Chatting With Villa Maria Head Coach Keith Wing

Collegiate Flag Football recently sat down with Keith Wing, the head coach of Villa Maria's women's flag football team. Villa Maria is a member of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) and is located in Buffalo, New York. They announced the addition of flag football in July 2023 and began competing in the 2023-24 academic year as the first collegiate team in Western New York.

Coach Wing talks extensively about the program's history, how the Buffalo Bills have been an important supporter, some of the struggles the program had in its early days to find opponents, and much more. Thank you to head coach Keith Wing for taking the time to discuss Villa Maria's flag football program with Collegiate Flag Football!

Talk a little bit about Villa Maria's decision to add flag football back in 2023.

KW: "I give Brian Emerson, the Vice President of Villa Maria College, a tremendous amount of credit for making this happen three years ago. We were the first in New York State and he was putting his neck out there. He's got a lot of leadership skills and he wasn't afraid to lead on that day. He was like, "Nope, we're going to do this. We're going to start flag football and we're going to be the first ones in the state." That's something we're really proud of that we did."

How have the Buffalo Bills helped the Villa Maria program and flag football in the surrounding area?

KW: "I cannot thank the Buffalo Bills enough. We work directly with a gentleman in the youth program named Preston Teague [Senior Director of Youth Football and Programs]. He has been absolutely instrumental. I give him most of the credit for getting flag football started in high schools around New York State and at the college level. Two weeks don't go by that I don't hear from Preston, "How can we help?" or "What do you need?" He's been the best and the Buffalo Bills have been a great partner."

I saw the photos of the Buffalo Bills' WAGS game. What was that experience like?

KW: "That was really fun! They [Jim Nantz and CBS] highlighted that during the Chiefs-Bills game. I'm from here [Buffalo], I'm a huge Bills fan, but to go on that turf with the players, with their wives, and coach them, it's kind of like a dream come true. It's really surreal and never gets old. I've gotten to go on that field probably a dozen times and every single time I get goosebumps.

The Buffalo Bills' wives and girlfriends game is organized by Haley Bean, who is the wife of General Manager Brandon Bean, and Jamie McDermott, Sean McDermott's wife. They broke the group into 2 teams. I was coaching the Blue Team and D'Youville head coach Jeff Weiss was coaching the Red Team. I was coaching with Ed Oliver, DaQuan Jones, Joey Bosa, and A.J. Epenesa. First of all, these are amazing guys. A.J. Epenesa and Joey Bosa might be my favorite two guys on the planet. They're the nicest, most genuinely cool guys.

I brought my college girls to the game and the players came over to say hi to them. It was a great experience. The women are kind, they were doing this for charity, they had so much fun, they wanted to learn, they wanted to be coached, and they enjoyed it. They had a lot of great cerebral questions pertaining to the strategy. They were just brilliant women who were very athletic and it was a ton of fun. I'm hoping it becomes something we do every year. One of the players asked me if I would coach them next year, and I said, "Yes, if they'll have me back!"

Any additional events coming up for Villa Maria's flag football program?

KW: "Yes! On Saturday, February 14, we're bringing in Izzy Geraci for a flag football camp. It's going to be a high-quality camp and it's not every day you get a Team USA player in any sport to come to your campus. Izzy might be the best wide receiver in the world and we'll have her there with a lot of coaches from around the area to work with kids.

I would encourage all high school kids to take a look at this camp. Representatives from a few different colleges will be here; it's a chance for kids to really enhance their skills, and they'll get to talk to a Team USA player."

Editor's Note: Those interested in attending the 2026 Camp and Showcase can register here. The camp will take place at the Villa Maria College Athletic Center in Buffalo, New York, from 12 PM to 2:30 PM on Saturday, February 14, 2026.

You are the Vice President of the NCFFL. How did the NCFFL start?

KW: "The NCFFL (National Collegiate Flag Football League) really came from a combination of myself and Frank Jennaco, who is the head coach at College of Staten Island and President of the NCFFL. We formed this partnership as 2 coaches, with new programs, and looking for a way to have a place for teams to play. In our first year, we just really brainstormed, "What is a way we can bring teams to common sites and give them a league?" Teams like mine have a lot of other leagues to play in for other sports, but don't have one for flag football.

