SUNY - Cortland Men's Football

Recruiting Areas: NYS Section 11, New England Tom Blumenauer (pronounced BLOOM-en-ow-er) completed his first season as the football head coach at SUNY Cortland in 2025 after taking over the program in February 2025. He guided Cortland to an 8-3 (.727) overall record in 2025, including a 7-0 mark in Empire 8 conference play to lead the Red Dragons to their fifth consecutive outright conference title. Cortland earned a berth into the NCAA Div. III playoffs, ending the year tied for 33rd place nationally after falling at Springfield in the first round of the national tournament. Blumenauer and his assistants were also honored as the Empire 8 Coaching Staff of the Year, while three different Red Dragons garnered All-America certificates, four players were selected as D3football.com All-Region 2 honorees, and 20 players earned a total of 21 all-conference awards.   Blumenauer served as head coach at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., from 2022-24. During those three seasons, he led the Diplomats to a combined 21-11 record, including an 11-8 record in the Centennial Conference. F&M won postseason bowl games versus Delaware Valley in 2024, to cap a 7-4 season, and King's (Pa.) in 2023, to finish an 8-3 campaign. The 2024 season also featured a tight 13-6 loss at eventual national semifinalist Johns Hopkins. In 2024, F&M ranked first in the Centennial Conference in scoring defense (13.1 points per game), passing yards allowed per game (164.8) and rushing yards allowed per game (62.7), along with time of possession (34:37 per game; second nationally) and offensive third down conversion percentage (49.3 percent; 21st nationally). The team also ranked second in the conference in passing yards per game (261.7). Blumenauer's F&M teams earned a total of 25 Centennial Conference all-league honors, including 11 in 2024, in addition to 62 student-athletes named to the Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll.   Prior to F&M, "Coach Blu" served as the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at Williams College (Mass.) for six years. He was the Ephs' offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2021 and the program's run game coordinator and offensive line coach from 2016-20. Williams made a steady climb up the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) standings during his tenure, culminating in the program's first 9-0 season and a league title in 2021. That season, Williams averaged more than 34 points per game and ranked fifth nationally in Division III in red zone scoring percentage (.895), seventh in passing yards per completion (17.8) and ninth in passing efficiency (170.4 rating).   Blumenauer's other coaching positions include serving as offensive coordinator at Bowdoin College (Maine) in 2015 and at Endicott College (Mass.) in 2014. He got his start in collegiate coaching as recruiting coordinator, quarterbacks coach and wide receivers coach four seasons at St. Lawrence University from 2010-13. The Saints were Liberty League champs in his first season in Canton.   After playing from 2003-04 at Division I Connecticut, Blumenauer transferred to Ithaca College and played outside linebacker and free safety for the Bombers for two seasons. He registered 55 tackles, five pass breakups, three fumble recoveries and two interceptions, one returned 85 yards for a touchdown, in 2005, and the following season he recorded 54 tackles, including three sacks among his 13 total tackles for loss. Blumenauer was a two-time All-Empire 8 selection and was named to the 2006 Football Gazette All-East Region team.   Blumenauer earned a bachelor's degree in physical education from Ithaca in 2007 and a master's degree in educational leadership from St. Lawrence in 2012. The Brentwood, N.Y., native graduated from Brentwood High School in 2003. He earned football all-county honors twice and was a three-year standout wrestler. He's in the Brentwood Hall of Fame for both sports. Tom and his wife, Eileen, have three daughters, Teagan, Riley and Quinn. Eileen is a 2009 SUNY Geneseo alumna and was an All-SUNYAC soccer player for the Knights as a junior in addition to playing professionally for the Rochester Ravens in the USL W-League from 2010-11. (updated 1/7/2026)  

Recruiting Areas: NYS Section 8, New York City Leondre Simmon was named Cortland football's associate head coach and co-defensive coordinator in March 2025. Simmon, who will work with the team's safeties, has previously coached with head coach Tom Blumenauer at both Franklin & Marshall College from 2022-24 and at Williams College from 2016-21. At F&M, he joined the staff as defensive backs coach and led a defensive unit in 2022 that picked off 20 passes and scored three defensive touchdowns. One of his players, Justin Gerhart, intercepted eight passes and earned All-America honors. Simmon eventually served as the Diplomats' defensive pass game coordinator. In 2024, F&M ranked fourth nationally in Division III in total defense (227.1 yards per game) and 14th in scoring defense (13.1 points per game).   Simmon worked with the secondary during his six years at Williams. In 2021, the Ephs won the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) title with a 9-0 record and the team ranked fifth nationally in Division III in scoring defense (10.6 points per game).   Prior to joining the staff at Williams, Simmon was a standout wide receiver and defensive back at St. Lawrence University. He earned D3football.com All-America honors twice. As a senior in 2015 he was named to the All-America first team at cornerback after registering six interceptions, four pass breakups and 35 tackles, five for losses. He was an honorable mention selection in 2014 after posting five interceptions and 10 pass breakups. As a wide receiver he caught 25 passes for 327 yards and nine touchdowns as a senior and 16 passes for 260 yards and five touchdowns as a junior.   A 2016 graduate of St. Lawrence with a degree in sociology, Simmon also minored in sports and exercise science. He was additionally a three-year letterwinner on the St. Lawrence men's basketball team, including two years as a starting point guard. Simmon grew up in Freeport, N.Y., on Long Island with his mother, Andrea, father, Lee, and sister, Monique.

