 344.8 ypg.

He also has made stops at the University of Central Oklahoma, Tarleton State University and Trinity Valley College. At TSU he was a student coach under current Sam Houston State head coach Todd Whitten.

He enlisted in the Marines from 1992-96 and served tours of duty in Okinawa, Japan and Cherry Point, N.C. before going into private business for two years. Richard earned his bachelor's degree from Tarleton State in 2003 and his master's from Central Oklahoma in 2005.

McGallion comes to Lamar after serving as the defensive coordinator at Silsbee HS under his brother Bobby McGallion, where the Tigers made the playoffs six out of the last ten seasons. In the last few years McGallion coached former standouts William Morrisey and Ahmad Jones, a pair of first-team all-state defensive linemen who signed with Texas A&M and Oklahoma State, respectively.

"I have known Craig for my entire coaching career and he comes from a great coaching family," Woodard said. "He will bring his strong abilities as a coach and recruiter to our program."

McGallion spent three seasons as the head coach at Barbers Hill from 1995-98 following a two year stint at Woodville from 1993-94. He led Woodville to the playoffs in his first season with a 6-4-1 mark.

From 1989-93 he spent time in the Cy-Fair Independent School District at both Cy-Fair HS and Cy-Creek HS. He mentored future NFL Pro Bowl selection Sam Adams, who played at Texas A&M, along with Shane Rink, who lettered at Texas, while at Cy-Creek.

McGallion was a three-year letterman at nose guard at the University of Houston. He received his bachelor's degree in Education from UH in 1984. McGallion graduated from Silsbee HS in 1979. He was an all-state selection at linebacker who was also a member of the 1977 Tiger team that reached the state semifinals.

"Both (coaches) have extensive local ties to the Golden Triangle and will strengthen our commitment to recruiting local talent," Woodard added.

Woodard would like to hire at least one more assistant by the end of the summer with the possibility of as many as three more in the fall months.