New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
Marinelli has new title with Huskies
The UConn football team announced changes to Jim Mora's coaching staff, including a promotion for Connecticut native John Marinelli and the official hiring of former player Kashif Moore as wide receivers coach.
The announcements were made Friday. Mora has shuffled his staff and added coaches from the outside as the Huskies prepare for the 2023 season.
Marinelli, the former Greenwich High coach who served as the tight ends coach last season, has earned the expanded role of Pass Game Specialist and Executive Director of Recruiting on Offense. Marinelli will work with offensive coordinator Nick Charlton with the passing game and his recruiting role expands — he already serves as point man in recruiting within the state.
The tight ends coaching position will be filled internally by Christian Pace, who was an analyst last fall.
Special teams coordinator Doug Shearer will continue in his role while adding the responsibility of Recruiting Coordinator for the defensive side. Gordon Sammis will expand on his role as the offensive line coach by taking over Run Game Coordinator duties.
Andrew McClure, who served last season as a graduate assistant, has been named Director of Recruiting with a focus on the offense.
Former UConn linebacker Hunter Webb, who finished his playing career for the Huskies in 2022, has been named Director of Recruiting Operations. Webb played in every game in his sophomore and junior seasons and made 75 career tackles in 40 games.
Moore was officially announced as UConn's new wide receivers coach on Friday, although he was hired in January. Last season he served under the same position for Albany and he previously worked at Wesleyan.
Moore played four years for UConn from 2008 to 2011 and was named a captain in his final year. He caught 126 passes (which ranks within the top 10 all-time at UConn) for 1,699 yards and 13 touchdowns.
He played in UConn's New Year's bowl appearance against Oklahoma in the 2011 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.
After his senior season he was invited to the NFL Combine and went on to sign NFL contracts with the Cincinnati Bengals, Indianapolis Colts, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Kansas City Chiefs.
When his career as a player ended, Moore took his first coaching job Conard High in West Hartford in 2019 under his former UConn wide receivers coach Matt Cersosimo.
In 2020 he joined the Wesleyan coaching staff before becoming the Cornell running backs coach in 2021. He was hired by Albany in January 2022.
Friday's announcement also came with new faces in the program.
Mike Ryan, a 2011 UConn graduate, will be a defensive analyst with the linebackers. Ryan served on the defensive staff for eight seasons at Maine, and served as defensive coordinator under Charlton, who was Maine's head coach.
Nick Fiacable, from Slippery Rock, will be added as an analyst with a focus on special teams. Tyler Loftus will be an offensive analyst with the quarterbacks after serving as the tight ends coach at Rhode Island. Tim Hicks, a former assistant strength and conditioning coach at Washington State, joins the UConn's strength and conditioning staff in thr same role and will serve as the team's speed coach.
Justin Cumming-Morrow was announced as the Director of Football Operations after five seasons at Iowa State, including three as the assistant director of player development. Nick Green will come on as Director of Creative Content for Football after his experience as the assistant director of creative services at Stony Brook. Chris Satoh has been hired as the Director of Recruiting with a specific focus on the transfer portal, a new position. Satoh was at Rhode Island for six seasons and became a defensive assistant in 2018.