Ashley Cornwell Joins Bucknell Football Staff as Defensive Assistant Coach
3/28/2024 10:40:00 AM | Football
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Head coach Dave Cecchini and the Bucknell football team announced that Ashley Cornwell has joined the staff as a defensive assistant coach. Cornwell, who most recently worked as an offensive line coach with the NFL’s International Player Pathway program, has experience at the high school, collegiate and professional levels. She will work primarily as a quality control and defensive backs coach. Cornwell becomes the first-ever female member of the Bucknell football coaching staff.
“Coach Cornwell is an outstanding addition to our coaching staff,” said Cecchini. “She brings with her a wealth of experience gained both at the NFL and NCAA levels, and I am excited to see the impact she will have on our program."
Cornwell had two separate stints with the NFL’s IPP program and remains closely involved. The program provides elite athletes from around the world the opportunity to earn a roster spot with one of the league’s 32 teams in an effort to increase the number of international players in the NFL. Working with athletes with varied playing experience, ranging from some college, to European professional experience, to no football experience at all, Cornwell and the other coaches spent several months with a select few to prepare them for the draft or free agency.
Beginning in 2024, each NFL club will be eligible to fill a 17th roster spot on its practice squad, reserved for an international player. Two of the offensive linemen Cornwell worked with in 2023 were allocated to NFL rosters: Chukwuebuka Jason Godrick of the Kansas City Chiefs and Roy Mbaeteka of the Chicago Bears.
Cornwell has also spent time as an offensive line intern with both the Tennessee Titans and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and earlier in March the Buccaneers announced that Cornwell was among 25 finalists selected from a global search to participate in the team’s inaugural National Coaching Academy class this spring. The class provides an intensive, comprehensive curriculum and an opportunity to participate in the team’s 2024 rookie minicamp.
Cornwell spent the 2023 season as an offensive line coach at Oberlin College. She also had a role in special teams with the Yeomen, coordinating punt team and PAT/field goal protection.
Cornwell received her first collegiate coaching opportunity at her alma mater, Wisconsin, while achieving her bachelor’s degree in political science and international studies. She climbed the coaching ladder after beginning work in the video department, then assisting in recruiting, and eventually being offered a student assistant coaching role. From 2019 to 2023, Cornwell spent time helping on the defensive line, aiding in the development of the run game playbook and terminology, and having a hand in the daily operations of the offensive line and tight ends. Cornwell also collaborated in all phases of special teams.
Cornwell is a native of the Dells area in Wisconsin, where she grew up playing football among other sports. She spent time at wide receiver and defensive back before eventually settling in at kicker entering high school. She transitioned into coaching during high school, getting her start at the youth level and helping out at schools in the area.
Q&A with Ashley Cornwell
What do you love about the sport of football?
“It is one sport that I think you truly have to sacrifice for your teammates and for your coaches. I did basketball, softball, martial arts, volleyball, anything that I could do. Football was the sport where our bond was the tightest and that pushed you the most physically and mentally. I think it’s a sport where people can grow throughout it – people change a lot. I see that with players and coaches. Everyone is always on this journey of self-growth, while also growing with the team. I’m just really passionate about that. There are so many things that make you a better person in football. If you’re in it, or you’re around it, it does start rubbing off on you. It brings a lot of people together, which I’ve noticed in some of my other experiences too.”
How were you first introduced to football?
“I have a twin brother and I grew up in a small town, and girls just kind of played with boys. From soccer, to baseball, to whatever it was, the girls and the boys pretty much mixed together. The cool part is that I wasn’t the only girl that played football in my town, but I am the only one that turned it into a career.”
How did you get involved with the football team at Wisconsin?
“I had no connections. I’m a first-generation college student and didn’t know anyone there. I signed up for a bunch of basic athletics jobs, and I got an offer to help out with the football team in video. The video department was on the same floor as the recruiting department, so I was able to intermingle with people in recruiting. They have me a chance. The coaches would come down to the recruiting area and we started talking. I had several people from recruiting recommend they give me a shot at coaching, and I didn’t look back after that. I got lucky. Even for men, it’s very hard to get into it. It’s hard for anybody.”
What has your journey been like as one of the few women coaching in football?
“It just feels like a normal day for me, because this is something I’ve been around for a very long time. Being a part of it as a player and now being around it as a coach, I feel at home. Of course, I’ve had plenty of people tell me no because of it, but it’s never really slowed me down. I’m just so focused on my career, being a great coach and all that, that I don’t let it be anything too big. I just have to keep moving on because I don’t have the time. I’m not trying to be dismissive of it, because there are challenges for sure, but I believe if you give the problems in your life too much attention they can weigh you down. I’ve always had that mindset. When that door shuts, it's on to the next one.”
Are there other women in the profession that you look up to?
“Her name is Joan Catanese. She’s probably been one of the biggest influences for me, because she’s played and coached in this sport for decades. She’s been around for a very long time. She’s coaching high school football right now in Louisiana. She had an NFL internship with the Falcons, and I’d says she’s probably one of my biggest role models. She has that mindset too of ‘this ain’t the door.’ She’s just been so consistent in her life viewing herself as a football coach and not a female football coach, and that’s gotten her very far. She calls me when she’s coming back from practice or I’ll call her. She’s been huge and someone I look up to because of her consistency and her hard work.”
How were you introduced to Bucknell?
“[Defensive Coordinator] Chris Bowers has been someone who I networked with at one point. This year it came around where I was free and open to coaching, and Chris reached out. He and Coach Cecchini said they’d give me an opportunity to come here and help out. Even though my experience is mainly offensive line, it’s cool that Coach Bowers trusted me enough as a coach to be able to learn quick and to coach well. It’s been great. They’re giving me a lot of trust to do my thing, and I’m grateful for it.”
What about this opportunity at Bucknell excites you?
“Looking at the record from last year and seeing the kind of athletes that we have and the mentality and the culture we have here, I’m excited to contribute as much as I can and just to watch how we grow. I truly feel like we’re going to have a good season, or we’re going to definitely grow from last season. The mindset of the coaching staff is phenomenal to be around. Also, just to be back at the Division I level with higher-caliber football, and then just growing as a coach. That’s the biggest thing – being around a great football program and a great campus and getting to grow.”
