MONROE, La. -- Former ULM head football coach Pat Collins
has joined the athletic department as a consultant with the ULM Athletic
Foundation.
"I am excited to be
back at ULM," said Collins. "The
university has been good to me as it gave me the opportunity to be a head coach
and we had some successful years here. I
am impressed with the administration and I love what the coaching staff is
doing to help the student-athletes succeed both on and off the field. I look forward to visiting with current and former
athletes. I love Monroe, it is my home
as I have lived here for over 30 years.
The community is great and I hope they will join me and thousands of
others in supporting our student-athletes, our coaches and our university.
His primary focus and
goal will be to assist in growing support and community involvement for the Warhawk
football program.
"We are obviously
excited about having coach Collins back and joining our program again," said
ULM head football coach Todd Berry. "I
think that he has been tremendously supportive of this staff over the past few
years with what we have going on. He has
a wonderful passion for the university and football program as a whole as we
take great pride in the things he built here.
It is a win-win for everyone and again we are excited to have him back
in Monroe and around the football program."
During his eight seasons at the helm of the ULM football
program, Collins posted a .620 win percentage (57-35) and led two different
squads to Southland Conference championships (1983, 1987). The 1987 team posted a 13-2 mark as it
claimed the NCAA Division 1-AA National Championship with a 43-42 victory over
Marshall on Dec. 19 in Pocatello, Idaho.
"We are thrilled to
have Coach Collins on board to assist with our external efforts surrounding the
Warhawk football program," said Bobby Staub, ULM's director of athletics.
The entire 1987
championship team was inducted into the ULM Athletic Hall of Fame on Oct. 13,
2012 and to this day, ULM is the only team in the state of Louisiana and
Southland Conference to claim the 1-AA National Championship.
"We are excited that coach
Collins has returned to where he contributed so much to our university's
athletic history," said ULM president Dr. Nick Bruno. "He has contributed
greatly to the uniting and reconnecting our alumni."
The 2013 ULM football team will kickoff the season on
Aug. 31 when they battle the Oklahoma Sooners in Norman, Okla.
