Staff Directory
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
Dale Layer enters his first season at Liberty University and his fourth overall coaching with Ritchie McKay.
Layer has spent the past nine seasons at Colorado State, seven as a head coach where he took over for McKay after the 1999-2000 season. While with the Rams, Layer had a 103-106 record, including a 17-13 mark this season. In 2003, Layer led Colorado State to the Mountain West Conference Championship and its first NCAA Tournament bid in 13 years where they fell to Duke in the first round.
“I am elated that we were able to get someone with Coach Layer’s knowledge and experience,” said McKay. “He has been a very successful coach at all levels and his impact on our program will be significant. We have worked together, competed against each other and have had a great friendship over the years. I admire Coach Layer and am excited what he will bring to Liberty University.”
Layer has a career 270-193 record as a head coach, including nine seasons at the helm of Queens University (formally Queens College) in Charlotte, N.C., a place that McKay served under him as an a assistant during Layer’s first year.
After graduating from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Fla., in 1980, Layer started his coaching career as an assistant under Jim Harley, his former coach. Before moving on to Queens University, Layer spent seven of the next eight years at Eckerd College except for the 1982-83 season where he was an assistant at Eastern Kentucky.
Layer made the jump to Division I in 1998 when McKay took the head coaching job at Colorado State and named him to his staff. During McKay’s two seasons with the Rams, Layer helped lead Colorado State to the NIT Tournament in 1999 where they beat Mississippi State and Colorado before falling to eventual champion, California.
“I have great respect for Ritchie McKay,” said Layer. “This will be the third time we get to coach together and it is exciting to work with such a terrific coach and a great friend. It is an honor to be a part of what is going on at Liberty University.”
