meet the coaches
head coach jeff devanney
@COACHDEVANNEY
Jeff Devanney begins his 11th season as head football coach at Trinity College. Trinity hired Devanney, a 1993 graduate of the College, as its 27th head coach in December of 2005. He had been Trinity’s defensive coordinator in 2005, its special teams coordinator from 2001 to 2004, its secondary coach from 2002 to 2005, and its defensive line coach in 2001. Devanney has continued to coach the Bantam defensive backs each fall. In his rookie year at the helm, the Trinity defense surrendered just 54 points all season, and the Bantams have outscored their opponents, 2,014-861, in his 10-year tenure as head coach. Trinity was 7-1 in 2015, winning its four home games by a combined tally of 98-24, and finishing second in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC).
Devanney has a 67-13 record as a head coach that includes perfect 8-0 records in 2008 and 2012 and gives him the best winning percentage in the history of Trinity football at .838. The Bantams won or shared the NESCAC title from 2002 to 2005, in 2008, and 2012. Devanney was honored as the NESCAC Coach of the Year in 2008 and 2012, and also garnered the Gridiron Club's Division II/III New England Coach of the Year award in 2012. Devanney has seen 92 All-NESCAC selections from his teams the last eight years including the NESCAC Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year in 2008, the Defensive Player of the Year from 2010 to 2012, and the NESCAC Rookie of the Year in each of the last three autumns. A Devanney-coached Trinity player has been selected to participate in a National Senior All-Star Games in Mexico, Maryland, and Virginia in 10 of the last 11 years.
In Devanney’s 15 years on the Bantam staff, Trinity has been ranked No. 1 in total defense in the country five times and posted 21 shutouts. Last fall, the Bantams ranked No. 1 in the nation in red-zone defense (.458), third in scoring defense (10.1 ppg allowed) and pass efficiency defense (87.05), ninth in total defense (253.3 ypg), and 10 nationally in rushing defense (90.3 ypg). In 2014, Trinity finished sixth nationally in pass efficiency defense with a 90.3 rating for opposing quarterbacks and led the country in kickoff return average with 28.1 yards per attempt. In 2013, the Bantams allowed just 13.9 ppg (9th in nation), yielded 138 yards through the air per game (5th in nation), rushed for 281 yards per game (7th in nation), and held opponents to 254.8 yards per game (8th in nation) and an 80.8 pass efficiency rating (3rd in nation). Three seasons ago, Trinity yielded an NCAA Division III-low 195.5 yards per contest, and surrendered an NCAA Division III-low 8.1 points per game, allowed an NCAA Division III-low 53.6 yards per game on the ground, and posted an 84.68 defensive pass efficiency rating (4th in nation). Trinity also led the nation statistically in rushing defense (63.5 ypg), total defense (195.5 g), and scoring defense (8.13 ppg) while posting four shutouts in 2011, and finished first in the nation in rushing defense (45.50 ypg) in 2010. In 2006, Trinity led the country in scoring defense and total defense, and finished second nationally in pass efficiency defense (73.2 opponent efficiency rating).A star player in football and baseball for the College, Devanney was voted the NESCAC Football Defensive Player of the Year in 1992. He appears among the College’s all-time leaders in punt returns and stolen bases in baseball. Devanney earned his master’s degree in liberal studies from SUNY-Albany in 1995. Prior to Trinity, Devanney was the defensive coordinator at Central Connecticut State University from 1998-2000. He also served as a secondary coach at Georgia Tech and worked with the wide receivers and tight ends at Albany and Coast Guard. An associate professor in the Trinity athletic department, Devanney and his wife, Michele, their daughters, Shea and Caitlin, and their son, Sean, reside in Newington, Conn.
lew acquarulo
ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH / DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR / INSIDE LINEBACKERS
RECRUITING AREAS: CONNECTICUT, RHODE ISLAND
@COACHACQ
Associate Head Football Coach Lew Acquarulo, a Connecticut native, begins his 23rd season in college football, his 12th season as an assistant coach with the Bantams and his 11th as the defensive coordinator. Acquarulo coaches the inside linebackers and also coordinates the kicking game. In 2011, Acquarulo was named as the New England Division II/III Assistant Coach of the Year by the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston, after the Bantams boasted the top defense in all of NCAA Division III football.
