The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I. Its current 11 full members are located in four Northeastern states: Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Maryland. It was announced on October 23, 2023 that Sacred Heart University and Merrimack College will join the conference beginning in the 2024-25 season.
Mark Richard Grieb is a former Arena football quarterback who spent the majority of his career with the San Jose SaberCats of the Arena Football League (AFL). Grieb currently serves as the head coach of the Sacred Heart Prep Gators football team in Atherton, California. He was a 13-year veteran of the AFL, having played quarterback for the Anaheim Piranhas (1997) and San Jose SaberCats. Grieb also played in NFL Europe for the Scottish Claymores (1998) and in the XFL with the Las Vegas Outlaws (2001). Grieb is the second quarterback in AFL history to throw for over 47,000 yards, over 900 touchdowns, over 3,800 completions, and over 10,000 pass attempts. He officially retired on November 8, 2012. He played college football at University of California, Davis. Grieb passed for 48,080 yards between the Arena League, XFL and NFL Europe.
Johannes Nicolaas "John" van 't Schip is a Dutch football manager and former player who played as a winger, and is the current manager of Eredivisie club Ajax. Born in Canada, he played for the Netherlands national team for nine years. He spent his club career with Ajax, where they won four Eredivisie titles, a UEFA Cup and a European Cup Winners Cup, as well as Genoa. He was also a member of the Dutch side which won the 1988 European Championships.
Sean Curtis Green is an American former professional basketball player, a USA Triathlon-certified triathlon coach, and former head coach of the girls' basketball team at the Convent of the Sacred Heart Prep School. He presently resides in California, works in sports performance and hosts a podcast named The “Let Me Cook” podcast.
Nicholas Albert Giaquinto is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Miami Dolphins and the Washington Redskins, where head coach Joe Gibbs nicknamed him "The Trashman" for his ability to fill many roles on the team. During the 1983 season, Giaquinto played as the first H-Back in NFL history. He played in the 1982 and 1983 Super Bowls with the Redskins and retired after the 1983 season, ending his four-year NFL career. He played college football at the University of Connecticut and the University of Bridgeport. He holds the single-game rushing record at UConn of 277 yards, set in a 1976 game against Holy Cross. He attended Stratford High School in Stratford, Connecticut where he was an All-State and National High School All American selection in football.
Peter Lavorato is a former professional Canadian football player who played in the Canadian Football League for ten years. Lavorato played defensive back for the Edmonton Eskimos, BC Lions and Montreal Concordes from 1975 to 1984. He was part of five Grey Cup-winning teams for the Eskimos. Lavorato was an All-Star in 1977. He was a theatre arts major and played college football at Utah State University. He acted in professional theatre during his football career.
Tom Radulski is an American football coach and former player. He was the second head football coach at Sacred Heart University, serving from 1997 until he was fired midway thought the 1999 season, and compiling a record of 4–22. Radulski's first season was also the Pioneers' first in NCAA Division I-AA competition. In 1999, the Pioneers left the Eastern Football Conference to join the Northeast Conference.
Walter A. Czekaj was an American football coach. He served as the interim head football coach at Sacred Heart University for the final five games of the 1999 season following the firing of Tom Radulski.
Jim Fleming is an American college football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach at the University of Rhode Island (URI), a position he assumed in December 2013. Fleming served in the same capacity at Sacred Heart University (SHU) from 2000 to 2001 where he compiled a record of 21 wins and one loss. Prior to his appointment at URI, he was the defensive coordinator at the University of Central Florida (UCF) from 2012 to 2013.
Bill Lacey is an American former college football coach and player. He was the head football coach at Sacred Heart University from 2002 to 2003. He also coached for Muhlenberg, Wagner, Bates, and Villanova. He played college football for Villanova as an offensive tackle.
Paul Gorham was an American football coach and player. He was the head coach for the Sacred Heart Pioneers from 2004 to 2011. Gorham worked on the football staffs at Brown, New Hampshire, New Haven and UMass as an assistant coach. Gorham died on June 9, 2018, at age 57.
The 2012 Sacred Heart Pioneers football team represented Sacred Heart University in the 2012 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by first year interim head coach Mark Nofri and played their home games at Campus Field. They are a member of the Northeast Conference. They finished the season 2–9, 1–7 in NEC play to finish in last place.
The 2013 Sacred Heart Pioneers football team represented Sacred Heart University in the 2013 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by head coach Mark Nofri in his first official year as head coach after serving as the interim head coach in 2012. They played their home games at Campus Field and were a member of the Northeast Conference. The Pioneers finished the season 10–3, 4–2 in NEC play to share the NEC championship with Duquesne. Due to their win over Dequesne, they earned the conference's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs, their first ever playoff appearance, where they were defeated in the first round by Fordham.
Adam Fuller is an American football coach. He is currently the defensive coordinator at Florida State University. He was previously the assistant head coach, linebackers coach, and special teams coordinator at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, prior to serving as defensive coordinator at the University of Memphis.
The 2018 Duquesne Dukes football team represented Duquesne University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by 14th-year head coach Jerry Schmitt and played their home games at Arthur J. Rooney Athletic Field. They played as a member of the Northeast Conference. They finished the season 9–4, 5–1 in NEC play to be NEC co-champions with Sacred Heart. Due to their head-to-head win over Sacred Heart, they received the NEC's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs where they defeated Towson in the first round before losing in the second round to South Dakota State.
The 2018 Sacred Heart Pioneers football team represented Sacred Heart University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by sixth-year head coach Mark Nofri and played their home games at Campus Field. They were a member of the Northeast Conference. They finished the season 7–4, 5–1 in NEC play to be NEC co-champions with Duquesne. Due to their head-to-head loss to Duquesne, they did not receive the NEC's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs and did not receive and at-large bid.
Eugene L. Murphy was an American football player and coach. He attended Columbia Prep in Portland, Oregon. He played college football for Knute Rockne's Notre Dame Fighting Irish football teams in 1921 and 1922. He coached high school football at the then Sacred Heart College in San Francisco for the 1925 season. In June 1927, he was hired as the athletic director and head football and baseball coach at Columbia University (renamed the University of Portland in 1935. He held that position for 10 years from 1927 to 1936. He retired in December 1936 to enter private business. He was posthumously inducted into the University of Portland Hall of Fame in 1991.
The 2020 Sacred Heart Pioneers football team represented Sacred Heart University as a member of the Northeast Conference (NEC) in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by eighth-year head coach Mark Nofri and played their home games at Campus Field.
The 2021 Sacred Heart Pioneers football team represented Sacred Heart University as a member of the Northeast Conference (NEC) in the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Pioneers, led by ninth-year head coach Mark Nofri, played their home games at Campus Field.
Kenni Burns is an American college football coach and former player. He is the head coach for the Kent State Golden Flashes football team and the former running backs coach and assistant head coach for Minnesota Golden Gophers football.
