Jerry McConnell was named the William R. Wagner Head Coach of Sprint Football following the 2019 season.
Penn won three games in 2022, going 2-1 in CSFL South division play, once again playing Navy with a chance at a divisional title. 11 players earned spots on All-CSFL teams while McConnell mentored his second consecutive Special Teams Player of the Year in Adrian Montemayor. Freshman wide receiver Brandon Graves was the Quakers' lone first-team representative.
The Quakers went 5-2 in McConnell's first year as head coach in 2021. After dropping the season opener at Army West Point, Penn reeled off five consecutive victories, outscoring teams 252-52 during that stretch. 12 players earned All-CSFL honors with seven—Brendan McCaffrey, Laquan McKever, Ben Klaus, Max Khozozian, Kaden Stenger, Lewis Evans and Jake Inserra—earning first-team honors. McCaffrey was tabbed as CSFL Special Teams Player of the Year.
McConnell was promoted after serving 12 years on the sprint football coaching staff as the offensive coordinator. Starting in 2007, McConnell’s offense helped propel Penn to two Collegiate Sprint Football League (CSFL) championships (2010, ’16) and has produced three CSFL MVPs—running back Mike Bagnoli in 2010, two-time honoree Mike McCurdy (2015-16), and most recently quarterback Eddie Jenkins in 2019.
In his 12 years as a member of the coaching staff, the Quakers have had 112 offensive players receive All-CSFL selections with 40 of those players receiving first-team honors. Over McConnell’s 12 years, Penn led the CSFL in total offense four times (2009, ’13, ’17, '19).
Individually, the league’s leading rusher has come from Penn three times (2007, ’09, ‘10) and the leading passer has represented the Quakers five years, including a three-year stretch from 2015-17.
Before coming to Penn, McConnell served as head coach at Holy Cross High School in New Jersey for three seasons. While at Holy Cross, he compiled a 26-8 record and won two conference titles. McConnell also spent two years as an assistant at Temple (1991-92), five years at Rowan (1993-97), and one season at La Salle (2001).
McConnell and his wife Pat have four children and five grandchildren. Three of his children are heavily involved with athletics. His daughter, Katie is the head women's lacrosse coach at Lafayette. His son, Tim is a special teams coordinator at South Carolina. His son, Frank is an offensive line coach with the Penn sprint football team. Jerry and Pat reside in Ocean City, N.J.
