July 10, 2002

EASTON, Pa. (www.lafayette.edu) - Lafayette head football coach Frank Tavani announced today the hiring of part-time assistant coaches Kevin Emberton and Corey Wenger. They replace the positions vacated by David Jones and Liam Klein, who moved on to assistant coaching positions at Trinity College (Conn.) and Harvard University, respectively.

"We are excited to be adding two outstanding young coaches to the Lafayette coaching staff," said Tavani, who enters his third season as the Leopards' head coach. "Both Kevin and Corey have bright futures ahead of them in this business and our program will be well-served by their energy and enthusiasm."

Emberton, who will coach the Leopards' cornerbacks, is a 2001 graduate of Illinois State. He served as a volunteer defensive line coach at his alma mater during the 2002 spring practices and was an assistant coach at the high school level in Illinois since 1997.

A native of Normal, Ill., Emberton earned a bachelor of science degree in physical education at Illinois State. He began his coaching career at the age of 18, serving on the coaching staff at Olympia High School in Stanford, Ill. from 1997-2000. He was the freshman defensive coordinator and the varsity secondary coach and wide receivers coach for three years. This past fall, Emberton coached the defensive ends at Bloomington (Ill.) High School, helping guide them to a 12-1 record and a berth in the Class 6A State Finals.

Wenger, who will serve as Lafayette's tight ends coach, is a 1998 graduate of the University of Miami (Fla.). He coached the quarterbacks at Massachusetts-Lowell this past season and was a graduate assistant coach responsible for the wide receivers at Shippensburg from 1998-2001. While at both Shippensburg and UMass-Lowell, he helped guide the offense to new school passing records. Wenger also has coaching experience at Miami where he was an assistant coach at Miami-Coral Park Senior High in 1997 and at Coral Gables Senior High School in 1996.

A native of Myerstown, Pa., Wenger was an All-County wide receiver at Eastern Lebanon High School before moving on to Robert Morris College. After playing wide receiver at Robert Morris, Wenger transferred to Miami (Fla.) where he earned a bachelor of arts degree in Psychology. He went on to earn his master of education degree in counseling from Shippensburg in 2001.

Lafayette begins preseason practice with the incoming freshmen on Monday, Aug. 12, with the first full-squad practice scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 15. The Leopards officially open the 2002 season on Sept. 7 by hosting Monmouth in the first of three straight home contests to start the schedule.