Jeff Devanney begins begins his fourth 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, 664-316, in his three-year tenure as head coach.

Devanney has a 21-3 record as a head coach, and enters the 2009 season in the midst of a 10-game winning streak dating back to November of 2007. The Bantams have not lost a game at home since 2001, a streak of 31 straight games. With a young squad of 52 underclassmen and 24 upperclassmen, Devanney led his team to a perfect 8-0 record and outscored its opponents, 227-140, en route to a NESCAC Championship. Devanney, the 2008 NESCAC Coach of the Year, has seen 39 All-NESCAC team selections from his teams the last three years including the NESCAC Offensive (Eric McGrath) and Defensive (Tyler Berry) Player of the Year last fall. Of 26 NESCAC Players of the Week honors in 2008, eight of them were awarded to Bantams.

In 2006, Trinity led the nation in scoring defense and total defense, and finished second nationally in pass efficiency defense (73.2 opponent efficiency rating) with Devanney as its coordinator. In Devanney's eight years on the Bantam staff, Trinity has been ranked No. 1 in total defense in the country four times and posted 17 shutouts. Devanney's defenses have produced the NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year in three of the last four autumns and a Trinity player has been selected to participate in the Aztec Bowl Senior All-Star Game in Cancun, Mexico in five of the last six years.

A 1993 Trinity graduate and 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. Devanney and his wife, Michele, their daughters, Shea and Caitlin, and their son, Sean, reside in Newington, Conn.

Lewis Acquarulo begins begins his fifth season as an assistant coach with the Bantams and his fourth as the defensive coordinator. He also coaches the linebackers and coordinates the kicking game. 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, Acquarulo's unit 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. The Bantams have held six of eight opponents under 18 points in both 2007 and 2008. Acquarulo has coached 13 All-NESCAC defensive players in the last two years, including 2008 NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year Tyler Berry.

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 earned a bachelor's degree from Union in 1994, 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. He and his wife, JoAnn, and their children, Lindsay, 6, and Jake, 2, reside in New Britain, Conn.

Chris Rorke begins his fourth season as the Trinity football offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, guiding one of the NESCAC's most prolific offenses. The Bantams have ranked No. 2 in the league in scoring and total offense each season since Rorke took over the offense in 2006. Trinity has scored more than 200 points in each of the last three seasons (2008, 227; 2007, 231; 2006, 206), and ranked 24th nationally in total offense last season.

In Trinity's last 12 home games, all victories, Trinity has scored more than 28 points eight times, and seven Bantam offensive players earned All-NESCAC honors last fall. The Bantams were the only team in the league to have five offensive players take player of the week honors, and quarterback Eric McGrath was named the 2008 NESCAC and the ECAC Offensive Player of the Year, and the Boston Globe New England Division II/III Gold Helmet Player of the Year.

Rorke came to Trinity after spending three seasons in the same position at Lehigh University, where he helped the Engineers win a Patriot League title in 2004 and lead the conference in scoring, total offense, and passing offense in 2004 and 2005. Two of Rorke's Lehigh quarterbacks finished ranked among the top 12 in the nation in pass efficiency. Also possessing Division III head coaching experience, Rorke coached Plymouth State University from 1999 to 2002 and guided the Panthers to a league title in 2001 and an ECAC Northeast Championship crown in 1999.

Prior to Plymouth State, Rorke was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, and also the head golf coach, at Illinois Wesleyan University. That team won a pair of league titles and reached the NCAA Division III Quarterfinals in 1996. He also served as the wide receivers coach for three years and as a graduate assistant for two seasons at 1990 NCAA Division I-A National Co-Champion Georgia Tech. Rorke earned his bachelor's degree in government from Dartmouth College in 1989, where he played quarterback for the football team. Rorke is also the coordinator of Trinity's fitness center and serves a physical education instructor.

Mark Melnitsky begins the fourth season of his second stint as an assistant coach for the Bantams. He will again coach the offensive line and serve as the team's recruiting coordinator. Melnitsky, who coached the Bantam offensive line, tight ends, and wide receivers as a graduate assistant in 1998 and 1999, helped the Bantams lead the nation in sacks allowed (two) in 2006. In his three seasons as assistant coach, Melnitsky's offensive line has allowed just 24 sacks. Two Bantam offensive lineman made the All-NESCAC First Team last fall.

