Mark Matlak - Head Coach

Contact: mark.matlak@allegheny.edu
814-332-2826

Allegheny College head football coach Mark Matlak is in his sixth season looking to move up the charts in career wins with the Gators. Already with 26 wins, he is tied for sixth in career victories and needs one more wins to glide past his predecessor, Blair Hrovat, into sole possession of sixth.

A new chapter in Allegheny College football began when Mark Matlak was introduced as the Gators’ 33rd head football coach. Matlak guided Allegheny to a 5-5 record in his first season before guiding the Gators to a 7-4 mark and the NCAC Championship in 2003.

In 2003, Matlak turned around an 0-3 start with a perfect 7-0 conference record, and an appearance in the NCAA Playoffs. Matlak was named the NCAC Coach of the Year for his work in leading the Gators to their ninth conference title.

The Gators continued their success with a 5-5 record in 2004, including a 4-3 mark in the NCAC, giving them 19 consecutive winning seasons in the conference, a streak that was snapped in 2005, as the team went 3-4, despite out-scoring their opponents by an average score of 29-18. Last season the squad rebounded for a 6-4 record, falling to two eventual NCAA Tournament teams.

Matlak made his coaching debut at Allegheny as an assistant under former head coach Sam Timer. He served for five seasons, from 1978-82, before accepting a position at the University of New Hampshire.

Matlak’s career with the Wildcats began as defensive ends coach, mentoring such players as Ilia Jarostchuk who played with the New England Patriots. Following his promotion to defensive coordinator, the Wildcats posted a 13-year record of 82-59-1, winning Yankee Conference championships in 1991, 1994, and 1996. Matlak has coached four All-Americans and also landed two athletes on the Yankee Conference 50th anniversary all-time team in 1996. In 2000, Matlak was named the Assistant Coach of the Year by the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston.

While at New Hampshire, Matlak coached five players and recruited four others who were drafted by an NFL team or were signed as rookie free agents, including Jerry Azumah, who won the 1998 Walter Payton Award, given annually to the best player in Division I-AA football.

Prior to the start of his coaching career, Matlak became acquainted with college sports as an athlete. The 1978 Allegheny graduate was a four-year letterwinner at fullback, earning first team All-Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) honors for three years and, in both 1976 and 1977 and picked up the title of PAC Offensive Most Valuable Player in 1977. He graduated having been mentioned several times in the College’s record books, including as the second-leading career rusher in school history with 2,382 yards, a mark that currently ranks eighth. He was later recognized on the gridiron by being named to the All-Time PAC team as a fullback.

At the close of his career, Matlak also ranked second in career scoring (186 points) and third in rushing touchdowns (28). In the off-season, Matlak shouldered four years of starting responsibilities for Allegheny’s baseball team.

Matlak’s athletic prowess was fully recognized in 1989, when he was inducted into the Allegheny College Athletic Hall of Fame..


MIKE KASHURBA -- Defensive Coordinator

Contact: mike.kashurba@allegheny.edu
814-332-2801

This year will mark the fifth season with Mike Kashurba on the sidelines with the Allegheny football program, and his second year as the team’s defensive coordinator. A 2002 graduate of Grove City, he coached the defensive backs at Mansfield University prior to joining the Gator staff.

In addition to his coaching duties, Kashurba, a native of Latrobe, Pa., also serves as the program’s recruiting coordinator.

Kashurba was a two-time All-PAC selection at Grove City as a defensive back and was a four-time All-PAC baseball player for the Wolverines. He was a USA Football Sophomore All-America pick as well.

Kashurba and his wife Katrina reside in New Wilmington, Pa.


TRAVIS GILLESPIE -- Offensive Line

Contact: travis.gillespie@allegheny.edu
814-332-2816

Travis Gillespie starts his fourth season on the Gators staff and will coach the offensive line for the second straight year after spending two seasons as defensive line coach.

Prior to coming to Allegheny, Gillespie was an assistant coach at Tri-State University for two years and an assisant coach at Defiance College for three years.

While coaching, Gillespie has helped produce eight all-conference lineman and one All-American.

Gillespie, a native of Perry, Ohio, was a four-year letterwinner in football and a four-year letterwinner in track at Augustana College.