Recruiting Area: NYS Section 6 (Buffalo area) Paul Shaffner begins his fourth season as a Cortland assistant coach in 2025. He coached Cortland's defensive line from 2022-24 before moving to linebackers in 2025. During Cortland's 2023 national championship season, Shaffner coached three linemen who earned All-Empire 8 honors, including two first teamers. Shaffner's vast coaching experience includes serving as defensive coordinator at Division I FCS Colgate University from 2013-21, head coach at Buffalo State from 2004-08, head coach at Glenville State College in West Virginia from 2000-04, and defensive coordinator at Division I FCS Lafayette College from 1992-2000. He was also a graduate assistant at Penn State for two years from 1986-88, including a national championship season with the Lions. During his tenure at Colgate, the Raiders won three Patriot League titles (2015, 2017, 2018 and advanced to the NCAA tournament quarterfinals twice (2015 and 2018). Colgate led the national in scoring defense (9.3 points/game), total defense (237.7 yards/game) and pass efficiency defense (88.77 opponent rating), and tied an NCAA FCS record with five shutouts, in 2018, despite finishing the season with a formidable three-game stretch against Army, James Madison and North Dakota State. Shaffner was a finalist for FCS Defensive Coordinator of the Year. The Raiders ranked first nationally in rushing defense (69.4 yards/game) in 2016. In all, Shaffner coached six All-Americans, three All-Patriot League Players of the Year and 42 all-league defensive players at Colgate. Shaffner grew up and played his high school football in the Buffalo suburb of Lancaster and played collegiately at Ithaca College. He was a center on the Bombers' 1979 NCAA DIvision III championship team and 1980 national runner-up squad. Before graduating in 1982, Shaffner received the Sebring Scholar-Athlete distinction for highest GPA on the football team and was a senior-year captain. In October 2014, Shaffner and his Bomber squad-mates were inducted as a team of distinction into the Ithaca College Athletic Hall of Fame. He earned his master's degree during a fifth playing season at Ithaca before entering the coaching ranks at Division III Maine Maritime. Shaffner is married to the former Donna Lueckenbach of Milwaukee. Donna is a board member of the American Football Coaches Wives Association and a past president. They are the parents of three children: Jessica, Samantha and Jake.

Former Cortland player and assistant coach Bill Spicer re-joined the Red Dragon coaching staff in May 2022 as the program's tight ends coach and assistant offensive line coach. During Cortland's 2023 national championship season, the Red Dragons ranked seventh nationally in Division III in total offense (509.2 yards/game), eighth in scoring offense (46.2 points/game) and 18th in rushing offense (224.9 yards/game). From 1999-2005, Spicer led a powerhouse program at Onondaga Central. The program won New York State Class D titles in 2001 and 2003 and a Class C crown in 2002. Spicer was named New York State Coach of the Year in those respective classes each of those years and received the President Gerald R. Ford All-American Football Coach Award in 2003. His Onondaga teams had a combined 68-8 record and featured future collegiate and NFL stars Mike Hart and Latavius Murray. Spicer was an assistant coach at Onondaga in 1998. Spicer served as defensive coordinator and defensive assistant coach at Baldwinsville High School from 2013-21. Prior to Baldwinsville, he was an assistant coach at Hamilton College from 2006-13. A Canastota, N.Y., native, Spicer graduated from Chittenango High in 1990 and played at Baldwinsville for three years prior to moving to Chittenango. An all-state offensive lineman as a senior, Spicer played two seasons at Southern Connecticut State University before transferring to Cortland to play in 1992 and 1993. He then served as Cortland's JV head coach in 1994 and as an assistant coach in 1995 before taking an assistant coaching position at Woodmont High in Greenville, S.C., from 1996-97.

