Bates College Director of Athletics Jason Fein today announced the appointment of University of Pennsylvania assistant coach Malik Hall as the 20th head football coach in the program's 124-year history.

Hall has served as defensive line coach at Penn since 2015, helping the Quakers win back-to-back Ivy League championships in 2015 and 2016. Prior to Penn, he held assistant coaching assignments at Wagner College, Fordham, Hofstra, Central Connecticut State, and his alma mater, the University of Massachusetts. 

"We are delighted to welcome Malik Hall to the Bobcat family," said Fein. "Once we interviewed him, it was crystal clear that Coach Hall has both the experience and vision to take Bates football to the next level. We're excited to see what happens on the field."

"It's my great honor to accept the head coaching position at Bates," said Hall. "I am very much looking forward to building upon Bates' traditions of academic excellence and relentlessness on the field. The Hall family can't wait to join the Bates family."

Hall succeeds Mark Harriman, who stepped down in April after 20 seasons as head coach. Under Harriman, Bates captured seven Colby-Bates-Bowdoin titles, including the past four straight.

Highly regarded as a coach, recruiter, and community-focused leader, Hall has achieved success at every stop in his career:

• At Penn, Hall developed four All-Ivy players, including the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year, and helped coach the Quakers defense to the top of the league in both sacks and turnovers created.
• With Hall as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Wagner from 2012 to 2014 as well as 2010, the Seahawks defense led the Northeast Conference in total defense, scoring defense and pass defense in 2012. In 2014, the Seahawks ranked second in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) in rushing defense and sixth in total defense while forcing the most turnovers in the NEC and allowing the fewest first downs in the FCS.
• As defensive line coach at UMass in 2011, the Minutemen ranked fourth in the Colonial Athletic Association with 24 sacks.
• Hall was defensive line coach and special teams coordinator at Fordham in 2009, coaching four players to All-Patriot League honors.
• As defensive line coach at Hofstra from 2006 to 2008, Hall coached numerous players to All-CAA honors, with three players earning places on NFL teams. He also served as the team's NFL liaison.
• Hall coached the defensive line and special teams at Central Connecticut State from 2004 to 2005, with several players earning All-Northeast Conference honors.

A native of Detroit, Mich., who earned a bachelor's degree in sociology and education from UMass in 2003, Hall played two seasons under head coach Mark Whipple, helping the team advance to the Atlantic 10 Championship game in 2003 while totaling 46 tackles and two sacks. 

Creating a sense of family and community among players is a consistent hallmark of Hall's approach to coaching. At Fordham, his mantra that "New York City is our backyard, and the Bronx is our campus," aided recruitment of out-of-state players and helped prospective students' families feel that the team was an extension of their own families. At Wagner, a Division I school of 2,200 students in Staten Island, N.Y., Hall helped create an initiative to help student-athletes stay involved with the local community and enhance their leadership experiences during the summer.

Hall and his wife Ayesha are parents of three children, Malik, Kayah and Asah.