Dumas earns chance to work with Chiefs

Southeast Missouri State assistant football coach Troy Dumas has been awarded a 2008 National Football League Minority Coaching Fellowship with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Dumas, a former NFL player who is in his first year at Southeast, will attend training camp with the Chiefs in River Falls, Wis., beginning July 24.

Established by the NFL in 1987, the Minority Coaching Fellowship Program provides NFL training camp positions to minority coaches every year.

Current Chiefs coach Herm Edwards began his NFL coaching career by serving the fellowship with the Chiefs in 1989.

Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis and Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Brian Stewart also began their NFL coaching careers through the program.

As part of the training camp staff, Dumas will perform duties that mirror those of the Chiefs' assistant coaches.

"It's a tremendous honor to be selected because I know hundreds of aspiring minority coaches apply for the fellowship every year," Dumas said in a release. "To see what it has done for coaches like Herm Edwards, Marvin Lewis and Brian Stewart, they became what they are today because of this program. It is truly an honor to follow in those footsteps."

Dumas, who coaches Southeast linebackers, played linebacker and special teams for the Chiefs from 1995 to 1997.

"I know how it was as a player," Dumas said. "Now I have the opportunity to see how it is on the coaching side. It will benefit my career as I will have actual pro coaching experience and I will be able to pass that down to my linebackers to make them better players at the college level.

"Maybe down the road I will get a shot at coaching in the NFL, but before that happens I would like to help turn SEMO into a solid winner. That's the goal and my intention now."

Every NFL team may bring in an unspecified number of coaches for the fellowship each season. Over 1,000 coaches have worked in the training camps of NFL squads since the program's inception.

SID honored

Southeast sports information director Ron Hines was honored Wednesday by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) with the 25-Year Award at the organization's annual convention in Tampa.

Hines, who recently finished his 29th year at Southeast, was one of 20 sports information directors who received the award.

Among Hines' more notable accomplishments is the record 820 consecutive Southeast men's basketball games he has worked. He has not missed a game since 1980.

— From staff reports