University of Connecticut Athletics
Staff Directory
- Title:
- Assistant Coach, Special Teams Coordinator / Sam's
- Email:
Assistant Coach Doug Shearer returns to the Huskies sidelines for his fourth season on head coach Jim Mora’s staff in 2025. A 2013 graduate of the UConn, he will continue to serve as the Huskies’ special teams coordinator and coaching the Sam linebackers on the defensive side of the ball.
Shearer’s special teams units had an outstanding 2024 season. Place kicker Chris Freeman was 20 of 26 last fall with a career-long of 53 yards, done twice. He made all 49 of his point after attempts and was the leading scorer on the team (109 pts). Freeman was 17th in the nation averaging 1.54 field goals per game. Punter Conner Stutz average 43.58 yards per punt, ranking 30th nationally. The return game had one of the best returners in the country back in Mel Brown. Brown was second in the country in kick-off returns, averaging 29.1 yards per return. He had 17 returns on the season and his long was a 96-yard return for a touchdown.
Shearer returned to UConn after spending the previous three seasons in the same position at Miami (OH). In 2019, placekicker Sam Sloman was named second team All-America by The Athletic after making a school record 26 field goals (on 30 attempts), and punter Kyle Kramer earned first-team All-MAC honors while Maurice Thomas was named second team All-MAC as a punt returner. Thomas added a 97-yard kick return to help the RedHawks capture the 2019 MAC Championship as well.
Prior to his time at Miami, Shearer was a member of the NC State football staff since 2014. Since 2015 he served as the Wolfpack’s quality control assistant for special teams. Shearer helped coach a special teams unit that finished in the top-20 nationally in both kickoff return and punt return average during the 2015 season. NC State’s placekicker also broke the single-season school record for field goals made and points scored in 2018.
In 2013, he served as an offensive/special teams graduate assistant at UConn and earned his bachelor’s degree in coaching and sports psychology from UConn that year.
He has coached in nine bowl games: the 2014 Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl, the 2015 Belk Bowl, the 2016 Independence Bowl, the 2017 Hyundai Sun Bowl, the 2018 Taxslayer Gator Bowl, the 2020 Lending Tree Bowl, the 2021 Frisco Football Classic, the 2022 Myrtle Beach Bowl, and the 2024 Wasabi Fenway Bowl.
Coaching Career
|
Years |
University/Organization |
Position |
|
2022- |
UConn |
Special Teams Coordinator / Sam's |
|
2019-21 |
Miami (OH) |
Special Teams Coordinator |
|
2014-18 |
NC State |
Special Teams Quality Control Assistant |
|
2013 |
UConn |
Graduate Assistant |
