Frank Colaprete, the associate head coach at Johns Hopkins since May 2010 and defensive coordinator there for five seasons, has been selected the head football coach at The College of Wooster, athletic director Keith Beckett announced Thursday.
Colaprete becomes the 22nd head coach in the 115-year history of Fighting Scots' football, taking over for Mike Schmitz, who resigned in December after 13 seasons.
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| Frank Colaprete |
"I would like to thank Keith Beckett and the executive search committee as well as President (Grant) Cornwell and Provost (Carolyn) Newton for this opportunity," said Colaprete. "My family and I couldn't be happier to be part of The College of Wooster and the Wooster community."
"Everything, I've done personally and professionally has led me to this point," he continued. "And, The College of Wooster checks all the boxes for us ... being a head football coach ... at a top academic school ... with a proud winning tradition in athletics. It's in a beautiful community that has a great relationship with the College. We couldn't ask for anything more. This is a great opportunity and I can't wait to get started."
Colaprete spent two significant stints at Johns Hopkins, most recently the 2010-12 seasons when the Blue Jays won the Centennial Conference championship each year, reached the NCAA Div. III Football Championship field twice, and combined for a 28-6 record, as well as from 2001-06. His defenses were among the best in Div. III, as the 2012 unit ranked among the top-40 in total defense (306.6 ypg), scoring defense (17.8 ppg), and sacks (3.25 per game), and in 2011, they were top-25 in every major defensive category, including 10th in total yards allowed (243.3 ypg) and 12th in scoring (13.1 ppg). Also in the 2011 season, Johns Hopkins led the nation with seven academic all-district players.
Johns Hopkins won its first-ever CC title during Colaprete's second year there (2002) when he was the defensive backs coach, and the Blue Jays collected three more championships over the next three seasons, including 2005 when he was first promoted to defensive coordinator while also shifting to linebackers coach. From 2001-06, they went 47-16, the winningest six-year period in school history.
As defensive coordinator, Colaprete directly mentored two Academic All-Americans® – linebacker John Arena in 2012 and defensive back Jim Sanders in 2005 – and Johns Hopkins finished in the D3football.com top-25 poll twice, No. 18 in 2011 and No. 22 in 2012.
"I am elated with Frank's appointment as the next head football coach (here)," Beckett said. "Frank is a proven coach (who) understands balance and promotes excellence in the classroom and on the field. He is an innovative coach with proven results on the conference and national level. I am confident he will build upon the many fine traditions of Fighting Scots' athletics."
As a highly-successful coach at a similarly prestigious academic institution, Colaprete was exactly what Wooster was looking for.
"I'm excited that we have been able to bring in a person of Frank's qualifications and years of success as a coach," said Blake Moore '80, a three-time Academic All-American® at Wooster who went on to play for the Cincinnati Bengals and Green Bay Packers and currently serves as executive vice president of Mackenzie Investments. "I'm particularly impressed with the results he has been able to achieve working with a program that, like Wooster, holds its players to high standards both on the field and in the classroom."
Colaprete also spent three seasons (2007-09) at Georgetown University as defensive line coach, and prior to his 12-year stretch in the Baltimore/Washington D.C. metropolitan area, he was at one of Wooster's North Coast Athletic Conference peers, Allegheny College, for two seasons (1999-2000).
In addition to being very familiar with the NCAC, Colaprete has strong ties to northeast Ohio. A native of Youngstown (Cardinal Mooney High School), he graduated from John Carroll and has a master's degree from Kent State University.
Colaprete and his wife, Jessica, have an infant son, Dominic.