Former D-III coach returns at Alma
| Greg Pscodna has been a head coach in the MIAA previously, when Defiance was a member of the league in 1998 and 1999. |
Greg Pscodna has been named football coach at Alma. A former head coach at Defiance and an assistant coach on national championship teams at Albion and Division II Grand Valley State, Pscodna joins the Scots after seven years as athletic director at Michigan Center High School, including the past four as head football coach.
“We are terrifically excited about the breadth of experience and success that Greg Pscodna brings to Alma College,” says president Jeff Abernathy. “He is committed to developing young men of character even as he is committed to winning on the playing field.”
He takes over a team that was 2-8 this past season, the team's fewest wins since a 2-7 season in 1993.
Pscodna spent seven years at Defiance (1996-2002) and successfully rebuilt the football program as head coach. When he arrived at Defiance the dormant program had just 12 student-athletes on the squad. During his final 2002 campaign, the team had a roster of 95. In 2001, the team finished 8-3, won the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference and qualified for the NCAA Division III playoffs for the first time. Pscodna was twice (2000, 2001) named HCAC Coach of the Year.
“Greg is a person that has a great coaching resume and has had success at every stop,” says athletic director John Leister. “He is the right person to continue the tradition of Alma football and take our program to the next level.”
At Michigan Center, Pscodna led his 2010 team to a 9-0 record and a first conference championship in 21 years. In addition, his 2009 team earned a playoff berth for the first time in 19 years, and he was named AP Division 5-6 All State Football Coach.
During his time as athletic director, Michigan Center won 19 conference titles, four district championships, five regional championships, two state runner-up championships and two state championships.
“I am excited to be here at Alma College as football coach,” Pscodna said. “It is a great academic and athletic institution and I look forward to producing competitive student athletes with the goal of winning MIAA championships.”
Prior to Michigan Center, Pscodna was an assistant head coach/linebackers coach at Grand Valley State. During his time at Grand Valley, the school, under head coach Brian Kelly, won the 2003 NCAA Division II championship.
He spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Northern Michigan after six seasons at Albion (1990-1995). While with the MIAA Britons, Pscodna was defensive coordinator/secondary coach and was part of a staff that won the Division III national championship in 1994. His defensive squads were ranked in the top 20 nationally in five of his seasons at Albion, and the team won five MIAA titles during his tenure. He also was the football recruiting coordinator in his time at Albion.
His other coaching experience includes one year as defensive line coach for the Arena Football League’s Cleveland Thunderbolts (1992) and as a graduate assistant at Michigan State (1989-1990).
Pscodna is a 1986 graduate of Adrian and earned a master’s in physical education and exercise science at Michigan State in 1989.
