When Tom Perkovich was at Division III Susquehanna (Pa.), he wore many hats as its head football coach.
“At the last place, I was doing everything. I was coaching the offensive line; being the head coach; I was helping out with equipment; helping out with all the different pieces,” Perkovich said.
While he’s no longer handing out helmets and shoulder pads as the head football coach at the University at Albany, he does have new hats to wear, which comes with being at a Division I-FCS program.
“The stuff that’s different for me is just more administrative, more interviews, more things you have to deal with on that stuff,” Perkovich said.
It’s the tasks he needs to get done in order to be able to do his favorite thing – coaching football. Whether it’s a game or a practice, Perkovich enjoys every minute of it.
“You want to do the things that [players] appreciate, right?” he said. “You want to make sure you’re pushing them to be ready for the real world.”
His path to coaching dates back to his days growing up in Tonawanda, just outside Buffalo, where he was a three-sport athlete. Perkovich went on to play football and basketball at nearby Canisius University, and was the first Golden Griffin to letter in both sports since 1949.
“It was a year-round deal and I loved it, and that was what I wanted to do. I loved every minute of it,” Perkovich said. “There’s no regrets at all from doing both.”
The idea of coaching came up after his freshman year, something he decided to pursue after graduation. He started at Muhlenberg (Pa.) College as a graduate assistant. Perkovich went on to be the Mules’ running backs coach, offensive line coach, special teams coordinator and offensive coordinator.
“Initially, I wanted to get into college coach and get my master’s [degree] paid for it, to be honest, not to take out any more debt from college, get my master’s paid for,” he said. “And then I just I got into it, and no matter how many hours I was working, I just absolutely fell in love with the profession.”
After catching the bug, Perkovich went on to coach at Holy Cross and Colgate before landing his first head coaching job at Susquehanna, where he won four consecutive conference championships.
“I was excited about going to work everyday. I was excited about helping young people,” Perkovich said.
He returned to his home state in December when Perkovich landed his first Division I head coaching job at UAlbany. So far, he’s led the Great Danes to a 3-3 start in his first season. UAlbany is coming off a 28-3 win over Delaware State.
“I don’t want to spin my wheels,” he said. “I want to make sure that we’re doing the things and really evaluating the things we’ve done well, not done well. And how do you get going in the right direction that you’re becoming one of the most consistent programs in our conference and in the country.”