University of Connecticut Athletics
Staff Directory
- Title:
- Assistant Coach, Offensive Coordinator
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Gordon Sammis begins his fourth season on the UConn coaching staff in 2025 and second as the team's offensive coordinator. Sammis was announced as the team's new offensive coordinator in the spring of 2024 and also served as the Huskies offensive line coach for the past three seasons under Coach Mora. He also added run game coordinator to his duties in 2024.
Sammis was a nominee for the 2024 Broyles Award, which honors college football’s top assistant coach.
His first season running the Husky offense in 2024 was a smashing success. UConn continued to be fueled by their rushing attack, averaging 199.2 yards per game to rank 21st nationally. The Huskies scored 31.9 points per game, 35th nationally, and had one of the best red zone offenses in the country, ranking fourth (.932). Sammis’ offensive line unit was dominant yet again, allowing just 1.08 sacks per game, 13th nationally, and just 4.00 tackles for loss per game, 15th nationally.Â
UConn’s 5169 yards of total offense ranked as third most in UConn football history while the 2590 yards rushing ranked second all-time. The Huskies finished the year scoring 415 points, the second highest total in school history.
During his time as team's offensive line coach for three seasons, he coached offensive guard Christian Haynes who earned Associated Press and Sporting News All-American team honors in back-to-back seasons. He became just the third Husky in the FBS era to garner All-American honors and the first to do it in consecutive seasons.Â
Sammis has seen a pair of Huskies under his tutelage taken in the NFL Draft over the last three seasons. Haynes was a third-round pick by the Seattle Seahawks in the 2024 NFL Draft and last spring; tackle Chase Lundt was a sixth-round pick by the Buffalo Bills. UConn also saw their other tackle Valentin Senn, sign a free agent deal with the Arizona Cardinals after the draft and interior lineman Christopher Fortin was a first-round pick of Calgary Stampeders in the 2025 CFL Draft.
During Sammis's first season at UConn in 2022 he coached an offensive line unit that helped the Huskies rank 33rd in the nation in rushing offense, averaging 191.0 yards per game. In the passing game, the UConn offensive line was 29th in the NCAA in sacks allowed, allowing just 1.38 per game.Â
The UConn front-five improved on their sacks allowed stat in 2023, ranking ninth in the country allowing just 12 sacks (1.00 pg) on the season.
Sammis came to UConn after spending the previous three seasons in the same role at William & Mary, where he was also the team's run game coordinator during the last two years. During the 2021 season William & Mary led the CAA in rushing yards with 203.7 yards per game, nearly 30 yards per game more than Stony Brook, which finished second in rushing yards per contest. Â
Under Sammis' direction, the Tribe's offensive line was a catalyst for W&M's tremendous improvement in 2019. In addition to nearly doubling its scoring output compared to 2018, W&M averaged nearly 100 more total yards per game than it did in the season prior to his arrival. The offensive line's play boosted the Tribe's rushing attack, which increased its production on the ground by more than 130 yards per game and scored 21 more rushing touchdowns than the squad's 2018 figures. Additionally, the Tribe's 26 rushing touchdowns was just one shy of breaking into the program's single-season top-10 list.
Sammis completed a successful two-year stint as the offensive line coach at Lafayette College prior to joining W&M's staff. Under his direction, the Leopards ranked first in the Patriot League in fewest sacks allowed and fewest tackles for a loss allowed. Additionally, he mentored a pair of all-conference selections, including first-team honoree Jake Marotti.
Prior to his tenure at Lafayette, Sammis spent the 2015 and 2016 seasons as the offensive line coach at Virginia Military Institute (VMI) where he was responsible for the running game and pass protection plans for a tempo run-pass option offense. Sammis spent time as the tight ends coach and offensive line coach at Columbia University from 2012-14. He served as the program's recruiting coordinator all three seasons.
A 2007 University of Virginia graduate, Sammis earned a degree in government after a playing career as an offensive guard that spanned from 2003-07.
Sammis returned to his alma mater as a graduate assistant coach from 2010-12, earning a master's degree in education in 2012. He worked as an offensive line assistant during his first season and with the tight ends the following year.
