Coaching Experience
• Sprint Football Director of Advancement and Alumni Engagement, Cornell (2023-)
• Head Coach, Cornell (1996-2022)
• Co-Head Coach, Cornell (1977-1995)
• Assistant Coach, Cornell (1964-1976)
Education
• B.A., Mathematics, Hobart (1964)
• M.B.A., Cornell (1966)
At Cornell
Terry Cullen serves as the Big Red's Sprint Football Director of Advancement and Alumni Engagement following nearly 60 years with the program. He has the second-longest coaching tenure in Cornell history (behind Jack Moakley's 50 years) .
Cullen was on the sidelines directing the Cornell Sprint Football team since 1964 and was the head coach from 1977 until he retired in 2022. He became The Terry Cullen Head Coach of Sprint Football when the position was endowed in the fall of 2001 by Jay Carter '71, ME '72 and his wife, Juliann Reisner Carter '71.
Cullen began his coaching career with sprint football in 1964 while pursuing an MBA at Cornell. Over his 55 year tenure as head coach, Cullen's teams combined for a 147-141-4 record and garnered six league championships. From 2010 through 2019, Cullen's teams racked up 32 wins in the College Sprint Football League.
The 2006 season will go down in the history books as one of the best the squad has ever had. The team captured a perfect 6-0 record on its way to the Big Red’s first CSFL title since 1986. And as well as having the league’s MVP in Jason Remillard, Cornell had 22 All-CSFL selections, including seven first-team picks.
Coaching Experience
Cullen's coaching background includes sprint football (1964-present) and freshman lacrosse (five years) at Cornell, Ithaca High School lacrosse (organized the first team in 1965), Ithaca College lacrosse (1970-71), the Upstate Lacrosse Club (1971-75), the Miller Brewery lacrosse team (1975-81, National Club Coach of the Year 1978), head coach of Team USA (1978) and the Ithaca summer lacrosse team (1968-1998). He also has coaching experience in baseball, hockey and squash.
Playing Experience
Cullen was raised in Ithaca, N.Y., where he played football and baseball in high school. He graduated from Hobart College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics in 1964. At Hobart, he was a four-year starter at quarterback in football (MVP-’63) and at midfield in lacrosse (Memorial Award-’64). He was also a letterman in basketball.
Personal
After earning his master of business administration degree from Cornell in 1966, Cullen did a 1967 tour in Vietnam as a Marine Corps infantry officer where he received both the Purple Heart and Silver Star. When he returned to Ithaca, he resumed his coaching career with his father, Bob Cullen. He served as offensive coordinator until 1977 when he assumed co-head coaching duties.
Cullen has been active as an official in basketball and lacrosse for over 30 years. He has officiated numerous championships at the high school, collegiate and international levels.
Cullen and his wife, Suzanne, have two children, two granddaughters and three grandsons.
Last Updated June 2023
