ITHACA, N.Y. -- Nick Quartaro, an accomplished coach with nearly 40 years of experience, has been named the Terry Cullen Head Coach of Sprint Football at Cornell University. His career spans from FBS Power Five schools to FCS and Division III programs, and it includes more than a quarter-century in senior leadership roles — head coach, associate head coach, assistant head coach and coordinator.
Quartaro takes over for legendary Big Red head coach Terry Cullen, who announced his retirement in January after 45 seasons as head coach and 58 years total with Cornell. The 2023 season will be the first with someone other than a member of the Cullen family directing the Big Red sprint football program since 1957.
"I am so pleased to welcome Nick Quartaro as our new Terry Cullen Head Coach for Sprint Football at Cornell University" said Dr. Nicki Moore, Meakem Smith Director of Athletics and Physical Education. "Among many qualified and interesting candidates, Nick distinguished himself with incredible football credentials, a deep appreciation for the educational mission of Cornell, and a proven commitment to coaching and mentoring student-athletes to become focused and successful competitors, strong teammates, and engaged leaders."
"Being a fan of college sports history, I am humbled and extremely proud to be named head coach of the Cornell Sprint Football team," Quartaro said. "This program began in 1937 and it was played by all of the Ivy League schools and so many others throughout the Northeast. It's obvious this program means a lot to the University and its alumni. Also, thanks to two legends, Terry Cullen and his father Bob. This program doesn't hire a new head coach very often, so that makes my appointment here very special."
Quartaro has served under such notable head coaches as College Football Hall of Fame inductee Bill Snyder at Kansas State, former college and NFL head coach Dennis Green at Northwestern, Dan McCarney, an Iowa State Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, and Mark Mangino, a National Coach of the Year at Kansas.
"Coach Q's experience as an FCS head coach, as an assistant at the highest level of college football, and as a passionate student of the game position him exceptionally well to build on the long and proud tradition of Sprint Football at Cornell," Moore said. "I believe in his ability to elevate this unique program's capacity to achieve competitive success and to make a positive impact on the campus and in the lives of our student-athletes and alumni. I'm confident he will be an exceptional Department of Athletics and Physical Education colleague as we work together to equip and launch healthy citizen leaders who win with others and love Cornell."
With a strong reputation as a builder of programs, Quartaro has played critical roles in elevating former struggling programs and raising them to new levels of success. After beginning his career at Hobart College and then spending a year as a head high school coach, Quartaro was hired by Dennis Green at Northwestern at just 25 years old. They inherited the nation's longest losing streak and quickly put a stop to that while elevating the program over five years in Evanston, Ill. As a defensive assistant and special teams coach, Quartaro mentored future longtime Buffalo Bills stars Steve Tasker and punter John Kidd.
Combining the experiences at Hobart and Northwestern, at age 30 Quartaro was tabbed as head coach at Drake University where he was charged with building a totally new non-scholarship program following the school having dropped their previous scholarship program. Hiring a new staff, and recruiting all new team members from high school and campus walk-ons, Quartaro effectively built the new program in three years. With only two seniors on the team, the Bulldogs posted a 7-3 mark in his final season.
Coach Snyder offered Quartaro an opportunity to be a part of history as a member of his original staff at Kansas State. Going into another school with the nation's longest losing streak, the Wildcat program was methodically and meticulously built for success. A Sports Illustrated cover story called the job done by Snyder and staff as "the greatest turn-around in the history of college football." Quartaro was promoted to assistant head coach in year two, then associate head coach in his third year. Another College Football Hall of Fame coach, Bob Stoops, served alongside Quartaro during his five years at Kansas State. During the rebuild, the Wildcats earned their first bowl game invitation and first bowl win ever during the Snyder era and a Top 20 national ranking.
Stoops, now the Head Coach of the XFL's Arlington Renegades, said, "This is a home-run hire. Coach Quartaro is highly intelligent, supremely experienced, and deeply connected to that part of the country. I had the good fortune to work with Nick at both Iowa and Kansas State and with Dr. Moore at the University of Oklahoma, and have no doubt they'll work great together to deliver a world-class experience for Cornell Sprint Football student-athletes."
Following his time at Kansas State, Quartaro was named head coach at Fordham University. In his four years in the Bronx, the Rams rose from winless to their very first winning record in the Patriot League (4-2) and defeated archrival Holy Cross in three of the four years. Quartaro coached a record-setting quarterback, Joe Moorhead, who has gone on to be head coach at Fordham, Mississippi State and Akron.
Former Iowa teammate Dan McCarney summoned Quartaro to help with a turn-around job already in progress at Iowa State. As assistant head coach, Quartaro joined a program McCarney had begun three years prior but had not yet gotten over the hump. During his four years, Quartaro helped the Cyclones continue their climb to success which resulted in beating in-state rival Iowa all four years and Iowa State earning its way to back-to-back bowl games.
Another rebuild followed at Kansas. In five years as the Jayhawk offensive coordinator/associate head coach, Kansas was bowl eligible three times and played in the Tangerine Bowl and the Fort Worth Bowl. It was in Fort Worth versus Houston that Quartaro's offense set several KU bowl game records. Jon Cornish, a future CFL Hall of Famer, led the Big 12 Conference in rushing that year with 1,457 yards.
Rounding out Quartaro's career was a five-year stint as assistant head coach at the University of North Texas which was highlighted by a 9-4 season including a Heart of Dallas Bowl win in 2013. He moved on to Rutgers University for three and a half years as director of player development, followed by another season assisting at Hobart helping the Statesmen to a 9-2 mark. Last spring, Quartaro served as head coach in the Italian Football League (American Football), heading up the Rhinos of Milan, Italy.
A four-year college football letterman, Quartaro played his freshman year at Xavier University but, when the school dropped its Division I program, he transferred to the University of Iowa for his next three years. There he earned All-Big Ten Academic Team honors and also received the Hawkeye team's Academic Achievement Award.
Quartaro and his wife Stephanie have two adult children, Andria and Tony (Nora), as well as three grandchildren.