I kind of joke, it's a little bit of the "I want the misfit toys" in a joking way. We have NAIA schools, NCAA Division 1, 2, and 3 schools, NJCAA schools, and we're a USCAA school. We pretty much have everything. These are all teams that are looking to compete, looking to build rivalries, and looking for a place to compete for a championship. The NCFFL was a way to make that happen.

We fully understand that some schools may be in the NCFFL for 10 years, and as some schools come along, their conferences may bring flag football on board. Teams may come and go, and that's fine. Right now, we have a really robust league, with around 14 or 15 teams. We're really excited about the direction it's going. I'm actually surprised at how big it's gotten so fast."

I know the NCFFL is looking to expand further with current plans for as many as 8 events. Would this expansion include parts outside the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic?

KW: "Yes, he [Frank Jennaco] has some really good ideas about how to expand. We had 2 events in our first year; this year, we have 3, and we have a lot of teams willing to host. The NCFFL has 3 tiers of membership. The first tier is a full member, meaning you can have league all-stars and compete for the championships. Then we have affiliate memberships in tiers two and three, where you may be participating in one or two of the events. There are different ways we tried to create, so it's more welcoming to more teams and to bring in more competition.

We currently have teams as far west as Michigan and as far south as Virginia. We also had Campbellsville play in our fall league and they're from Kentucky. We're willing to welcome anybody who wants to come in. We're not an exclusive league. Whoever wants to be a member of our league and participate, we're happy to have that competition."

Editor's Note: The NCFFL announced some of its plans for the 2026-27 academic year after the interview with Coach Wing. For fall 2026, the aim is to have 2 East Coast and 1 West Coast tournaments. For spring 2027, the NCFFL is hoping to have 4 regionals in the Central and Eastern US, 2 in the Midwest and West Coast, and the National Championship. Those interested should email admin@nc-ffl[dot]com for additional information.

What challenges have you faced at Villa Maria as a member of the USCAA, which doesn't have a big flag football scene?

KW: "For the USCAA, I think there's only a handful of schools that have flag football. A couple of years ago, it was just Villa Maria and Atlantis down in Florida. We actually played them and ended up beating them in what was our first win of last season [spring 2025].

Three years ago, when I was hired, there was almost nobody to play. It's really hard to lead, right? Villa Maria was like, "Let's do this. Let's lead." It seemed like everybody was waiting for somebody else to get a team and we were the first team in New York State. We played a handful of Canadian colleges. Luckily, we're right on the border here. We had to play Brock University, Sheridan College, and Laurentian University.

But now, we have a really robust schedule for 2026. We play teams in the Empire 8, such as Hartwick and Geneseo. We also play D'Youville, which is probably five miles from our campus right here in Buffalo. We're playing Mercyhurst, Roberts Wesleyan, Harford Community College, Post University, and some of those teams we play more than once. We also have our 3 NCFFL tournaments, which will give us at least 11 or 12 games. We should be at around 24 to 28 games in the spring when it's all said and done."

Are there any plans for Villa Maria's flag football program to compete outside the NCFFL?

KW: "We are currently USCAA, and we're happy being in the USCAA. There are a handful of schools that are in some leagues we play in for other sports. There are Bryant & Stratton of Albany and Five Towns that we compete against in other sports. I'm hopeful that in the next few years that we're able to compete with them in flag football in the same league.

If that happens, that's great. If not, we'll continue to compete in the NCFFL. I really like the NCFFL, the level of competition, and it's fun. It's not every day when you're Villa Maria that you get to play a Division I NCAA school or a Division II school. We're a school with 700 kids and doing things like that is unique for us. Last year, we went down to St. Thomas [in Florida] and we got to match up against them. Even though they took it to us pretty good, it was an amazing experience.

I like the direction Villa is going. Villa has really positive, growth-minded leadership, which I like. They're giving me a lot of freedom to expand the program and make it as strong as it can be. I can bring in great student-athletes of high character into the program. It's been fun."

You mentioned the Buffalo Bills and Villa Maria's leadership as factors in flag football's success. What else has helped the program, particularly in recruiting?

KW: "The fact that New York State is in its fourth or fifth year with flag football. There are a lot more kids who have played at the high school level and a lot more kids with an interest in playing college flag football. The pool of prospects has grown.

We try to keep a roster of somewhere between 20 and 30 kids. I think that's a good number to practice and play with. It's not just athletes. We're just seeing really high-quality kids that have great GPAs and are of the utmost character. Those are the kinds of kids we're really interested in.

