Personal: There is little question that Winston-Salem State University head football coach Kermit Blount has established himself as one of the premiere collegiate coaches not only in Division I-Championship Subdivision play, but in all of college football.

Blount, who is entering his 16th season as the head coach of the WSSU football program is a proven winner. His teams utilize hard work, attention to detail, and game preparation as their tools for success. One needs to look no further than the Rams' back-to-back conference championships in 1999 and 2000 to realize that this formula is one that produces results.

With 87 career head coaching victories, Blount is on the precipice of history as he heads into the 2008 season poised to become the Rams' all-time leader in career wins. Coach Blount needs only three wins to move past the legendary Bill Hayes as he prepares to rewrite the coaching record book at Winston-Salem State University. Coach Blount has long been associated with football programs that have experienced phenomenal success and he has been a key ingredient in building the success of those programs over the 25 seasons on the bench during his coaching tenure. In all he has been in a leadership role with teams that have won a total of six conference titles at both the NCAA Division I and Division II levels.

Blount began his coaching career in his home state of Virginia at Armstrong Kennedy High School in Richmond as a quarterbacks coach and assistant offensive coordinator. Following two seasons at the high school level Blount moved on to the collegiate ranks in 1983.

In 1983 he became a graduate assistant and assistant quarterbacks coach at East Carolina University where he would begin his collegiate coaching career. Following his stint with the Pirates, Blount moved on to Washington, D.C. and Howard University where he assumed the responsibilities of offensive coordinator from 1984-89 under Bison head coach Willie Jeffries.

Soon after his arrival in the nation's capital, Coach Blount's presence was felt as he directed a potent Bison offense to the 1987 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Championship. Following his time in the District of Columbia he spent four more years as part of Jeffries' staff at South Carolina State University (MEAC) in Orangeburg, South Carolina before returning to his alma mater, Winston-Salem State University, as the head football coach in 1993.

A man accustomed to success, one who has experienced only four losing seasons in his 16 years as a head football coach at the collegiate level, has been the driving force in preparing the Rams for play at the Division I level. Blount's eye for talent has shone brightly over his career as he and his coaching staffs have been responsible for recruiting and coaching student-athletes that have earned a total of 106 All-Conference selections. As well Blount has coached a pair of conference player of the year recipients, one All-America selection and a two-time Academic All-America honoree.

Since his return to Winston-Salem, Blount has amassed a fifteen-season mark of 87-69-3 (.547), including three CIAA Championship appearances, a pair of CIAA titles, and two Pioneer Bowl appearances. In addition, he was honored as the 1999 and 2000 CIAA Coach of the Year, the 1999 and 2000 D.C. Pigskin Coach of the Year and was honored as the 2000 100% Wrong Club Coach of the Year during a two-year span in which he led Winston-Salem State University to back-to-back conference titles. Off the field, Blount has helped to establish a strong academic foundation and has been instrumental in instituting a policy of personal responsibility and accountability within his program.

His priority on academics has resulted in more than 20 percent of Winston-Salem State University football scholarship student-athletes earning above a 3.0 GPA during the 2007-08 academic year and 22 football players have been named to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Commissioner's All-Academic team over the span of the last two seasons.

The Rams' football team GPA is the highest ever since the data has been tracked by the WSSU Office of Athletic-Academic Support and Blount and his coaching staff have graduated 79 percent of football student-athletes over the most recent five-year reporting period.

Blount has been a key component in the Rams' transition to the NCAA Division I level as he has lent his expertise and knowledge to the transition process since WSSU conducted the initial feasibility study in the 2002-03 academic year.

He has spent countless hours speaking to alumni groups, making appearances at university functions and is a tireless promoter of Winston-Salem State University and the WSSU Department of Athletics.

A community ambassador, Blount's student-athletes and coaching staff donated over 150 hours to the community in 2007-08 as WSSU football student-athletes gave back to the area by reaching thousands of local children through participation in various outreach programs and their association with the CHAMPS/Life Skills initiative. On the field Blount's 2007 football team earned the first winning season in WSSU's brief Division I history and the Rams earned historic victories over national powers Hampton and Florida A&M. The win over the Rattlers was capped by a Circle City Classic Championship, the first in program history.

Under the guidance of Coach Blount the Rams have posted back-to-back victories over rival North Carolina A&T for the first time since the 1998-99 seasons and Blount has earned victories over rival North Carolina Central seven times in the last 10 meetings between the two HBCU football powers.

Coach Blount is a member of several professional organizations, including but not limited to: The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Football Coaches Association, and the Black College Football Coaches Association.

Blount has developed and shaped the careers of hundreds of Winston-Salem State University student-athletes and has seen six former Rams move on to the professional ranks in the National Football League.

Under the direction of Coach Blount, dominating defensive end William Hayes was selected in the fourth round, 103rd overall, in the 2008 National Football League draft by the Tennessee Titans. The selection marked the first NFL draft choice selected from WSSU since Richard Huntley was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the third round of the 1996 NFL draft following Blount's third season as the Rams' head coach.

Not only has Blount helped to shape the futures of former student-athletes at WSSU, he has also helped to guide the careers of countless assistant coaches and coordinators who have been fortunate enough to work under the tutelage of the award-winning head coach.

A talent developer both on the field and off, Blount has seen four of his former assistant coaches move on to successful head coaching careers at the collegiate level.

A 1980 alumnus of Winston-Salem State University, Blount enjoyed a long and fruitful playing career as a Ram. As a four-year starter at quarterback at WSSU, Blount guided the Rams to back-to-back CIAA titles in 1977 and 1978 earning all-conference and All-America honors along the way. The 1978 All-American sat atop the WSSU record books for more than 25 years before his 3,330 career passing yards were surpassed by quarterback protégé Joshua McGee in 2004.

Coach Blount is married to the former Ava Harris of Richmond, Virginia and they are the proud parents of a daughter April, and a son Bryan. Blount and his wife of 22 years reside in Winston-Salem.