ADA - Athletic Director Brian DeAngelis has confirmed that East Central University head football coach Kurt Nichols will not return to ECU in 2009. The announcement came after ECU’s regular season ended on Saturday.

            The Tigers ended the 2008 campaign at 3-8 as Nichols posted a 7-25 record in three seasons.

            "We want to sincerely thank Kurt Nichols for his three years," DeAngelis said. "We wish him the very best.”

            The university will begin a search immediately for a new head football coach.

 “The search will be swift yet, deliberate,” DeAngelis said. “With the president’s assistance, I will convene a representative committee that will serve to screen our potential candidates.”

            All assistant football coaches will be retained at this time, the athletic director said. ECU assistant coach Todd Fugett, will take over as the interim head coach. Nichols will continue his teaching assignments until the end of the 2009 spring semester.

            ECU President Richard Rafes said ECU is making great strides in improving the university’s athletic programs and facilities.

            “The university has worked hard to assist the athletic program and the football team toward improving its competitive level and standing in the Lone Star Conference,” Rafes said. 

            A $500,000 Athletic Strength and Conditioning Center will begin construction in the near future. The university also painted the outside of the stadium, secured a contract to install new bleachers at Norris Field, and just recently completed an upgrade of the stadium to make it ADA compliant. 

            Prior to these initiatives, Rafes said, the university committed to fully fund the total number of scholarships allowable by the NCAA, allocated funds to increase the number and amount for football graduate assistants, funded tuition for football players who have exhausted their eligibility, and hired a full-time strength and conditioning coach who also helps coach the football team. 

            The university continues to raise funds from outside sources to supplement the football program’s operations budget and implement other practices to improve the program. Dr. Gerald Williamson, a former ECU vice president, now works as the university’s first full-time fundraiser for the athletic department.

Nichols came to ECU in 2005. It was his first position at the NCAA Division II level. He previously was the athletic director and head football coach at Cisco Junior College (Texas).