Art Wilkins
	Title	Head Football Coach
	E-Mail	coach5086@yahoo.com
	Phone	(413) 205-3545

The winningest coach in American International football history, Art Wilkins recently completed his 13th year as head coach of the Yellow Jackets. Wilkins, who has amassed a 79-55 career record, has developed a once slumping program into a very prominent Division II football team, culminating with back-to-back Eastern Football Conference (EFC) Championships in 1999 and 2000. Coach Wilkins became the 12th head football coach at the College in June of 1994 after serving as an assistant coach at various institutions such as Bucknell, Penn State, Appalachian State and the University of South Carolina.

This past season, 2006, the Yellow Jackets won their most games since the 2001 season with a 6-4 mark, and were ranked in the top 10 most of the season in the Northeast region while finishing just one game behind first place in the Northeast-10.  Senior back Marlon Beckles was named the Northeast-10 Offensive Player of the Year and was also named a candidate for the Harlon Hill Trophy.  Freshman linebacker Terrence Holley was the league's Freshman of the Year.

Wilkins led the Yellow Jackets to four-straight EFC Championship appearances (1997-2000) after capturing Central/Bay State Division titles each year, including an 8-0 conference clip in 1997. In addition to posting the program's first championship in 1999, the Yellow Jackets posted a record 10 wins and produced the top passer, rusher and scorer in the nation. The team also finished first in Division II in turnover margin, second in total offense, third in scoring and fourth in rushing, while  running back Kavin Gaillard was the runnerup for the Harlon Hill Trophy, awarded to the top player in Division II.

Since Wilkins' arrival, AIC has posted winning seasons 10 times in 13 years, including in 10 of the past 11 years.  Under his tutelage AIC players have earned major awards from the EFC/Ne-10 12 times and a total of 39 players have earned All-Conference recognition.

A 1972 graduate of Bucknell University, Wilkins was a three-year letterwinner on the varsity football squad as a linebacker and offensive guard. He received the Pangburn Award as the student-athlete most “typical” of a “Bucknellian.” He received his undergraduate degree in English and Religion and earned his Master’s Degree in 1973 while serving as a graduate assistant on the football staff.

Wilkins left Lewisburg, and headed for Penn State where he served as an assistant under the legendary Joe Paterno for four seasons. In that time, Wilkins had both the pleasure and distinction to have coached in four major bowl games. The Nittany Lions participated in the Orange, Cotton, Sugar, and Gator Bowls from 1974 through 1977, respectively.

Following his four-year association with Paterno and the Nittany Lions, Coach Wilkins returned to Bucknell in 1977 as an assistant, coaching the linebackers. He was later promoted to defensive coordinator in 1978. Wilkins left Bucknell in 1985 to accept a position at Appalachian State in Boone, N.C. There, he coached the Mountaineers inside linebackers and special teams for one year before being appointed the offensive coordinator the following season. In both the 1986 and 1987 seasons, his squad captured the Southern Conference Championship and then advanced to the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs. In 1988, Wilkins was named the Southern Conference Assistant Coach of the Year.

Coach Wilkins moved back to the Division I-A level in ’89 when he became the offensive coordinator at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, S.C. He stayed with the Gamecocks for five years before making the move north to American International College.

In addition to his outstanding contributions on the sidelines, Wilkins has worked on two football publications as well. He edited the book Developing Linebackers the Penn State Way by Jerry Sandusky in 1987 and was the co-author of “Begin Your Offense by Pressuring the Punter” in a summer manual for the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA). He has also served as a member of the Summer Manual Committee as well as on the Rules Committee for the AFCA and will be serving his third year on the AFCA Division II Top 25 Poll Committee.