Recruiting Areas: NYS Section 2, New Jersey Jack Mrozinski, Jr., was named Cortland's defensive coordinator and special teams coach in March 2025. Mrozinski, who will work with the team's cornerbacks, served as head coach at Hiram College in Ohio for five years from 2020-24 and was the defensive coordinator at Salve Regina University in Rhode Island for three seasons from 2017-19. At Salve he helped lead the Seahawks to a 17-13 (11-7 conference) record and a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Co-Championship, as well as a New England Bowl berth in 2018. His defensive units finished first in the league in scoring defense in 2017 and second in 2018 and 2019.   Prior to joining Salve Regina, Mrozinski spent six seasons as an assistant coach at Ithaca College. He started with the Bombers in 2011 as the special teams coordinator, defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator, adding video coordinator duties as well during his final four years. Mrozinski helped the Bombers to back-to-back Empire 8 championships and NCAA Division III playoff berths in 2013 and 2014.   Previously, Mrozinski coached special teams and safeties at Widener University in Pennsylvania in 2010 and was the assistant defensive backs coach at NCAA Division I-AA Hofstra University in 2009. He also served two seasons as an assistant football coach at Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania, helping the Mules earn back-to-back Centennial Conference championships and NCAA playoff berths in 2007 and 2008.   Mrozinski began his coaching career at his alma mater, Buffalo State, in the spring of 2007. A 2006 graduate of Buffalo State, Mrozinski played four seasons for the Bengals as a quarterback and long snapper. He received the Coaches Award, given to the player(s) who "exemplify and demonstrate special character," in 2006 and the Al Abgott Attitude Award, given to an "unselfish, unsung player who never misses a responsibility to the team and is always pushing players around him to be better" in 2004 and 2005. Mrozinski earned his bachelor's degree in communications from Buffalo State in May 2006 and his master's degree in communications from Ithaca in August 2015.   Mrozinski is a Schenectady, N.Y., native and Schalmont High alumnus. He and his wife, Kaitlyn (Boyes) Mrozinski, a 2008 Cortland alumna, have two sons - Jack III and Cooper.  

Recruiting Areas: NYS Sections 1 and 9 Eric Bunker was named Cortland's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2025. Bunker coached at Brown University for six years from 2019-24. He worked with the team's running backs in 2019 and the wide receivers from 2020-24, and also served as the program's recruiting coordinator in 2024.   Under Bunker's guidance, Brown led the Ivy League in receptions for four consecutive seasons and topped the conference in receiving yardage three times, including 2,907 yards in 2024. One of his players, Wes Rockett, was the runner-up for the Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year award. In 2019, Brown's rushing attack more than doubled its production from 65.1 to 153.4 yards per game.   Bunker coached running backs at Bryant University from 2017-18, helping the Bulldogs elevate their run game from 43.5 to 123.5 yards per game in 2017 and then to 155 yards per game in 2018. He coached two-time NEC Rookie of the Week Isaac McCray and recruited and coached running back Daniel Adeboboye, a CFL second round draft pick by the Toronto Argonauts and current player for the Ottawa Redblacks. In 2016, Bunker served as offensive quality control and assistant quarterbacks coach at Ivy League champion Princeton, mentoring future NFL quarterbacks John Lovett and Chad Kanoff. They won the Bushnell Cup and Second Team All-Ivy, respectively. He also previously interned with the NFL's New England Patriots.   Bunker is a Topsfield, Mass., native and a Masconomet Regional High alumnus. A 2012 graduate of Amherst College, Bunker earned a bachelor's degree in American Studies and graduated cum laude. He captained the 2011 football team to an undefeated season and a New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship, earning NESCAC Offensive Player of the Year honors after rushing for 853 yards and 12 touchdowns in eight games.  

Recruiting Area: NYS Section 3 Chyron Brown-Wallace joined the Cortland coaching staff as defensive line coach in 2025. Brown-Wallace coached the defensive line at Franklin & Marshall College for two seasons from 2023-24. F&M finished fourth nationally in Division III in total defense (227.1 yards per game) and was ninth in rushing defense (62.3 yards per game) in 2024. That season the Diplomats also surpassed the 30-sack mark as a team for the first time since 2018, and the team featured two All-Centennial Conference defensive linemen in Jeff Decker (first team) and Quincy Long (second team). Brown-Wallace joined the F&M coaching staff after spending two seasons as a graduate assistant at Rutgers University, where he was responsible for defensive linemen. He was part of a staff that helped Rutgers earned a selection to the 2021 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl - the program's first postseason appearance in seven seasons. He also served as an assistant coach at Carleton College in Minnesota in 2020, at Eastridge High School in the Rochester area in 2019, and at his alma mater, St. Lawrence University, from 2017-18.   A Rochester native, Brown-Wallace was a standout player at St. Lawrence from 2013-16. As a senior he was the top Division III vote recipient for the prestigious Cliff Harris Award, given to the country's top small college defensive player. That season he also earned D3football.com and American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) All-America honors, along with the Liberty League Defensive Player of the Year award, and he was an AFCA All-American in 2015. He finished his career with 196 tackles, 61 for loss (including 30 sacks), along with six forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries and three blocked kicks in 38 games. He earned a bachelor's degree in sociology in 2017 and a master's degree in education, also from St. Lawrence, in 2019.  

