Gattuso Named Inaugural Walter Camp FCS Coach of the Year
ALBANY, N.Y. (March 21, 2024) — UAlbany football head coach Greg Gattuso has been named as the inaugural winner of the Walter Camp FCS Coach of the Year award. This is the first year the Walter Camp Foundation has given this award.
Under Gattuso’s leadership, UAlbany’s 2023 season was the best in FCS program history. The Great Danes finished with an 11-4 overall record, going 7-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). UAlbany claimed its first-ever conference title, sharing it with Villanova and Richmond. The Great Danes defeated Villanova midway through the season, 31-10 at home, and took down Richmond, 41-13, in the second round of the FCS Playoffs.
UAlbany was awarded the NCAA’s No. 5 seed in the FCS playoffs and earned a first-round bye. Following its second-round win over Richmond, the Great Danes traveled to No. 4 Idaho and defeated the Vandals, 30-22. UAlbany’s 2023 season came to an end in the semifinals, falling to top-seeded and eventual national champion, South Dakota State.
"The Walter Camp Football Foundation is such a prestigious organization, I'm truly honored to receive their first ever FCS Coach of the Year award," said Gattuso. "As I've said before, awards like this showcase the hard work and dedication from both our staff and our student-athletes. Without them, this season wouldn't have been possible. I cannot thank the Walter Camp enough for the recognition given to this program."
In addition to being named the Walter Camp Football Foundation's FCS Coach of the Year this season, Gattuso has also been named the CAA Coach of the Year, AFCA FCS Coach of the Year, FCS Football Central Coach of the Year, ECAC Coach of the Year, and was the runner up for the Eddie Robinson Award.
The 2023 football team joined Field Hockey (2014) and Men's Lacrosse (2018) as the only programs in school history to reach an NCAA Division I National Semifinal.
The program also recently announced 21 new student athletes who will compete for the football team in 2024, including 11 transfers and 10 first-year students.
"After an incredible season, we found recruiting to be very robust. We’ve had great interest from many players," said Gattuso in announcing the signing. "We were able to put together a class that we feel will keep us competing for a CAA Championship. We’ve addressed needs in areas where we’ve lost players. At the end of the day, it’s a fast and athletic group of student-athletes."
Walter Camp, called the “The Father of American football,” first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp – a former Yale University athlete and football coach – is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and limiting the number of players on the field to 11 per side. The Walter Camp Football Foundation, a New Haven-based all-volunteer group, was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All-America team.