UTNIF Policy Debate Faculty

Brian McBride - knows what it's like to come from a small no-name high school and take down your opponents no matter what their income bracket. Brian debated at Westbury High School in Houston, Texas for a squad that was lucky to have five members competing at one time. In Brian's senior year in high school he amassed a win-loss record of 117 wins and 11 losses, winning twelve tournaments. Brian went on to debate for the University of Texas were he received a first round at large bid to the National Debate Tournament three years in a row, winning multiple tournaments and many top five speaker awards. After graduated from the University of Texas he went on to coach Northwestern to win THREE NDT titles, he brought a rag tag group of debaters from Redlands to the quarters of the NDT twice and now he coaches at the University of Southern California.

Ricky Garner began his debate career right here in Texas at South Garland High School before going on to compete for four years at New York University. Winning several collegiate tournaments along the way to qualifying for the NDT all four years, he and his partner advanced to the octofinals in 2003, the same year that they won the 2003 CEDA National Championship. Since then, he has helped coach the 2004 CEDA National Champions from Emory University, and the 2005 TOC Winners from The Westminster School. He has also coached teams from NYU and Columbia University, as well as for The Marist School and Stuyvesant High School. He is currently doing graduate work for his Ph.D. at the University at Buffalo.

Kirk Evans is the debate coach at St Stephen's in Austin, and an assistant coach at UT-Austin. Kirk debated at Caddo Magnet HS in Shreveport, LA and UT-Austin. Kirk was top speaker at CEDA Nationals in 2000, got a first round to the NDT in 2000 and 2001, and reached the semis of the NDT in 2000 with Jairus Grove.

Sean Tiffee has been involved in competitive debate since 1988 and knows how to win as the underdog. Debating for a small high school in Texas, Sean qualified for the TOC, was in quarters at TFA State, and won UIL State. Debating for a small program in college, Sean had multiple octafinals appearances at CEDA Nationals and multiple top 20 speaker awards at the National tournament. He was twice named to CEDA's All-American debate team and was the region's Critic of the Year in 2000. As a college coach at Southwest Texas, Sean helped teams reach outrounds at CEDA nationals and qualified teams to the NDT. As a high school coach at Hays, Sean coached multiple teams to outrounds at TFA and to NFL Nationals. He is currently an assistant coach at the University of Texas.

Tiara Naputi debated for Emporia State University for four years, making it to outrounds of many regional and national tournaments including the CEDA National Tournament. During her academic year abroad in Pamplona, Spain she debated for the Universidad de Navarra. She is currently the assistant coach at The University of Texas at Austin where she has coached for the past two years; she is also the assistant administrator for UT Bilingual Debate, a university grant project that promotes Spanish-English debate in Austin-area high schools. In the fall, she will begin graduate work for her Ph.D. in Communication Studies at UT-Austin. ¡Ella está emocionada para trabajar en UTNIF este verano!

Claire McKinney debated for the University of Texas for four years, where she was president of the team for three. She made it to outrounds of numerous regional and national tournaments. She currently is the assistant coach of the Kinkaid School, where she has coached multiple teams to the TOC and to winning tournaments such at Grapevine, St. Mark's, UC Berkeley, the Barkeley Forum, and the University of Texas. She is also the director of the Brooklyn Debate Resource Center, where she coaches debaters from the New York Urban Debate League. Next year, she will be attending graduate school at the University of Chicago.

Laura Boyle is a Junior at the University of Texas, originally from Chicago, Illinois. Laura is a two time qualifier to the NDT and was in elimination rounds of Gonzaga, UNLV, UCO, Wake, UNT, UTD, Northwestern and CEDA. Laura was top speaker at the University of North Texas tournament. She debated for four years at Glenbrook South in high school, making appearances in late elim rounds at numerous national tournaments. Laura and her partner won CFL Nationals in 2005. She doesn't think object fiat is that bad.

Blake Johnson has been Director of the Bay Area Urban Debate League since the summer of 2008. Before joining the Bay Area UDL, Mr. Johnson was a highly successful college and high school debate coach. He coached the University of Oklahoma to a National Debate Tournament qualification, Jenks High School to the Oklahoma State Championship, and the Kinkaid School to the Texas State Championship. Mr. Johnson graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Philosophy. He was introduced to debate in college where he helped found the debate team at the University of Oklahoma and debated to great success. He has won championships at the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Tournament at Harvard University, the Franklin R. Shirley Classic at Wake Forest University, the Owen L. Coon Memorial Tournament at Northwestern University, and the Cross-Examination Debate Association National Championship Tournament.

Nate Gorelick has been an assistant coach for the Harvard University debate team for more than two years.  He debated for four years at New York University, where he won the 2003 CEDA National Championship, qualified for the NDT four consecutive times, took first place at several tournaments including those held at Cornell, Columbia, the University of Rochester, and the University of Kansas, and received numerous top speaker awards.  He is the former Program Director of the Brooklyn Debate Resource Center, an after-school extension of the New York Urban Debate League, and he is currently a Ph.D. student of Comparative Literature with a Presidential Fellowship at the State University of New York at Buffalo.  He has been teaching at the UTNIF since 2002.

Teddy Albiniak - NDT first round recipient and NDT quarterfinalist for the University of Redlands, Teddy moved north to complete his masters degree at San Francisco State University. Recognized as the 2006 CEDA critic of the year for the West, he is excited about his third year at the UTINF and spending the summer in awesome Austin, Texas.

JV REED As a debater for the University of Texas at Austin, J.V. Reed made three appearances in elimination rounds at the NDT - twice as a quarterfinalist. J.V. was also a two time first round at large bid recipient. J.V. began teaching at the UTNIF in 1996 and has also worked with the Kinkaid School in Houston, Texas and the Chicago Urban Debate League. J.V. coached for the University of Texas in 2007 and lives in New York City.

Dan LUXEMBERG, Harvard University; NDT Semi-Finalist and has qualified to the NDT as one of the sixteen top ranked teams in the country TWICE; a former UTNIF alum, we are proud to have to Dan on board with us this summer.

Mike JONES: Mike is a debater at the University of Southern California. In two years of college debate, he has appeared in elimination rounds at the NDT, Kentucky, Wake Forest, West Georgia, and Gonzaga. Originally from Salt Lake City Utah, at Highland High School, Mike and his partner won the Wake Forest, USC, and Alta tournaments. Additionally Mike appeared in late elimination rounds at some of the most prestigious tournaments in the country, including Montgomery Bell Academey, UC Berkeley, the Glenbrooks, and more. Mike was the top speaker at the USC high school tournament, and earned top 10 speaker awards at MBA, Wake Forest, Redlands, New Trier, and the USC Round Robin.

Daniel Sharp debated at the Kinkaid School in Houston Texas and was one of the most competitive debaters on the national circuit. While especially successful in Texas - winning the UT tournament twice as well as earning the title of TFA state champion - Daniel was also nationally in the finals of many top tournaments, including the Glenbrooks, and received 4th speaker at the TOC. Daniel, now a UC Berkeley student, currently coaches for various debate programs, including his alma mater Kinkaid as well as Mercer Island High School in Washington, and is an active volunteer with the Bay Area Urban Debate League.

Subject to change and final University approval.