Tom Perkovich, who went 84-25 over 11 years at Division III Susquehanna, is the University at Albany’s new head football coach.
Susquehanna Sports Information
Looking to build a consistent winner, the University at Albany reached into the Division III ranks for its new head coach.
Tom Perkovich, who had resounding success at Susquehanna University, will try to accomplish the same in the Football Championship Subdivision.
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UAlbany announced Tuesday the hiring of Perkovich, who just completed his 11th year at Susquehanna in Selinsgrove, Pa. He was also the offensive line coach.
Perkovich was 84-25 at Susquehanna. The River Hawks appeared in the NCAA Division III playoffs for the past four seasons, including a 11-3 record and a quarterfinal appearance this season. They beat Liberty League champion Union College 33-14 in the opener in Selinsgrove. Last year, Susquehanna went 12-2 and reached the national semifinals.
The Great Danes are counting on Perkovich to bring back a FCS program that went 2-10 this season under interim head coach Jared Ambrose. UAlbany is 6-18 since reaching the FCS semifinals in 2023.
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“It is a tremendous honor to be named the head football coach at the University at Albany,” Perkovich said in a news release. “I want to sincerely thank President Dr. Havidán Rodríguez, Director of Athletics Mark Benson, and Deputy AD Vic Cegles for their trust and for the opportunity to lead this historic program. I have long admired the tradition of excellence established by Coach Ford and Coach Gattuso, and I am eager to build upon that foundation. My wife, Brandi, and our children are so excited to join the Capital Region community and call Albany home. I cannot wait to get to work and begin this next chapter of Great Dane football.”
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Perkovich, who is from Tonawanda, visited the UAlbany campus Dec. 15. He spoke to the UAlbany players in a Zoom call on Tuesday. He will be formally introduced in a news conference at Broadview Center after the New Year.
UAlbany athletic director Mark Benson has said he’s looking for more consistent success from the football program, which plays in the Coastal Athletic Association.
“We are thrilled to welcome Tom, Brandi, Georgia, Trey, and Reed Perkovich to the Great Dane family,” Benson said in the news release. “When we embarked on this search, we hoped to find someone who is a proven leader with sustained success. We found that in Coach Perk. He has a remarkable track record of building championship culture and developing student-athletes. A native New Yorker, he brings a strategic brilliance that aligns perfectly with our vision for the future of this program. We look forward to seeing him lead our young men and developing them into Great Leaders, Great Champions, Great Danes.”
Tom Perkovich, who went 84-25 over 11 years at Division III Susquehanna, is the University at Albany’s new head football coach.
Provided by Susquehanna Sports Information
Perkovich is a 2003 graduate of Canisius University, where he played on the football and basketball teams.
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He also served as an assistant coach at Division III Muhlenberg from 2003 to 2004 and 2006 to 2014, as well as FCS schools Holy Cross in 2005 and Colgate in 2006.
Perkovich will be UAlbany’s fourth head coach since the program was founded in 1973. Bob Ford led the Great Danes for their first 41 seasons, followed by Greg Gattuso for 11 years and Ambrose this season.
Ford retired in 2013 and Gattuso left to become an assistant coach at Penn State, his alma mater, last February. The Great Danes promoted Ambrose, the offensive coordinator, whose team struggled this season but upset 12th-ranked Monmouth in the season finale.
UAlbany upgraded from Division II to FCS in 1999 and moved from the Northeast Conference to the CAA in 2013. The Great Danes have reached the FCS playoffs three times, but haven’t had back-to-back winning seasons since joining the CAA.
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“We are thrilled to welcome Coach Perkovich and his family to the University at Albany community,” Rodriguez said in the news release. “His impressive track record of preparing his student athletes for success on and off the field will be a great fit at UAlbany. I am confident that his background and experience will resonate with our community.”
Perkovich takes over before the NCAA transfer portal opens Jan. 2. Since the season ended, the Great Danes had more than 20 players declare their intent to enter the portal, though Perkovich could try to talk at least some into returning.
There is SUNY precedent for a Division I football team hiring a coach straight from Division III. The University at Buffalo, a Football Bowl Subdivision program, hired Wisconsin-Whitewater’s Lance Leipold in 2014 after he won six Division III national championships.
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Leipold took Buffalo to three consecutive bowl games before leaving for the University of Kansas in 2020.