Recruiting Areas: NYS Sections 5, 7 and 10 Joe Mack was named Cortland's wide receivers coach in 2025. He previously served as running backs coach in 2023 and 2024 and as a student assistant coach working with quarterbacks in the fall of 2021 and fall of 2022. During its 2023 national championship season, Cortland set a school single-season record with 3,373 rushing yards and featured an All-America running back. The Red Dragons ranked 18th nationally in Division III with 224.9 rushing yards per contest. A native of Dryden, NY., Mack was a quarterback with the Red Dragons in 2019 and 2020. He graduated in the spring of 2023 with a bachelor's degree in physical education. Mack graduated from Dryden High School in 2019. He was a three-year football starter, and as a senior he set a school single-game completions record, earned first team Class C honors and played in the Ernie Davis Football All-Star game. Mack also lettered in basketball for two seasons and competed in indoor track and field for a year. Mack's father, Joe, is a Cortland alumnus and former Cortland quarterback, and his mother, Kori, also graduated from Cortland. In addition, Mack's grandfather, Joseph Mack, played football at South Carolina and Lock Haven.  

Recruiting Area: NYS Section 4 Mark Sanchez joined the Cortland coaching staff working with the team's offensive line in 2025. Sanchez comes to Cortland from Lake Forest University in Illinois, where he coached the offensive line during the 2024 season. The Foresters finished the season 10-1, including a 10-0 regular-season mark and one of the top-eight seeds in the NCAA Division III tournament. Lake Forest averaged 40.1 points and 415.5 yards of total offense per game, set a team record with 36 rushing touchdowns and allowed just 15 sacks in 11 games. Two of the team's offensive linemen earned D3football.com all-region honors.   Sanchez spent three seasons as an assistant coach and assistant athletic director at NSU University School in Davie, Florida. A graduate of SUNY Brockport, Sanchez served as an assistant coach with the Golden Eagles, working with the offensive line in 2018 and with fullbacks and tight ends in 2019. The Golden Eagles won Empire 8 titles and advanced to the NCAA Division III tournament second round in both of those seasons.   Sanchez started at center over 35 games for Brockport in four seasons from 2014-17. During his senior year in 2017, the Golden Eagles finished 13-1, including a 7-0 mark to win the Empire 8 crown, and advanced to the NCAA semifinals. He served as a team captain and earned D3football.com honorable mention All-America honors. Sanchez was a four-time All-Empire 8 selection, including first team honors as a junior and a senior. He graduated in 2018 with a bachelor's degree in sports management and a minor in coaching.   A native of Castle Hill, N.Y., in the Bronx, Sanchez is a 2014 graduate of Harry S. Truman High. He earned all-conference honors and was named the team's Most Valuable Lineman.

Matt Scully joined the Cortland coaching staff in 2025 and coaches the team's outside linebackers. Scully came to Cortland staff after a standout playing career at Franklin & Marshall College, where he earned All-Centennial Conference honors three times and was a 2024 National Football Foundation Hampshire Honor Society recipient.   Scully started 11 games at linebacker as both a senior in 2024 and as a junior in 2023. In his senior season he was named to All-Centennial Conference first team after recording 43 tackles and 10 pass breakups. He also averaged 19.4 yards on seven kickoff returns and took over team punting duties during the season and averaged 34.2 yards on 11 punts. In his junior year he was chosen to the all-league second team, leading the Diplomats with 70 tackles, 10 for loss, and totaling two interceptions and eight pass breakups.   In 2022, Scully played in 10 games in the secondary and as a returner and finished the season with 48 tackles, two interceptions, one for a touchdown, eight pass breakups and a blocked kick. He earned honorable mention All-Centennial honors as a freshman as a returner after setting a school record with 27.4 yards per kickoff return, highlighted by a 95-yard touchdown versus Gettysburg. In 42 career games, Scully registered 174 tackles, including 18.5 for loss (6.5 sacks), four interceptions, 26 pass breakups, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and two blocked kicks.   Scully graduated from F&M in 2025 with a bachelor's degree in biology. The Farmingdale, N.J., native is a 2021 alumnus of Colts Neck High School, where he was a captain and three-year starter in both football and lacrosse. He earned all-division football honors on two occasions.