Colorado University Athletics

Prince, Ambrose Full-Time Additions To CU Football Staff

Prince, Ambrose Full-Time Additions To CU Football Staff
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BOULDER ? Robert Prince, who has spent the last six seasons as an assistant coach in the National Football League, has been named passing game coordinator and receivers coach at the University of Colorado, head coach Dan Hawkins announced Friday.

 

Hawkins also formally announced that defensive technical intern Ashley Ambrose, who he was grooming to be CU’s receivers coach for the 2010 season, will stay on the defensive side of the ball and will coach the secondary.  He replaces Greg Brown, who left for a co-coordinator’s position at Arizona, enabling Ambrose to coach the position he played for 13 seasons in the NFL. 

 

Prince, 44, will reunite with Hawkins, as he served in the same capacity for him at Boise State for the 2001-03 seasons.  He coached the receivers all three years and assumed the passing coordinator role for his last season there before moving on to the NFL.

 

Hawkins coached the receivers himself last year, just one of seven Division I (FBS) head coaches, and one of only two from BCS schools, to coach a position in 2009.

 

                Prince joins the Colorado staff from the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks, where he coached the wide receivers for the 2009 season under coach Jim Mora, Jr., who was unfortunately let go after just one season with his entire staff.  (The elder Mora was an assistant coach at Colorado between 1968-73 under the late Eddie Crowder.)  Previously, he spent two years as the assistant wide receivers coach with the Jacksonville Jaguars.  

 

                He first broke into the professional coaching ranks with the Atlanta Falcons, where he spent three seasons (2004-06), the first two as an offensive assistant and the last as assistant quarterbacks coach.  He earned his shot at the NFL after serving as a coaching intern through Bill Walsh’s NFL Minority Coaching Program with San Francisco (2000 and 2002) and San Diego (2001), a program that enabled aspiring coaching candidates to learn the workings of the NFL in the summer while still serving as an assistant in the collegiate ranks, where Prince spent 15 seasons before ascending to the pros.

 

                He got his start at his alma mater, Humboldt State, as a graduate assistant for the 1989-90 seasons.  He then moved on to Montana State (1991), Sacramento State (1992-93) and then to Fort Lewis (1994-95), his first stop in Colorado.  Prince’s next stop took him halfway around the world, as he coached with the Tokyo-based Recruit Seagulls of the Japanese American Football League (1996-97).  He returned to the states for three seasons at Portland State (1998-2000) before joining Hawkins at Boise State.

 

                He earned both his bachelor’s degree in Mathematics (1990) and his master’s in Physical Education (1992) from Humboldt State, where he lettered in football at receiver and was an all-conference performer in track.    Married and the father of three, he was born in Japan but claims San Bernardino as his hometown, where he moved with his family when he was seven.

 

“Robert Prince has great experience and will bring a positive energetic style that fits well with our staff,” Hawkins said.  “RP has a great understanding of the entire offensive structure and not only possesses tremendous technical experience at the receiver position, but also has coordinator type abilities and talents.  He is a great family man, and will be a great role model and mentor for our student athletes.”

 

                Prince and Ambrose coached together for the 2006 season in Atlanta.

 

                Ambrose just finished two seasons as Colorado’s defensive technical intern, a role he assumed in March 2008.  The 39-year old Ambrose brought a wealth of professional experience to the Buffalo staff after a long and distinguished career in pro football.  After being selected out of Mississippi Valley State by Indianapolis in the second round (29th pick overall) of the 1992 NFL draft, he went on to play 13 years in the league, four seasons with the Colts (1992-95), three with Cincinnati (1996-98), three with New Orleans (1999, 2003-04) and three with Atlanta (2000-02).  He earned All-Pro honors with the Bengals in 1996, when he was also the AFC Defensive Back of the Year.   During his career, he had 42 interceptions, returning three for touchdowns, and also had 178 pass deflections to go with 514 tackles (464 solo).

 

                After 192 games (which included 135 starts), he retired from professional football after the 2004 season, and started to enjoy his retirement.  But got right back into football a year later, spending the 2006 season an intern coach with the Atlanta Falcons. 

 

Ambrose earned his degree in industrial technology in 1992 from MVSU, where he lettered four years at cornerback.  He had 17 interceptions, 40 pass deflections and 110 tackles during his college career, when he also had seven kick returns for touchdowns (four punt, three kickoff).

 

He has long been active in community service, as he developed the “Ashley Ambrose All-A’s Club” that rewarded high school football players who excelled academically.  He participated in VH-1’s Save the Music program and in the NFL United Way Hometown Huddles Campaign among many things he did as a professional, which included donating hundreds of tickets to scholar-athletes.  He is the father of two.

 

                “I have been extremely impressed with Ashley since the time he became our defensive technical intern,” Hawkins said. “Ashley is an extremely intelligent and professional person who has a great rapport with our players.  His vast knowledge of the defensive back position and his ability to relate to others make him a great addition to our staff.”

 

                Both will make their “on-field” coaching debuts with the Buffaloes on March 6, the first day of spring football practice.  The drills conclude on April 10 with the annual spring game at Folsom Field.