Teams: Football: Press Releases

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

CIVETTI, CARMICHAEL & VELAZQUEZ JOIN TUFTS FOOTBALL COACHING STAFF

MEDFORD -- Three new members of the Tufts University football coaching staff have been on the job this summer in preparation for the upcoming 2008 season. Head Coach Bill Samko has added assistants Jay Civetti, Pete Carmichael and Rob Velasquez to the staff.

Civetti will take over the role as offensive coordinator and tight ends coach for the Jumbos. He is familiar with the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) as a 2001 graduate of Trinity College. He was a four-year starter for the Bantams and was named Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) New England Rookie of the Year, All-NESCAC and All-American during his career. Last season, Civetti was the offensive graduate assistant at North Carolina State University under Tom O'Brien after spending four years on O'Brien's staff at Boston College. He is originally from Wellesley, Mass.

Carmichael brings 45 years of coaching experience to the Jumbos, including 10 in the National Football League. He was an offensive assistant with the Chicago Bears from 2001-03, the offensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns in 2000 and receivers coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars from 1994-99. Carmichael has also held major college jobs at Boston College (1981-93), the University of Pittsburgh (2004-06) and at Louisiana Tech University (2007). He has head coaching experience at the small college level with stints at Trenton State and Merchant Marine Academy. Carmichael, whose son Peter is the quarterbacks coach for the New Orleans Saints, will work as the defensive backs coach at Tufts.

Rob Velasquez has come to Tufts as the graduate assistant this season. He is a 2006 graduate of Endicott College, where he played offensive line for the Gulls. A member of the class that started football at Endicott, he was a four-year captain for the new program. Velasquez played professionally in Ireland and was a member of former Tufts assistant John Papas's coaching staff at Buckingham, Browne & Nichols in nearby Cambridge prior to coming to Tufts.

Tufts challenged for the NESCAC title last season. The Jumbos finished 5-3 and were ranked seventh in New England Division 3. Coach Samko and his staff welcome back a lot of talent in 2008 as the program strives for its first back-to-back winning seasons since 1990-91.

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