Melnitsky returned to Trinity after spending the previous two years as the offensive line coach at Fordham University. He was also 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 2007. He and his wife, Megan, and their daughters, Charlotte, 6, and Julia, 1, reside in West Hartford.

Michael Blair enters his third season as an assistant coach at Trinity.  A 2006 graduate of the College with a bachelor's degree in history, Blair is now the defensive line coach and a strength and conditioning assistant, after coaching the outside linebackers last fall as a graduate assistant. Blair returned to his alma mater, after spending the 2006 season as an assistant defensive line coach at Williams College.  Blair is pursuing his master's degree in economics at Trinity.

Last season, Blair led a strong defensive line, ranking 15th nationally in rushing defense.  The defense recorded 49.5 tackles for a loss in 2008, and 73 tackles for a loss in 2007.  In addition, the defense recorded 16 sacks in 2008, good for fourth in the league, and 25 sacks in 2007, good for first in the league.  Five of the front seven from the 2008 roster will be returning for the 2009 campaign. 

Blair was an All-American football defensive lineman and wrestler at Trinity and was awarded the 2006 George Sheldon McCook Trophy as the College's top senior male athlete.  Blair was selected to the 2005 American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division III All-American First Team and as both the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston Division II/III and the NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year that year.  In addition, Blair was chosen for and played in the Aztec Bowl in his senior year as a member of the AFCA Division III All-Star Team.  A three-time all-league, a two-time All-ECAC and All-New England Division II/III selection, and the 2002 NESCAC Defensive Rookie of the Year, Blair set a Bantam record for career tackles for loss (37). He was also the first wrestler in New England to win four New England titles and to earn All-American honors four years in a row. He was also an All-New England shot-putter for the Trinity track and field team.

Denver Williams enters his second year as wide receivers coach on the Trinity staff, coming off a year in which two wide receivers were selected to the All-NESCAC team.  Williams owns seven years of coaching experience at the Division II and III levels and before Trinity was the wide receivers coach at Heidelberg College.  Williams played for Youngstown State University where his team won the NCAA Division I-AA National Championship in 1997. An All-State running back at Cadiz High School, Williams holds the school record for rushing yards as well as several state records for track and field. Williams has also served as the wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator at Ashland University, and the receivers coach, offensive coordinator, and recruiting coordinator at Ohio Northern University. Williams has also been heavily involved in the Ohio Special Olympics for several years.

Williams also serves as an assistant coach for the Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field team.

Tony Lucas enters his second season as an assistant coach for the Bantams and will coach the outside linebackers this fall after a successful season in his first year at Trinity.  An independent business owner and a former conflicts analyst, Lucas was a four-year letter winner in the defensive backfield at Columbia University, where he received a bachelor's degree in economics.  Lucas was also a three-sport star at Bloomfield High School in Connecticut, and was captain of all of them.  He earned all-state accolades in football and all-conference honors in football, baseball, and indoor track and field. As a senior at Bloomfield, he led his team to a state title and an undefeated season as the starting quarterback.

Joe Clark returns for his second season on the Bantam staff to coach the linebackers after an excellent year in 2008.  Clark, a 2007 graduate of Trinity, was a standout wide receiver in his years as a player, that included one year off the field with an injury and a senior campaign that saw him set three different College records in three different games.  Clark set new Trinity single game records for longest pass reception (99 yards), touchdowns (4), and yards per receptions (41.3).  He earned All-NESCAC honors as a senior and finished his Trinity career with 38 catches for 659 yards and 12 touchdowns.  Clark graduated with a degree in educational studies.

Samuel Pagano will coach the tight ends in his second year on the Bantam staff following a strong rookie campaign.  Pagano comes to Trinity after an All-American career at Div. 1A SUNY-Albany, where he earned a bachelor's degree in English. At Albany, Pagano was elected captain as a senior and earned both all-conference and All-American honors in 2006 and 2007.