ITHACA, N.Y. — For more than four decades, one man led the Cornell University sprint football program. Terry Cullen spent 45 years as head coach of the Big Red, won 143 games and guided five of his teams to league titles. Counting his time as an assistant coach, he spent nearly 60 years with the program.
A new era officially begins on Friday.
Nick Quartaro, an experienced former Division I coach, became the Terry Cullen Head Coach of Sprint Football in May, a few months after Cullen announced his retirement. The well-traveled Quartaro's career has included stops at North Texas, Kansas, Iowa State, Northwestern and Kansas State, where he worked alongside College Football Hall of Famers Bill Snyder and Bob Stoops.
"I love the game," Quartaro said. "I am not in it to look for advancement. I just enjoy the game and enjoy teaching it. I think this is the ultimate classroom. This is a prestigious university. I am dealing with good kids. The support from the alumni is incredible — the program will always be here. You add up all of those things, and it was almost like it was meant to be.
"I tell the players all the time. I am trying to provide them with the best possible college football experience."
The Big Red went 1-6 last season, with its lone win coming over Chestnut Hill. Here's a look at this year's team ahead of Friday's season opener:
The 2023 Big Red:
Senior Cooper Wise and junior Chuck Snajdr-Trinch are the leading candidates to replace Xavier Martinez, who passed for 1,090 yards with seven touchdowns as the Big Red's starting quarterback last season. Snajdr-Trinch made one appearance at quarterback, while Wise mostly played defensive back. A member of Cornell's varsity team from 2019-21, he made nine total tackles, 3.5 tackles for a loss and forced a fumble in his first season with the sprint program.
At wide receiver, the Big Red will be led by Colin Boyle, who led Cornell in catches (21) and finished second in receiving yards (280) as a junior last season. Senior tight end Jacob MacGregor caught two passes for 22 yards and senior wide receiver Wally Chang had three receptions for 15 yards. Senior Will Anderson, who led Cornell with 42 tackles as a junior, switched to tight end.
Running back Ralph Fleuranvil returns for his senior season after leading the team and finishing third in the CSFL in rushing yards (341) in 2022. He had a career-high 68 yards against Chesnut Hill.
On the offensive line, Cornell returns seniors Will Savage and Nathan Eapen, junior Quinton Pezzino and sophomore Cullen Weber.
Defensively, Cornell returns junior linebacker Michael Mosier (24 tackles, one sack last season), junior safety Evan Nicholas (30 tackles, four pass breakups, one interception), senior linebacker/defensive end Billy Turner (32 tackles, 2.5 for a loss) and senior cornerback Jaden Queen. He led the team with eight pass breakups in 2022. Both Turner (second team) and Nicholas (honorable mention) were all-CSFL selections in 2022.
A look at the schedule:
Cornell opens the 2023 season at 6 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 15 at Schoellkopf Field against the Caldwell Cougars, who beat the Big Red 40-20 last October in New Jersey. Caldwell finished 5-2.
From there, Cornell has Penn (road, Sept. 22), Army West Point (home, Oct. 13), Mansfield (road, Oct. 21), Navy (home, Oct. 27) and St. Thomas Aquinas (home, Nov. 3) on the schedule. Navy has won back-to-back CSFL championships.
Series history against Caldwell:
Cornell and Caldwell have split four meetings in a series that began in 2017. The Cougars have won the last two meetings and return several key players from last year's team. On offense, that group includes quarterback Frank DeMaio, running back Devon Turner and wide receivers Jeremy Colon, Nadir Orsini, Mitchell Zaheir, Donovan Swasey and Jared Montoya. Defensively, the Cougars bring back defensive lineman Messiah Porter and defensive backs Amajuwan Murray, Gennaro Longobardi, Ethan Edwards and Kyle Readus.
Readus had a pair of interceptions in last year's 40-20 victory over the Big Red, returning one of them 80 yards for a touchdown. Caldwell amassed more than 300 yards and scored five of its touchdowns on the ground.