Also a track coach at Allegheny, Gillespie has helped coach national and conference qualifiers in his three seasons with the Blue and Gold. Additionally, Gillespie coordinates the team’s strength and conditioning program.

Gillespie and his wife Elizabeth reside in Meadville.


ERIC BURGESS -- Outside Linebackers

Contact: eric.burgess@allegheny.edu
814-332-2804

This is the third season for Eric Burgess, the second as outside linebackers coach at Allegheny.
Burgess, origionally from Sacramento, Calif., has a long and distinguished coaching record that dates back to 1973.

Prior to coming to Allegheny, he was the head coach at Coachella Valley High School in Thermal, Calif., where he led the squad to its best record in 10 years.

Among some of the other places he has coached include the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, the University of New Haven and the University of New Hampshire in 1987, where he served on the same staff as current Gator coach Mark Matlak.

He has also worked on the coaching staff with George Allen for the Arizona Wranglers of the USFL where he served as the defensive back coach and was in charge of the defensive quality control. He was also the defensive coordinator for the Hamburg Blue Devils of the German Football League (GFL), where he helped the team to a 15-4 record and playoff berths in the German and World Bowl.

Burgess is single, and resides in Meadville, Pa.


TOM WHATLEY -- Running Backs

Contact: twhatley@allegheny.edu
814-332-2816

Tom Whatley is in his second year with the Gators, and will coach the running backs.

Whatley played collegiately at Bishop College in Dallas, Texas. He was named team captain during his senior year, and earned a spot at the free agent and rookie camp for the New England Patriots of the National Football League.

Following his playing days, he started coaching for Leominister High School before moving on, coaching at various colleges and high schools, including UMass-Lowell, where he was the wide receiver coach, University of New Hampshire, where he was the assistant running back coach, in the Arena Football League where he was the running back coach for the Bossier City Battle Wings and for Evangel and Huntingdon High Schools.

As an amateur body builder, Whatley, a Shreveport, La. native, placed fifth in the state of Massachusets in 1991 as a middle-weight in the National Physique Competition.

Whatley is single and resides in Meadville, Pa.

KEITH SLEZAK-- Defensive Ends

Contact: keith.slezak@allegheny.edu
814-332-2816

Keith Slezak is in his second season as defensive line coach for the Allegheny College Gators. A four-year starter at Mansfield University, Slezak was a two-year All-PSAC award winner.

The Don Hansen Football Gazette Second Team All-America award winner recorded 72 tackles from his defensive end position as a senior in 2005, including five tackles for loss, 1.5 quarterback sacks, an interception and four pass breakups.

Slezak, a native of Windber, Pa., received his degree in elementary education in 2006, and was also an ESPN The Magazine Academic Second Team All-America selection following the 2005 football season.

Slezak is single and resides in Meadville, Pa.

RYAN JONES -- Tackles and Tight Ends

Contact: ryan.jones@allegheny.edu
814-332-2345

Ryan Jones, a native of Blairsville, Pa. and 2002 graduate of Allegheny College, is in his first season as an assistant coach on the Gator football staff, where he will oversee the team’s tackles and tight ends.   

Jones was a two-year starter on the offensive line for the Gators in 2000 and 2001, earning his Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the college.

Upon graduation from Allegheny, Jones was as an assistant coach at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington, serving as the offensive line/tight end coach from 2002-03. The following year he took over the duties as special teams coordinator and defensive line coach.

During the last two seasons he was a member of the Bowdoin College coaching staff in Brunswick, Maine, where he served as outside linebackers coach and then receivers and special teams in his second and final season with the Polar Bears.

ANDREW BREINER-- Wide Receivers

Contact: andrew.breiner@allegheny.edu
814-332-2816

Andrew Breiner is in his first year as wide receivers coach for the Gators. The 2006 graduate of Lock Haven University, Breiner was a four-year letterwinner for the Eagles.

He served as a student-assistant coach in the fall of 2006, and as a volunteer assistant during the winter conditioning and spring practices in 2007.

Breiner graduated from Lock Haven with a degree in health and physical education. He is single and resides in Meadville, Pa.