University of Connecticut Athletics
Huskies Announce Additions to Football Coaching Staff
2/17/2023 11:02:00 AM | Football
STORRS, Conn. – UConn head football coach Jim Mora announced changes to his coaching staff for 2023 including the hiring of assistant coach and former Husky Kashif Moore '11 to coach the wide receiver position.
Mora also announced that assistant coach John Marinelli, who coached the tight ends last season, will move into the role of Pass Game Specialist and Executive Director of Recruiting (Offense). Christian Pace, who was in an analyst role last fall for UConn, has been promoted to assistant coach and will coach the tight ends this season. Assistant coach Doug Shearer will continue to serve as the team's Special Teams Coordinator and will also take on the role of Recruiting Coordinator for the defensive side of the ball. Assistant coach Gordon Sammis will continue to coach the offensive line and will add Run Game Coordinator to his duties in 2023.
Mora announced that Nick Fiacable will be an analyst with a focus on special teams, Mike Ryan as a defensive analyst with the linebackers and Tyler Loftus will be an offensive analyst with the quarterbacks.
Tim Hicks will join the strength and conditioning staff as an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach and will serve as the team's speed coach.
The Huskies will welcome additions to their support staff as well with the hiring of Justin Cumming-Morrow as Director of Football Operations and Nick Green as Director of Creative Content for Football.
The recruiting staff will be bolstered by the additions of Chris Satoh as Director of Recruiting with a focus on the transfer portal, Andrew McClure, who will move from a graduate assistant position to Director of Recruiting with a focus on the offense and Hunter Webb, who finished his playing career for the Huskies in 2022 and will become the Director of Recruiting Operations.
Kashif Moore will join the Huskies as the wide receivers coach after serving in the same role last season at the University at Albany. A four-year letter winner at UConn from 2008-11, Moore was elected team captain as a senior and graduated ranked in the top 10 in program history in receptions (126) while registering 1,699 career yards and 13 touchdowns. He competed in three postseason games, including catching four passes for 62 yards against Oklahoma in the 2011 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl - the program's first-ever BCS Bowl game. He was invited to the 2011 NFL Combine and later signed contracts with Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and Kansas City. After his playing career, Moore began his coaching career at Conard High School (Connecticut) and had collegiate stops at Wesleyan, Cornell and UAlbany.
Christian Pace spent last season as an analyst on Jim Mora's staff and moves to an assistant coaching role this season. Prior to his time at UConn, Pace spent five seasons at Lafayette College where he spent three seasons as the team's Offensive line coach and the other two seasons as the teams' Tight ends/fullbacks coach.
Tyler Loftus comes to UConn in an analyst role after serving as the tight ends coach at the University of Rhode Island. Loftus came to Rhode Island from Holy Cross, where he spent 2019 as the quarterbacks coach. He spent the 2018 season as the quarterbacks coach at SUNY Morrisville. In his season there, the quarterback finished with the second highest passing efficiency and third highest passing touchdown totals in one season in program history.
Nick Fiacable will work as an analyst for the Huskies with a focus on special teams. Fiacable joined the Slippery Rock University football staff in 2021 as a graduate assistant working with the running backs and tight ends. A 2020 graduate of Indiana, Fiacable worked with the Hoosiers' football program, beginning his time on the staff as a recruiting intern and worked his way up to an offensive student assistant in 2019 and then to an assistant offensive quality control position in 2020.
Mike Ryan, a 2011 UConn graduate, returns to his alma mater and will work as a defensive analyst working with the Husky linebackers. Ryan spent eight seasons as a defensive coach at the University of Maine where he coached under fellow Husky assistant Nick Charlton. Ryan rose to the role of defensive coordinator under Charlton in 2019. He also had coaching stops at Trinity College and Bates College.
Tim Hicks comes to UConn after two seasons as the assistant strength and conditioning coach at Washington State University. Hicks worked as a Performance Director with world renowned Sports Performance Company "EXOS". Working with over 100 athletes from the NFL, NBA, MLB, and college players prepping for NFL Combine, Hicks worked with numerous high-profile athletes such as Super Bowl MVP Julian Edelman, Pro Bowler Richie Incognito, NBA Champion Pascal Siakam and US Open Champion Sloane Stephens. In his time working with athletes preparing for the NFL Combine, Hicks helped over 35 draft picks including 10 taken in the Top-10.
Justin Cummings-Morrow will be the Huskies' Director of Football Operations after five seasons at Iowa State University. Three of his five seasons were spent as the assistant director of player development.
Nick Green joins UConn as the Director of Creative Content for Football. He most recently was the assistant director of creative services at Stony Brook University where he enhanced Stony Brook's brand through graphic design and video efforts. Prior to his time at Stony Brook, Green spent two years at Elmira College as the Director of New Media.
Chris Satoh joins the UConn football recruiting staff as the Director of Recruiting focused on the transfer portal. Satoh spent six seasons at the University of Rhode Island in 2021. He joined the Rhode Island staff as the video coordinator and assistant director of operations and was promoted to a defensive assistant in 2018. Satoh had other coaching stops at La Verne and at La Salle High School in California. He also served in the United States Marine Corps as a Tank Platoon Commander from 2015-19.
Andrew McClure will step into the roll of Director of Recruiting with a focus on offense. McClure spent the last season as an offensive graduate assistant under Jim Mora and his staff at UConn. Prior to spending time as an offensive analyst, McClure was a student assistant for UConn football from 2018-2022.
Hunter Webb will leave the playing field at UConn and join the UConn recruiting staff as the Director of Recruiting Operations in 2023. Webb finished a four-year playing career for the Huskies this past fall. The Husky linebacker played in every game his sophomore though junior seasons and over his career made 75 total tackles in 40 total games.
