Following high school, he attended Asbury College, in Wilmore, Kentucky, from which he graduated in 1978. The following year, he enrolled in a graduate program at East Tennessee State University and began his coaching career as a graduate assistant.
After completing high school, he went on to attend Asbury College in Kentucky, where he earned his degree in 1978. He then pursued a graduate program at East Tennessee State University, marking the beginning of his coaching career as a graduate assistant.