We have a couple recruits we're working on right now from Maryland, some from Ontario, we have 3 players from Ontario, Canada, and we're looking at a couple players from Saskatchewan. There are great players available out there who want to commit themselves to getting better and being great members of their community.

There are certainly more teams vying for the same group of kids. I will say this, we have a nice camaraderie of couches in the Western New York area. For example, Geneseo head coach Rob Currin is a really dear friend of mine. I've had recruits that have come my way and are interested in Villa, but we don't have the academic majors that fit their needs, so I sent them towards Rob, and he's done the same thing for me.

We're great when everybody is great. We want really great competition. I want the teams around us to be strong. That's good for us and it's good for flag football as a whole. We're all competing against each other, but at the same time, we're all rooting for each other. I want Geneso to have success. I want D'Youville to have success. I want Mercyhurst to have success.

It's a nice camaraderie we have. We really do look out for each other. We'll call each other and say, "Hey, how's it going? I saw you recruiting this kid. She's a fantastic kid." I recently told a coach who was recruiting a kid from my area and said, "She's a great kid. I know you are going to like her." That's kind of how we roll and how we look out for each other."

Do you have any additional tips for recruits who would like to play at the college level?

KW: "There are some recruiting websites that coaches use to find players. If a recruit is interested, they can reach out directly to a coach. The information I want to know as a coach is:

• Which position do you play?
• What is your GPA?
• Which academic programs are you interested in?
• Can you share game film?
• Provide a little information about yourself

The recruits need to do a little homework and research the majors. They need to target themselves. "I'm interested in majoring in criminal justice and you have a criminal justice program." It lets me know I'm not going to waste my time, that you've already done some homework, and you're interested in what we have to offer.

Reach out to the coach and put yourself out there. In recruiting, sometimes it's a little bit of luck and a little bit of hard work. We had a kid reach out at one point for a position where we really had a need and she was very specific. "Here's the positions I play, here's my GPA, and here's my film." I took three minutes to watch the film and then I sent her an email to talk further.

We also offer combines through the NCFFL at our events for athletes. A lot of coaches will be there in one spot and that's another way to get noticed. Villa Maria will have a camp too with Izzy Geraci. These events can allow you to get into a close setting with a coach and get to know each other. There are a lot of good players out there, but I need a good player. I need a good player who's a good person. I like to see how they interact with other teammates. Are they cheering for the other kids during the drills? Are they helping somebody up if they slip and fall? How they interact with others is a big deal."

Considering Villa Maria's decision to lead the flag football efforts in New York, what advice would you give coaches or administrators in other sparsely populated areas of the US about adding flag football?

KW: "Don't be afraid to lead because if you build it, they will come. That's what we did here and once there was somebody else to play, other schools jumped on board. In the Buffalo/Rochester/Western New York region, I think there are now five or six teams, but when we started, it was only Villa Maria.

Even if they're in a sparsely populated area, everyone's got another college somewhere close. This is an inexpensive, high-interest sport. Sometimes you just have to put yourself out there. The first year, you might have to travel 12 hours away to get a game, but eventually it won't be like that. If that's something they struggle with, I would also recommend working with another college, or maybe two local colleges start at the same time, so they have at least each other to play."

Have you faced any bottlenecks trying to get referees for any of Villa Maria's games?

KW: "We have not. We have traditionally used the high school referees in this area and, at times, we have used NFL Flag certified referees. We share the rules with them and they just become acclimated to our rules. We're really lucky that there's a strong group of sections in New York. Section 6 is the sports section here in Buffalo for high school and we have a strong group of officials.

Just across the Canadian border, there's a really strong group of NFL Flag certified referees that are also terrific. They actually often get poached to do a lot of Northeast events in Pennsylvania, New York City, etc. I've talked to coaches in other areas that have run into refereeing issues, but I'm lucky that hasn't been one of my obstacles."

Have you seen any differences in the rules used across the country during your first few seasons?

KW: "I know they are in process and trying to get the rules standardized, but we've had unique circumstances with certain rules and how they were written that officials were unsure of. Oftentimes, the two coaches would have a conversation with the officials about how we would like a rule enforced. We took our team to Miami last year and the rules were a little bit different than when we played a team in Michigan.

You kind of have to work it out with the officials, things like punting and other scenarios. We're all kind of going through this. In two or three years, this won't be new to anybody. It will become very established, but it takes time to get the rules standardized."