University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn Names Scott Lakatos Defensive Backs Coach
2/24/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
February 24, 2004
STORRS, CT - University of Connecticut head football coach Randy Edsall announced the hiring of Scott Lakatos as defensive backs coach on Tuesday. Lakatos comes to Storrs after spending the past three seasons as the secondary coach at Rutgers. His ties to Connecticut and the northeast run deep as UConn will be the seventh school which he has coached in the region, including his third in the BIG EAST Conference and his third in the Nutmeg State.
"I’m thrilled to be a part of this Connecticut program and am excited about meeting the challenges that lie ahead," Lakatos says.
"Scott’s knowledge of the secondary position and his knowledge of the BIG EAST Conference will enhance our staff and our defensive players as we look forward to the 2004 season," Edsall says. "I’m very excited to have him joining our program. He has a proven track record of developing players and his teams have had a good defense at every stop on his career. He also has great northeast recruiting ties. He should be a wonderful fit at UConn."
Lakatos has been a part of a resurgent Scarlet Knights program the past three seasons as Rutgers has made great strides under head coach Greg Schiano, improving from 2-9 in 2001 to 5-7 this past season, including a narrow loss to the Huskies, 38-31, on Nov. 8 at Rentschler Field. This past fall, Rutgers ranked second in the BIG EAST in passing defense, yielding 216.42 yards per game, a total surpassed in the conference only by national-leader Miami. Meanwhile, the Scarlet Knights’ passing efficiency defense has improved each of the past three years under his tutelage. The 2003 season saw corner back Nate Jones earn CoSIDA Academic All-America honors for the second year in a row, while Lakatos also helped free safety Shawn Seabrooks to a spot on the All-BIG EAST second team in 2002. Lakatos’ recruiting territory at Rutgers included Connecticut, New York State and northwestern New Jersey, along with northeastern prep schools, areas he has scoured for years in search of talented student-athletes for several universities.
Lakatos graduated from Western Connecticut in 1988 after earning four varsity letters on the gridiron, three of them under the tutelage of current Syracuse head coach Paul Pasqualoni. The 1985 Colonial squad went 10-2 and advanced to the NCAA Division III Playoffs. Immediately after earning his degree in Justice & Law Administration from WCSU, Lakatos began his coaching career at the Danbury school, working with the Colonials’ defensive backs during the 1988 and 1989 seasons.
Just before the start of the 1990 season, Lakatos left his alma mater for Boston University where he coached the Terriers’ outside linebackers from 1990-91, a role that was especially important in the 3-4 defensive scheme run by BU during those years under head coach Dan Allen. Lakatos left Boston to reunite with Pasqualoni as Syracuse’s defensive graduate assistant during the 1992 and 1993 seasons, working mainly with the team’s safeties. In Lakatos’ first season with the Orangemen, the team went 10-2 and defeated Colorado, 26-22, in the 1993 Fiesta Bowl to finish the season ranked sixth in the nation. Current UConn running backs coach Terry Richardson played for the Orangemen during Lakatos’ time at SU. The 1994 season saw Lakatos serve as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at the University of New Haven during Tony Sparano’s first year as head coach with the Chargers. At UNH, Lakatos installed an eight-man front and implemented the team’s defensive game plans.
Lakatos spent the 1995-2000 seasons at Maine under Jack Cosgrove, serving first as secondary coach for the 1995 season before adding the title of special teams coordinator for the 1996-99 campaigns. In 2000, Lakatos was named the Black Bears’ defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. A Maine defensive back earned All-Conference honors in each of his five years coaching that position group and, in 1998, Aaron Dashiell was named an All-American after he finished 11th in the nation in interceptions. During the 2000 campaign, his only one as defensive coordinator in Orono, Maine’s defense improved drastically during the season. After allowing 36.6 points per game in its first five games against Division I-AA opposition, Maine yielded just 14.6 points per game in its final five contests. His special teams work was also strong as Maine set school punt return records in two of his final three seasons with the Black Bears.
A native of Long Valley, N.J., Lakatos graduated from West Morris Central High School in 1983 where he played both linebacker and fullback, earning All-County honors on defense. He and his wife, Amanda, have a daughter, Sarah Bailey (3), and a son, Cole (2),
Lakatos replaces Torrian Gray, who served as UConn’s defensive backs coach for the past two seasons before accepting a position on January 29 with the National Football League’s Chicago Bears. Gray and Lakatos coached together at Maine during the 2000 season.
