The University of Rochester football program is making headlines this winter—with a new head coach and an alumnus accepting a coaching job in the National Football League.
Chad Martinovich was named the 31st head coach in University history on January 23. A 1994 graduate of Hobart College in Geneva, New York, he spent the previous nine seasons as head coach at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Martinovich replaces Scott Greene, who stepped down last fall after 12 seasons.
“I’m honored and humbled to be recognized as the head football coach at the University of Rochester,” Martinovich said. “(Athletic director) George VanderZwaag and I share a vision for what the football program will become, and I cannot wait to get to work on the process of building it.”
The Yellowjackets begin their 130th varsity season at Case Western Reserve University on September 1.
Martinovich’s hiring followed the news that Brian Daboll ’97 has been named offensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills. Daboll won five Super Bowl rings as an assistant coach with the New England Patriots before becoming offensive coordinator at the University of Alabama in 2017 and helping the Crimson Tide win its fifth national championship in nine years.
“Brian did a tremendous job for us this past season, and I know he will do a great job for the Buffalo Bills,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said in a statement.
Daboll grew up in the Buffalo area and was a Bills fan. He majored in economics at Rochester and played two football seasons a safety before an injury in the 1995 season finale ended his playing days. Daboll spent his senior season as a student assistant before beginning his coaching career at The College of Willliam & Mary in 1997.