Trinity led the nation statistically in three different defensive categories in 2011, having allowed just 63.5 rushing yards per game, 195.5 total yards per game, and 8.13 points per game. Trinity also claimed third place nationally in tackles for loss with 9.0 per contest, while posting shutouts in four of its eight games. Four seasons ago, Trinity yielded an NCAA Division III-low 195.5 yards per contest, and surrendered an NCAA Division III-low 8.1 points per game, allowed an NCAA Division III-low 53.6 yards per game on the ground, and posted an 84.68 defensive pass efficiency rating (4th in nation). In 2013, the Bantams allowed just 13.9 ppg (9th in nation), yielded 138 yards through the air per game (5th in nation), and held opponents to 254.8 yards per game (8th in nation) and an 80.8 pass efficiency rating (3rd in nation). In 2014, Trinity finished sixth nationally in pass efficiency defense with a 90.3 rating for opposing quarterbacks. Last fall, the Bantams ranked No. 1 in the nation in red-zone defense (.458), third in scoring defense (10.1 ppg allowed) and pass efficiency defense (87.05), ninth in total defense (253.3 ypg), and 10 nationally in rushing defense (90.3 ypg).
In his first year as defensive coordinator, the Bantams led the nation in scoring defense (6.8 points allowed per game) and total defense (160.0 yards allowed per game), and finished second nationally in pass efficiency defense (73.2 opponent efficiency rating). In 2007, the Trinity defense finished atop the league rankings in total defense, rushing defense, and sacks. Acquarulo’s rushing defense ranked 15th nationally in 2008 (86.88 yards/game) and Trinity allowed just 140 points to tie for first in the NESCAC. Trinity finished sixth in the nation in rushing defense (68 ypg), fifth nationally in tackles for loss (9.38 per game), and second in the country in sacks (3.88 per game) that year. The Trinity defense boasts 44 All-NESCAC defensive players in the last eight years, including 2008 NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year Tyler Berry, 2009 and 2010 NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year Walter Fallas, and 2012 NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year Rae Haynes.
Acquarulo arrived at Trinity in 2005 after serving as the defensive coordinator and strength and conditioning coordinator at the University of Rochester from 2001 to 2004. Prior to Rochester, Acquarulo coached the outside linebackers and special teams at the University of Pennsylvania for three years, linebackers and special teams at Southern Connecticut State University for two years, and the defensive line and linebackers at Union College. He was also the strength coach at both Southern Connecticut and Union. Acquarulo coordinates the Trinity football academic program, and is an assistant professor in the College's athletic department. Acquarulo earned a bachelor’s degree from Union College, where he helped the football team win an ECAC Championship, earn two NCAA championship bids, and post undefeated seasons in 1991 and 1993 as a starting defensive lineman. Acquarulo was recognized by Union for outstanding team leadership with the Ronald F. Plumb Award at the conclusion of his playing career. He also holds a master’s degree from Trinity in American Studies.
mark melnitsky
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR/OFFENSIVE LINE
RECRUITING AREA: MASSACHUSETTS
@COACHMELNITSKY
Mark Melnitsky begins the 11th season of his second stint as an assistant coach for the Bantams, and will serves as offensive coordinator for the sixth year. Melnitsky, who has coached and continues to coach the Bantam offensive line since his return to Trinity in 2006, mentored Trinity's tight ends and wide receivers as a graduate assistant in 1998 and 1999.
The Bantam offensive line led the nation in sacks allowed (two) in 2006 under his watch. The Trinity offense topped the NESCAC and ranked seventh nationally in rushing (281 ypg) while also topping the league with 465 yards in total offense per game (2nd-most in College history), 35.1 ppg, and a 152.8 pass efficiency in 2012. In 2013, the Bantams again led the conference in scoring with 32.4 ppg. No less than 21 Melnitsky-coached offensive lineman have made the All-NESCAC Teams in the last 10 seasons.
Melnitsky was previously the offensive line coach at Fordham University in 2004 and 2005, and served as both the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Widener University in 2003 and Ursinus College in 2001 and 2002. Prior to Ursinus, Melnitsky served as an assistant offensive line coach at the University of Pennsylvania in 2000.
Melnitsky earned his bachelor’s degree in government from Hamilton College in 1997, where he was a four-year letterwinner at inside linebacker and captain as a senior, and added a master’s degree in American Studies from Trinity in 2009. Melnitsky is also an assistant professor in the Trinity athletic department. He has two daughters, Charlotte and Julia, and resides in Avon.