UConn Huskies football coach Bob Diaco has filled out his coaching staff for what he hopes is a promising 2015 with Frank Verducci who spent the 2014 season FCS Northern Iowa.
Here’s the release from UConn:
STORRS, Conn. – Frank Verducci, a 31-year veteran of the coaching profession with experience in both college football and the NFL, has been named the offensive coordinator at the University of Connecticut and will have position responsibility with the running backs.
During the 2011 season, Verducci was the run game coordinator and offensive line coach and run game coordinator at Florida and helped lead the Gators to a 24-17 win over Ohio State in the Gator Bowl.
Verducci was the offensive line and run game coordinator at Notre Dame during the 2009 season as the Irish ranked eighth in the country in total offense at 451.75 yards per game. He coached six offensive linemen that were later selected in the NFL Draft.
From 1999-2008, he spent ten years coaching in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals (1999-2001), Dallas Cowboys (2002), Buffalo Bills (2004-05) and the Cleveland Browns (2007-08).
“Frank brings 31 years of coaching experience on the offensive side of the ball to our UConn football program with a laundry list of personal and team accolades that are very special,” said UConn head coach Bob Diaco. “Another aspect of Frank that separated him from others is his experience on coaching the offensive front. I now have great balance on my offensive staff with three experts in the passing game and two experts in how to attack a defensive front. I thought it was important to have that balance rather than adding someone who specifically knows wide receivers or quarterbacks.
“Frank and I have a long-standing relationship because of the type of person he is. We come from the same coaching tree and we have the same philosophies on the development of young men.”
While with the Cowboys, Verducci’s offensive line helped pave the way for Emmitt Smith to break the all-time NFL career rushing record and he was also on the Bengals’ staff when Corey Dillon set the NFL’s single-game rushing record with 278 yards against the Denver Broncos in 2000.
In `07 with the Browns, Verducci helped the team to its best season in years as the Browns amassed 10 wins, the most since 1994, and finished eighth in the league in total offense – the team’s best since 1981. Verducci assisted with an offense that sent four players to the Pro Bowl, including tackle Joe Thomas, who became the first Browns offensive lineman ever named to the Pro Bowl.
Before his tenure in the NFL, Verducci was an assistant coach at Iowa from 1989-98, working with the offensive line and serving as run game coordinator from 1995-98. Iowa’s career, single-season and single-game rushing records were all broken under Verducci’s watch, along with the Hawkeye record for fewest sacks allowed (10 in 1994). He coached in eight bowl games, including two Rose Bowls during his time at Iowa.
During the 1997 season, Iowa led the Big Ten in scoring at 36.7 points per game (ninth nationally) and rushing offense at 235.0 yard per game, which was also eighth nationally.
Most recently, Verducci was the tight ends and offensive tackles coach for Northern Iowa in 2014. Northern Iowa led the FCS in red zone offense last year with a 98.0 scoring percentage.
Verducci, a 1980 graduate of Seton Hall University, was with the Montreal Alouettes in the Canadian Football League in 2013. He served as the offensive line coach for the Alouettes, helping the team to the Eastern Division Semi-Finals and a No. 1 ranking in pass protection in the CFL.
He returned to the NFL in 2010 as a personnel/advance scout for the St. Louis Rams, working directly with the general manager to evaluate NFL personnel and scout upcoming opponents.
His first job out of college was at Northern Illinois University where he was named the running backs coach and oversaw the strength and conditioning program.
Verducci and his wife, Noel, have two children, Jack, who just completed a successful collegiate football career at Princeton this past fall, and Cammy, a standout high school basketball player
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