Dale Layer
Dale Layer (born May 16, 1958)
Current position: Special assistant to the head coach
Current team: Texas A&M Aggies (Head coach: Buzz Williams)
Current conference: Southeastern Conference (SEC)
Teams coached: Queens (NC) Royals, Colorado State Rams, Liberty Flames
Queens (NC) record^: 168-88 (.656)
Colorado State record: 103-106 (.493)
Liberty record: 82-113 (.421)
Overall record^: 353-307 (.535)
Career Accomplishments:
- NCAA National Championships: 0
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: 2 (2003, 2013)
- NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen: 0
- NIT Championships: 0
- NIT Appearances: 0
- Big South Tournament Champion: 1 (2013)
- Mountain West Tournament Champion: 1 (2003)
- Carolinas (Div II) Regular Season Champion: 1 (1998)
- Carolinas (Div II) Tournament Champion: 2 (1996, 1998)
- NCAA Division II Tournament Appearances: 2 (1996, 1998)
Awards:
- Big South Coach of the Year: 1 (2011)
Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):
| 2019-present | Texas A&M (special asst) |
| 2018-2019 | Virginia Tech (special asst) |
| 2017-2018 | Mercer (asst) |
| 2016-2017 | Greensboro Swarm (asst) |
| 2009-2015 | Liberty |
| 2008-2009 | Marquette (asst) |
| 2007-2008 | Liberty (asst) |
| 2000-2007 | Colorado State |
| 1998-2000 | Colorado State (asst) |
| 1989-1998 | Queens (NC) |
| 1983-1989 | Eckerd (asst) |
| 1982-1983 | Eastern Kentucky (asst) |
| 1980-1982 | Eckerd (asst) |
Dale Layer Facts
- Dale Layer
- Born May 16, 1958
- Hometown: Gainesville, Florida
- Alma Mater: Eckerd College (BA, 1980) / Eastern Kentucky University (MA, 1983)
- Played for Jim Harley at D-II Eckerd (St. Petersburg, FL) then started his coaching career as an assistant there in 1980
- Spent eight years as an assistant under Harley at Eckerd over two stints; one year in between was spent on Max Good‘s staff at D-I Eastern Kentucky
- Hired in 1989 to be the first head coach at D-II Queens University in Charlotte, NC
- Went 168-88 in nine seasons, reaching the D-II NCAA Tournament twice (in 1996 and 1998)
- Hired in 1998 to be one of Ritchie McKay‘s assistants at Colorado State
- Elevated to head coach in 2000 when McKay left for the Oregon State job
- Led the Rams for seven seasons, going 103-106 and finishing above .500 four times
- Won the 2003 MWC Tournament as the 6-seed to earn a surprise NCAA bid
- Fired after the 2006-07 season with a total MWC record of just 31-67
- Reunited with McKay for the 2007-08 season, serving as one of his assistants at Liberty
- Hired by Buzz Williams, one of his own former assistants, in 2008 to be an assistant at Marquette, but returned to Liberty a year later
- Went 82-113 in six seasons as Liberty head coach, leading the Flames to the postseason just once
- Earned another surprise NCAA bid in 2013 after winning the Big South Tournament as a 5-seed
- Let go in 2015 following a 8-24 (2-16) campaign, his fourth-straight sub-.500 season
- Took a year off then worked as an assistant under Noel Gillespie with a NBA D-League expansion team, the Greensboro Swarm
- Spent one season on Bob Hoffman‘s staff at Mercer then was re-hired by Buzz Williams to be a special assistant at Virginia Tech
- Followed Williams to Texas A&M in 2019, assuming the same role for the Aggies program
Dale Layer Coaching Tree
- Blake Flickner (Dallas Baptist)
- Bart Lundy (Milwaukee, Queens NC, High Point)
- Ritchie McKay (Liberty, New Mexico, Oregon State, Colorado State, Portland State)
- Owen Miller (Mississippi Gulf Coast)
- Brett Nelson (Holy Cross)
- Bill Peterson (Erie BayHawks)
- Buzz Williams (Texas A&M, Virginia Tech, Marquette, New Orleans)
^ overall record includes head coaching positions at both the NCAA Division I and Division II levels
