University of Connecticut Athletics
Matt Cersosimo Named Assistant Football Coach
1/9/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
STORRS, Conn. (Jan. 9, 2006) — University of Connecticut head football coach Randy Edsall announced on Monday the return of former Husky assistant Matt Cersosimo as wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator. The West Hartford, Conn. native has spent the past two years as an assistant coach at Harvard, helping the Crimson to a 17-3 record over the 2004-05 seasons combined. Cersosimo replaces Vinny Marino who left recently to become the offensive coordinator at Columbia.
“I'm very pleased to have Matt come back and join our staff,” Edsall said. “He is a very good young coach who will develop our receivers and get the most out of each one in all phases of the game. As recruiting coordinator, I look to Matt to take our recruiting to the next level and to utilize all of our resources available to us and expand our boundaries. He brings outstanding knowledge in both areas and a great deal of energy and enthusiasm to the job.”
Cersosimo joined the Crimson staff in 2004 as the wide receivers coach and saw Harvard post an unblemished 10-0 record, 7-0 in Ivy League action. It was Harvard’s best season since the Crimson went 12-0 in 1901. Wide receivers Brian Edwards and Cory Mazza were each named All-Ivy.
This past year, his role switched to running backs coach and junior varsity head coach. The varsity Crimson finished 7-3, including a monumental 30-24 win over rival Yale in triple overtime on Nov. 19 in New Haven. Junior running back Clifton Dawson was a unanimous All-Ivy pick after the season.
Cersosimo spent the 2002-03 seasons as a graduate assistant coach at UConn, organizing the defensive scout team and helping mainly with the Husky tackles and tight ends under the guidance of Dave McMichael.
The Huskies recorded a 15-9 record during this period, the program’s first two as a member of the Division I-A classification. Amongst the neophyte independent I-A program’s highlights over that span were wins over schools from four different BCS Conferences (ACC – Wake Forest, BIG EAST – Rutgers, Big Ten – Indiana, Big 12 – Iowa State). In 2003, UConn ranked eighth in the nation in total offense (477.5- ypg), 10th in passing offense (297.92 ypg) and 17th in scoring offense (34.0 ppg).
Cersosimo was a two-year starter at defensive back on the Springfield College football team, receiving the Unsung Hero Award in 2000 and the Coaches Award in 1999. He also received Springfield’s Dual Sport Athlete of the Year Award in 1998. Cersosimo was a two-year lacrosse captain at Springfield College, earning All-New England honors as a senior. He also served as an assistant lacrosse coach at Longmeadow High School in Longmeadow, Mass., in 2001 and 2002 in addition to coaching Springfield’s wide receivers and special teams.
Cersosimo’s family is well established in the Connecticut high school coaching ranks. His father, Rob, has served as head coach at Conard High School since 1984 while his grandfather, Bob McKee, was the head coach at West Hartford's Hall High School from 1951 to 1956 before moving to Conard where he was head coach from 1957-1984.
Cersosimo received his undergraduate degree from Springfield in 2000 in physical education and a master's degree in health education in 2002.
