Virginia Union University assistant head football coach Marcus Hilliard has been selected by the Pittsburg Steelers to participate in the 2019 Bill Walsh NFL Diversity Coaching Fellowship this summer
The program is slated to take place July 24-August 10th at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA.
"I am excited to participate in the Fellowship Program with the Pittsburg Steelers,” says Hilliard, who will be entering his second year on the Virginia Union staff this fall. “This experience will definitely help me evolve as coach. To have the opportunity to learn from the best at the highest level of the game. This is an opportunity that I am extremely grateful for.”
Under the guidance of Hilliard, who serves VUU’s Co-Defensive Coordinator, the Panthers ranked first in the CIAA in in points allowed (18.9 ppg), total defense (313.6 ypg) and passing defense (179.7 ypg). The team finished the season with an 8-2 record, just narrowly missing a post-season berth.
After the 2018 season, Coach Hilliard was selected as the Division II Assistant Coach of the Year from the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA).
Over his 15-year career, Hilliard has been a part of 10 winning seasons as a coach.
Established in 1987, the Bill Walsh NFL Diversity Coaching Fellowship program provides NFL coaching experience to a diverse group of 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, high school coaches, and former players to the methods and philosophies of NFL coaching staffs. 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 2,000 minority coaches through the years and has grown to the point that now every NFL team participates during offseason workout programs, minicamps and training camp.