University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn Football Announces Coaching Staff Additions
1/2/2026 11:23:00 AM | Football
STORRS, CT – UConn head football coach Jason Candle announced the hiring of several coaches and staff members as he continues to build his football staff for the 2026 season.
Candle announced the additions of offensive coordinator Nunzio Campanile and defensive coordinator Ryan Manalac. Campanile comes to UConn to guide the Husky offense after the last three seasons at Syracuse, the past two as the offensive associate head coach and quarterbacks coach. Prior to Syracuse, Campanile spent five seasons on staff at Rutgers. Manalac will lead the UConn defense after spending the last five seasons at Pitt where he coached the linebackers. Manalac previously worked with Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi at Cincinnati and Michigan State as well and spent two seasons as the defensive coordinator at Bucknell.
Pat Cashmore will be the Huskies new special teams coordinator after serving in the same role this past season at Washington State. Robert Weiner will join the Huskies after the past six seasons with Coach Candle at Toledo. He will be the assistant head coach and a special assistant.
Candle announced the additions of assistant coaches to the offense staff in Max Wray to coach the tight ends, Kerry Dixon to coach the wide receivers, Nate Cole the running backs, John Morookian the offensive line and Marquel Blackwell to coach the quarterbacks and serve as co-offensive coordinator. Jasper "Junior" Collins will serve as an assistant wide receivers coach.
On defense, Candle announced the hiring of assistant coaches LaTroy Lewis to coach the defensive line and Rod Chance to coach the cornerbacks and serve as pass game coordinator. Daryl Ely will be an assistant defensive backs coach and Brooks Jenkins will be an assistant defensive line coach.
Brad Bichey will be UConn's new director of football strength and conditioning after 10 seasons with Coach Candle at Toledo. He is joined by Christian Klinec as the team's associate director of football strength and conditioning. Jabari Taylor will serve as a strength and conditioning intern.
The UConn football support staff will be led by new assistant athletic director for football administration and operations, Andrew Terwilliger who spent 12 seasons at Toledo. It was announced that Tayler Riddick will remain on staff in her role as director of football operations as will Daniel Mojica as football operations assistant. Stephon Mathie will be joining the program as the director of football video operations.
Candle also announced Zach Potter as the program's general manager as well as additions to the recruiting staff in AJ Harrison as director of recruiting / player development and Colin Leddy as assistant director of player personnel.
Additional coaches and staff will be announced in the coming days. All new football staff will join the Huskies pending the successful completion of the university employee onboarding process.
Nunzio Campanile is UConn's new offensive coordinator after three seasons at Syracuse. The 2025 season was his second as the Orange offensive associate head coach/quarterbacks coach. In 2024, the offense broke or tied 24 different program individual and team passing or total offense records (career, season and single-game) and starting quarterback Kyle McCord finished in the top-10 of Heisman Trophy voting after setting a new ACC single-season passing record. He coached the tight ends in 2023 and served as the team's interim head coach for the final two games of the season. Before coming to Syracuse, Campanile spent five seasons at Rutgers, serving in numerous roles, including interim stints as head coach and offensive coordinator. A Paramus Catholic graduate with strong ties across New Jersey, Campanile was an accomplished high school coach before joining the Scarlet Knights, with stints at national powerhouses Bergen Catholic and Don Bosco Prep.
Ryan Manalac is the Huskies defensive coordinator after spending the past five seasons at Pittsburgh as the linebackers coach. Manalac, a former standout collegiate linebacker at Cincinnati, previously worked with Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi at Cincinnati and Michigan State. Manalac's linebacker unit has been instrumental for a Pitt defense that annually ranks among the nation's stingiest. He has also produced some highly productive and decorated individual players. Last season, Manalac helped guide linebacker Kyle Louis to becoming the first sophomore defensive player at Pitt to earn First Team All-America since 1978. Manalac was the defensive coordinator and secondary coach at Ohio Dominican University during the 2017 and 2018 seasons. During that two-year span, ODU surrendered just 15.9 points per game in conference play, the lowest average in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.
Pat Cashmore comes to Storrs as the special teams coordinator after spending this past fall in the same role at Washington State on Jimmy Rogers staff. He held the same role under Rogers the previous two seasons at South Dakota State. In 2024, the Jackrabbits finished second nationally in net punting at 43.04 ypp while it matched that ranking in punt return defense, allowing just 0.46 yards per return. Kickoff return defense finished the year 12th in FCS, allowing just 16.35 yards per return. In his first season, solid play on special teams contributed to the Jackrabbits' success as they pursued a second consecutive FCS national title in 2023. SDSU ranked sixth in both punt returns (17.63 yards per attempt) and punt return defense (2.9 yards per attempt), while also ranking among the national leaders with four blocked kicks. Prior to SDSU, he has three seasons at Pittsburgh State and also had stints at Oklahoma State and Toledo.
Max Wray joins the UConn staff and will coach the tight ends. Wray comes to UConn after spending three seasons at Toledo. He was the team's assistant offensive line coach in 2025 after two seasons as a graduate assistant. Wray joined the coaching ranks after a playing career at Ohio State and Colorado. He played for three seasons on the offensive line at Ohio State from 2018-20 before enrolling at Colorado in 2021 as a graduate transfer. He played in 11 games in his career as a Buckeye.
Kerry Dixon joins the Huskies as the team's new wide receivers coach. Dixon spent the 2025 season at Kent State in the same role after the previous two seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, where he assisted in developing quarterbacks, including Pro Bowler Tyler Huntley and former NFL MVP Lamar Jackson. Before his NFL stint, Dixon built an impressive resume with 15 years of collegiate coaching experience, including positions at Georgia Tech, Florida, Toledo, Florida International, and more.
