DAVIE, FL – Williams College fourth year head football coach Aaron Kelton will be coaching with the NFL's Miami Dolphins from July 18 – August 15 as a participant in the Bill Walsh NFL Minority Coaching Fellowship.
The Dolphins are the fourth NFL team Kelton has spent time coaching with in a summer session. He previously coached on the staffs of the Arizona Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts and the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Bill Walsh NFL Minority Coaching Fellowship is an annual program administered by the NFL Management Council and NFL Player Engagement.
Named in honor of Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Bill Walsh, who led the San Francisco 49ers to three Super Bowl titles and popularized the West coast offense, the program receives thousands of applications annually.
The objective of the Walsh Fellowship is to use NFL Clubs' training camps, offseason workout program and minicamps to give talented minority coaches opportunities to:
- Observe
- Participate
- Gain Experience
- Ultimately gain a full-time NFL coaching position
Designed as a vocational tool to increase the number of full-time NFL minority coaches, all 32 NFL Clubs participate in the program on an annual basis. Specific aspects of the program (including hiring, salary and coaching duties) are administered on a Club-by-Club basis. No elements of the Fellowship are mandated to the Clubs by the League office, but several "best practices" have been strongly recommended to the Club, including:
- Participants are hired for the duration of training camp, including all pre-season games.
- Clubs are encouraged to hire a minimum of four (4) participants.
The Dolphins' training camp will be held in Davie, FL and will begin on Sunday, July 21 at 8 AM.
Kelton will be involved in all aspects of the Dolphins' coaching preparations for the upcoming season, while focusing mostly on defense. "I will be working with Darren Rizzi, Special Teams Coordinator and Marwan Maalouf, Assistant Special Teams Coordinator, and wherever Head Coach Joe Philbin wants me," Kelton noted.
Not only will Kelton be involved in all of the Dolphins' coaching and training sessions, but he will also have the opportunity to trade philosophies and techniques with the other collegiate coaches on hand for the fellowship program.
"The experience with the Dolphins will allow me to continue to become a better coach and leader of the Williams College football program," Kelton added. "Working with the best at the highest level of football offers me firsthand knowledge of the newest techniques that I can then incorporate into our program as we attempt to make Williams the best program in the NESCAC and one of the best in the nation."