Paul Winters completed his fifth season as Wayne State's head coach in November 2008 and was subsequently voted GLIAC Coach of the Year for the second time in three seasons. He was the 2006 GLIAC Coach of the Year in only his third season with the Warriors.

His 2008 squad tied the school record for wins in a season (8), broke the school mark for conference wins in a year (7), ranked first nationally in kickoff return average, and became the first team in school history to be ranked in the AFCA poll. All this with a true freshman quarterback starting the final eight games.

He was one of 28 coaches nationally selected to participate in the 2008 NCAA Expert Coaches Academy.

After helping the Warriors improve five places in the GLIAC standings from 2004 to 2005, WSU improved another four places in 2006 and recorded the first winning season in more than a decade.

Winters became the first WSU football coach to earn GLIAC Coach of the Year honors since Dick Lowry in 1975 following a successful 2006 campaign in which the Warriors ranked 10th nationally in kickoff returns, 13th in rushing offense and punt return defense, and 29th in fewest passes intercepted. WSU was also ranked regionally until the final poll.

In his five years at WSU, Winters has coached 74 Academic All-GLIAC selections, nine Academic All-District honorees (Dan Barnes, Andrew Bates, Frank Lietke and Ryan Oshnock twice each plus Jake Weingartz), 12 All-Region selections and 49 All-GLIAC award winners. In addition, three student-athletes (Joique Bell, David Chudzinski and Derrion Fuqua) were named All-Americans following the 2006 campaign with Bell earning All-America accolades again in 2007. Dante Dunn earned All-America accolades from both D2football.com and Hansen's Football Gazette following the 2008 season.

In 2006 Bell eclipsed the NCAA Division II freshman rushing record by gaining 2,065 yards. Bell became the first WSU player named to the AFCA All-America squad since the AFCA began selecting All-America teams in 1945. Bell and Chudzinski were also named to the AP Little, D2Football.com and Daktronics All-America squads and were joined by Derrion Fuqua on the Hansen's Gazette All-America team.

Winters was hired as the school's 19th football coach by WSU Director of Athletics Rob Fournier on December 17, 2003, after serving on the staff at the University of Akron the previous nine years.

"Paul has all the qualities we had identified as necessary for our head football coach," stated Fournier. "He has a proven record of success in working with student-athletes both on and off the playing field."

Prior to his appointment at WSU, Winters was listed as one of the top 10 African-American head coaching candidates in the nation by the Black Coaches Association.

While at UA, he led his offense to a prolific season in 2003, ranking 11th in the NCAA in scoring offense (36.2 ppg). UA's passing offense (311.3 yards per game) was ranked seventh nationally, while total offense (470.2 ypg) finished ninth in the country. Akron was tied-for-second in the Mid-American Conference in rushing touchdowns (28) and third in third-down conversions at 46%.

After the 2000 season, and for the second time since he joined forces with former UA head coach Lee Owens, Winters was nominated for the Broyles Award, a national honor recognizing the nation's top Division I-A assistant coach. In addition, he was chosen Assistant Coach of the Year by the Northeastern Ohio Chapter of the National Football Foundation from among 13 universities and colleges in the region.

Before returning to Akron following the 1994 campaign, Winters was an assistant football coach at the University of Wisconsin for two seasons (1990-91). Prior to UW, he was on the coaching staff at the University of Toledo for four seasons (1986-89).

In his previous stint on the Akron coaching staff, Winters served on Jim Dennison's staff as offensive backfield coach for two seasons after being a graduate assistant for the `82 and `83 campaigns.

Winters, 50, was inducted into the UA Athletic Hall of Fame on Feb. 2, 1990. He earned a bachelor of science degree in industrial management in `80 and a M.S. degree in education in 1984.

The seventh all-time leading rusher in school history, he rushed for 2,613 yards during his Zips career and was named 1980 UA Athlete of the Year. Winters was a three-time letterman and a three-time recipient of the Harry "Doc" Smith Award as the outstanding player in his class. In `79, Winters was selected as the Zips' offensive MVP. He was a prep star at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary.

Winters has four children, Christian, Monica, Melanie and Natalie.

Winter's Coaching Record

	Overall	Overall	GLIAC	GLIAC	Conference
Year	Wins	Losses	Wins	Losses	Finish
2004	1	9	1	9	13th
2005	3	7	3	7	T-8th
2006	6	5	6	4	T-4th
2007	3	8	2	8	12th
2008	8	3	7	3	T-3rd

WINTERS' BACKGROUND

School	Position	Years
Wayne State University	Head Coach	2004-present
University of Akron	Running Backs/Offensive Coordinator	1994-2003
University of Wisconsin	Compliance Coordinator	1992-1994
University of Wisconsin	Tight Ends Coach	1991
University of Wisconsin	Running Backs Coach	1990
University of Toledo	Offensive Backs Coach	1986-1989
University of Akron	Backfield Coach	1984-1985
University of Akron	Graduate Assistant	1982-1983
University of Akron	Running Back	1976-1979