University of Connecticut Athletics
Football
- Title:
- Assistant Coach - Safeties
Jay Anderson joins the UConn football program for the 2026 season as safeties coach.
Anderson spent four seasons on the Yale Bulldogs staff, joining as defensive backs coach in February of 2022 and earning a promotion to co-defensive coordinator in March of 2023.
The Bulldogs won Ivy League titles in three of his first four seasons (2022, 2023 and 2025). In 2025, star defensive back/nickel linebacker Abu Kamara won the Asa S. Bushnell Cup as the Ivy League's Defensive Player of the Year under Anderson's guidance. A unanimous First Team All-Ivy selection, Kamara recorded 76 tackles (40 solo), 6.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, two interceptions, 13 pass breakups, a blocked kick and two defensive touchdowns.
In 2022 and 2023, one of his standout players, Wande Owens, earned First Team All-Ivy honors both years and captained #Team150. In 2023, his debut season as co-defensive coordinator, Yale ranked 17th nationally in scoring defense.
Anderson came to Yale after serving the 2021 season as defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach at Johns Hopkins University. The nationally ranked Blue Jays won the Centennial Conference with an 8-1 record and went 10-2 overall, including an NCAA tournament victory, during his tenure. He coached two All-Americans on the defensive side of the ball, both of whom were just sophomores at the time.
Prior to Hopkins, Anderson spent a season with Notre Dame College as its associate head coach and defensive coordinator. It was his second stop in Euclid, Ohio, as he had previously served as linebackers coach during the 2012 season.
Anderson also brought head coaching experience to New Haven, having spent six seasons as head coach at Oberlin College beginning in 2014. In his fourth year, he led the Yeomen to their best record in five seasons and mentored five All-North Coast Athletic Conference selections.
Anderson got his collegiate coaching start with Oberlin as linebackers coach from 2009-12 before returning in 2013 as the Yeomen's defensive coordinator.
Anderson was a four-year letter winner at Toledo, where he started 48 games in the secondary and graduated with a degree in English in 2003. He helped the Rockets to the 2001 Mid-American Conference (MAC) Championship, MAC Western Division titles in 2000 and 2002, and back-to-back appearances in the Motor City Bowl in 2001 and 2002.