Nate Cole comes to UConn after 10 seasons at Toledo and will coach the running backs. Cole has spent the past seven seasons handling the running backs under Coach Candle. Cole, a former Rocket offensive lineman and graduate assistant, has mentored running backs who made the Rocket running attack one of the best in the Mid-American Conference. He coaches former Toledo standouts that included 2023 MAC Offensive Player of the Year and first-team All-MAC selection Peny Boone, Jacquez Stuart, Micah Kelly and Bryant Koback. Cole has also made a big impact on the recruiting trail for the Rockets. He has played a major role in Toledo securing the No. 1 recruiting class in the MAC seven times during his time on the staff, and ranked as the No. 3 recruiter in the Mid-American Conference for the 2021 recruiting class.
John Morookian joins the UConn coaching staff as the offensive line coach after spending the 2025 season at Michigan, his second stint on staff with the Wolverines after helping them to an undefeated Big 10 Championship and CFP berth in 2022. Morookian spent the previous two seasons working with the offensive line and tight ends at Charlotte. Before his time in Ann Arbor in 2022, Morookian was the offensive line coach at Akron in 2021. In 2020, he was promoted to offensive line coach at Kansas after initially being hired as offensive senior analyst. He has also had coaching stops at Iowa State, Indiana and Toledo, his alma mater. A native of Providence, Rhode Island, Morookian was a four-year starter on the offensive line for Toledo from 2008-11 where he played in two bowl games and started 49 straight games at right tackle.
Marquel Blackwell comes to Storrs as the team's new quarterbacks coach and as co-offensive coordinator. Blackwell spent the past two seasons at South Carolina coaching the running backs. Prior to his time at South Carolina, Blackwell had a one-year stint at Texas A&M and spent the 2022 season at Ole Miss after three seasons at Houston. At Ole Miss, Blackwell helped lead one of the best rushing offenses in the nation, as the Rebels ranked third in the country and led the SEC with 256.5 yards per game. Blackwell began his time at Houston as the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2019 before taking over the running backs for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. He also had stints at West Virginia and at Toledo. He was part of a staff that led the Rockets to a 20-7 mark through two seasons, including an 11-3 record in 2017, the 2017 Mid-American Conference championship and two bowl appearances.
LaTroy Lewis joins the UConn coaching staff as the defensive line coach after serving in the same role this past fall at Toledo. Lewis his coaching career in 2020 as a graduate assistant at Toledo, where he worked primarily with outside linebackers. From there he moved on to South Alabama as a defensive graduate assistant and spent one season at Wake Forest as a special teams assistant before moving to Michigan, where he served as a graduate assistant working with the linebackers before working as an assistant defensive line coach. At Michigan, Lewis was part of teams that won two Big Ten Championships and appeared twice in the College Football Playoffs, winning the title in 2023.
Rod Chance joins Coach Candle's staff and will coach the cornerbacks and serves as the pass game coordinator on defense. Chance spent the past two seasons on staff as the secondary coach at Oregon State. In 2025, he also served as the team's co-defensive coordinator. He also had coaching stints at Colorado, Oregon, Minnesota, Southern Utah and Vanderbilt. He has coached in six bowl games and an FCS playoff appearance and during his time as cornerbacks coach at Oregon, they Ducks had four defensive backs selected in the NFL Draft in 2021. He was a four-year starter at Rhode Island during his playing career and finished with 11 career interceptions.
Robert Weiner joins Coach Candle at UConn as assistant head coach and a special assistant after the last six seasons at Toledo. Weiner served as the Rockets interim head coach and coached the team in the 2025 Boca Raton Bowl. He served as Toledo's co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the past six seasons. Under his guidance, former Toledo quarterbacks Tucker Gleason and Dequan Finn earned All-MAC honors Prior to Toledo, Weiner spent 16 seasons as the head coach at Plant High School in Tampa, Fla. where he won four state championships, had two runner-up finishes, and earned 14 consecutive district titles (2005-2018). Other notable quarterbacks Weiner coached during his tenure include Aaron Murray (Georgia, 2010-13), Robert Marve (Miami (Fla.) 2008/Purdue 2010-12), and Jordan McCloud (USF 2018-20/Arizona 2021).
Jasper "Junior" Collins joins the UConn coaching staff as assistant wide receivers coach. Collins spent the past two seasons at Mount Union, last fall as the offensive coordinator. In 2023, Collins was on the Indianapolis Colts coaching staff as part of the Tony Dungy Diversity Coaching Fellows. Prior, Collins coached at Mount Union for three years as an assistant working with the quarterbacks and wide receivers. As a player, Collins was a four-year letter winner at wide receiver for Mount Union.
Daryl Ely will serve as assistant defensive backs coach for the UConn Huskies after 15 seasons coaching at Mount Union. The 2025 season was his fourth as defensive coordinator for the Purple Raiders. Ely's defensive units have been one of the best in the nation, coaching multiple All-Americans and OAC award winners during his career. Since his promotion to defensive coordinator going into the 2021 season, Ely's defenses have been top 10 nationally every year in total defense and twice in scoring defense. He has been an assistant on the defensive side of the football for his entire coaching career, including as the pass defense coordinator and working with the cornerbacks.
Brooks Jenkins joins the coaching staff as an assistant defensive line coach. Jenkins spent the past three seasons at Toledo, last year as director of player development and an assistant defensive analyst and the previous two as a grad assistant on defense. Before joining Toledo, Jenkins served as a defensive line coach for Mount Union from 2017-20 before spending the 2021 season as a graduate assistant at Eastern Michigan.
