Kyle named to USA Football Heads Up Program

Cleveland St. Ignatius High School head football coach CHUCK KYLE is taking a leading role within USA Football’s Heads Up Football program, promoting a better and safer game on youth levels nationwide.

USA Football will instruct Kyle and other football experts -- including high school coaches and former NFL and college players -- as Heads Up Football Master Trainers during a workshop March 2-3 in Indianapolis.

Following their training in Indianapolis, Kyle and other Master Trainers will teach USA Football’s Heads Up Football program to youth league leaders across the country. This encompasses teaching USA Football’s Heads Up Tackling techniques, educating leagues on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concussion recognition and response protocols and instructing on proper helmet and shoulder pad fitting.

Heads Up Football is a comprehensive approach to a better and safer game. Adopted by youth leagues on a national level in 2013, Heads Up Football stands on four primary tenets:

Coaching education	· All coaches within a youth program are trained to teach the game’s fundamentals by completing USA Football’s nationally accredited Level 1 Coaching Education Course.
Concussion recognition and response	· Coaches learn CDC concussion recognition and response through USA Football’s Level 1 Coaching Education Course. · Coaches, parents and players are taught concussion-related protocols at the start of the season at a league-wide clinic and have them reinforced throughout the season.
Tackling technique	· USA Football’s Heads Up Tackling technique, endorsed by medical and football experts, teaches players to keep their heads up and out of the line of contact.
Equipment fitting	· Coaches, parents and players are taught proper helmet and shoulder pad fitting. Equipment maintenance best practices also are learned.

“Heads Up Football promotes a safer, better game,” USA Football Executive Director Scott Hallenbeck said. “We are proud to have Chuck help us lead America’s youth football community as a Heads Up Football Master Trainer, helping to set the highest standards of player safety and coaching education across youth sports.”

“We are proud that St. Ignatius head coach Chuck Kyle will be taking a leadership role in USA Football’s Heads Up program,” Browns head coach ROB CHUDZINSKI said. “USA Football puts the safety of our kids first, and this program provides the training which instructs youth coaches how to be exceptional teachers. For many years, Chuck has represented everything that is good about our sport in Cleveland, the state of Ohio, and across the nation. Like the Browns, he is fully committed to raising youth football’s standards, and the Heads Up Football program accomplishes that goal.”

Kyle has been the head coach at Cleveland St. Ignatius High School for 30 years, leading his alma mater to a 301-69-1 record, including 11 state championships – the most by any school or coach in Ohio playoff history. His program has been named USA Today national champions three times, and he has twice been named national coach of the year. A full-time English teacher and the head track coach for the past 29 seasons, Kyle was the head coach of the 2009 U.S. Under-19 National Team that won a gold medal at the IFAF Under-19 World Championship in Canton, Ohio.

USA Football is the national governing body of the sport in the United States as well as the official youth development partner of the NFL, all 32 teams and college’s Atlantic Coast Conference. Youth tackle football is played by 2.8 million American children age 6-14. USA Football has trained more than 100,000 volunteer youth coaches to better teach the sport’s fundamentals and to address player safety with CDC protocols.

USA Football’s Heads Up Football Master Trainers:

Name	Location	Experience
Tom Bainter	Seattle, Wash.	Bothell (Wash.) High School head coach
Aaron Brady	Washington, D.C.	Gonzaga College High School head coach
Kevin Brown	Kansas City, Kan.	Veteran youth football coach
Buddy Curry	Atlanta, Ga.	Former NFL linebacker and veteran youth football coach
Vincent DiGaetano	Valley Stream, N.Y.	Maritime College defensive coordinator
Artie Gigantino	Oakland, Calif.	Former Los Angeles Raiders special teams coordinator and linebackers coach
Chris Greisen	Green Bay, Wisc.	Former Division II All-American and NFL quarterback
Chris Haddock	Clifton, Va.	Centreville High School head coach
Mike Haynes	Dallas, Texas	Veteran Texas high school coach
Gabe Infante	Philadelphia, Pa.	St. Joseph’s Preparatory School
Chuck Kyle	Cleveland, Ohio	St. Ignatius High School head coach
Lawrence Lee	San Diego, Calif.	Veteran youth football coach, San Diego American Youth Football and Cheer
Neal Martin	San Diego, Calif.	Veteran youth football coach, San Diego American Youth Football and Cheer
Greg McCaig	Houston, Texas	Cypress Creek High School head coach
Chris Merritt	Miami, Fla.	Christopher Columbus High School head coach
John Roderique	Webb City, Mo.	Webb City High School head coach
Jonathan Ross	Cairo, Ga.	Cairo High School assistant coach
E.Z. Smith III	Concord, N.C.	Former Concord High School head coach
Steve Specht	Cincinnati, Ohio	St. Xavier High School head coach
Wayne Voorhees	Broomfield, Colo.	Legacy High School head coach
Thomas Williams	Los Angeles, Calif.	Former NFL linebacker

About USA Football: USA Football, the sport’s national governing body in the United States, hosts dozens of football training events annually offering education for coaches, skill development for players and resources for youth football league commissioners. The independent nonprofit is the official youth football development partner of the NFL, its 32 teams and the NFL Players Association. USA Football manages U.S. national teams within the sport for international competitions and provides more than $1 million annually in equipment grants and youth league volunteer background check subsidies. Endowed by the NFL and NFLPA in 2002 through the NFL Youth Football Fund, USA Football is chaired by former NFL team executive Carl Peterson.