Joe Galat is president and founder of American Youth Football and Cheer. AYF is the nations largest youth football organization. Joe’s leadership began early. He served as Captain of the Harvey High School (Painesville, Ohio) and Miami University (Ohio) football and wrestling teams. At Miami University, he was elected president of the Varsity Letterman’s Club and was named Outstanding Student Athlete in his senior year. Playing honors included selections to the All-Ohio All-Star High School Team and All-Mid-American Conference at Miami University. His coaching experience has spanned all levels of the sport, including NFL (assistant coach of the New York Giants and Houston Oilers), Canadian Football League (head coach and general manager of the Montreal Allouetes and British Columbia Lions), and university (assistant coach at Miami University, Yale University, University of Kentucky, and Youngstown State University. Joe coached on six championship football teams and five championship wrestling teams; He coached over one hundred all conference players and three NFL Hall of Fame players.
After his coaching days, Joe was a national color commentator for CBC-TV Sports. Joe has participated in youth football clinics in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and throughout Europe and Russia. These experiences have given Joe the distinction of having held every position in organized football (player, coach, manager, broadcaster, and youth executive). Joe was inducted into the Miami University Hall of Fame which includes Miami legends Paul Brown, Weeb Ewbank, Ara Parsegian, and John Harbaugh to name only a few. Joe always attempted to improve his players safety which lead to his being appointed Vice President of Sales for Fieldturf Inc. From a modest start up company, with Joe’s help and connections, Fieldturf went on to become the leader in the sports surface industry. While Coaching at the University of Kentucky Joe was honored to receive the order of Kentucky Colonel. Joe served in the US Marine Corps Reserves. Joe authored several editions of Coaching Football and writes a monthly blog in the AYF Newsletter. Joe enjoys Kayaking, cycling, and traveling. He lives in Miami, Florida. He is married to Faye Galat and is the father of five children Greg, Tracy, Joey, Adam, and Jessica. Faye and Joe enjoy twelve grandchildren Nic, Gabrielle, Max, Mia, Abbey, Grace, Gabriel, Isabella, Aiden, Josh, Isla, and Zoe.