MEADVILLE, Pa. – Allegheny College head football coach B.J. Hammer has announced the hiring of A.J. Akinribade as the Gators' linebackers coach.
 
A native of Indianapolis, Indiana, Akinribade arrives in Meadville after a star-studded four-year playing career at Wabash College. He was a four-year starter and four-time All-North Coast Athletic Conference honoree at linebacker for the Little Giants, amassing a total of 272 tackles, 46.5 tackles for loss, and 16.5 quarterback sacks.
 
As a freshman in 2011, Akinribade became the first Little Giant player to be named the NCAC's Newcomer of the Year, after finishing second in the conference in tackles for loss (14.5), and tying for the team lead with six quarterback sacks.  A season later, he posted 83 stops and 10 TFLs, and earned the distinction of being the lone active player named to the NCAC's 30^th Anniversary All-Decade Team, which honored the conference's top players between the years 2003-12.
 
In his junior season, Akinribade made 47 tackles and five sacks, before closing his career with 77 tackles, 13.0 TFLs, and 4.5 as a senior in 2014. 

In addition to his individual success, Akinribade helped the Little Giants post a record of 39-6 during his four-year career, as they won the NCAC championship in 2011, and made a pair of trips to the NCAA Division-III playoffs.
 
Akinribade graduated from Wabash with a B.A. in theatre and minor in economics. He performed in multiple Wabash College theatre productions throughout his four-year tenure, including his role as the lead in Charles Fuller's A Soldier's Play.  He also was a member of Wabash's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, and volunteered for the NFL's Play 60 campaign in Crawfordsville, Indiana, aimed at encouraging elementary students to maintain an active lifestyle.