Steven P. Tosches (born ) is an American former

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

coach. He was the head coach at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

from 1987 to 1999. Tosches had previously served as an assistant on the coaching staffs at Princeton, the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universities, flagshi ...

, and the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of the state of Rhode Island ...

. He played college football as a quarterback at

Idaho State , mottoeng = "The truth will set you free" , established = , former_names = Academy of Idaho(1901–1915)Idaho Technical Institute(1915–1927)University of Idaho—Southern Branch(1927–1947)Idaho State ...

and

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

Early life and playing career

Tosches attended Westhill High School in

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 ...

, and played on the football team as a

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

. In 1973, the Connecticut Chapter of the National Football Hall of Fame honored Tosches as a scholar-athlete.

Idaho State

He attended college at

Idaho State University , mottoeng = "The truth will set you free" , established = , former_names = Academy of Idaho(1901–1915)Idaho Technical Institute(1915–1927)University of Idaho—Southern Branch(1927–1947)Idaho State ...

, where as a freshman, he played

on the

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

in 1974.

Rhode Island

He transferred to the

in 1976 to follow his head coach, Bob Griffin.Princeton turned to Tosches when it needed courage
''Providence Journal'', September 18, 1987. After sitting out one season due to

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

transfer rules, Tosches played on the

from 1977 to 1978. In his final season, he earned places on the All-Yankee Conference, All-New England and All-East Division I-AA teams.Tosches has brought success to Tigers football in 13-year tenure
''The Daily Pennsylvanian'', November 6, 1999. He compiled 2,693 passing yards at Rhode Island and 4,772 over the course of his career.
, University of Rhode Island, retrieved January 16, 2011. Tosches graduated from URI in 1979.''2005 Rhode Island Football Media Guide'', p. 106.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Tosches spent one season playing professional football for the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL).

Coaching career

Early years

Tosches began his coaching career as an assistant under his former college coach Bob Griffin at

in 1980. He was responsible for the team's offensive

backfield The offensive backfield is the area of an American football field behind the line of scrimmage. The offensive backfield can also refer to members of offense who begin plays behind the line, typically including any backs on the field, such as the q ...

.Tosches Named Interim Coach At Princeton
''Schenectady Gazette'', August 11, 1987. The following year, he took a job on the staff of head coach

Ron Rogerson Ronald A. Rogerson (June 27, 1943 – August 8, 1987) was an American football coach. He was the head coach of the Maine Black Bears football team from 1981 to 1984 and the Princeton Tigers football team from 1985 to 1986. He compiled a 26–36� ...

at the

, where he served as the

wide receivers coach In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, assistant coach, and the Offensive coordinator, offensive and Defensive c ...

. By 1984, Tosches had been promoted to the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

position at Maine.

Princeton

Tosches followed Rogerson to

as his

. On August 8, 1987, Rogerson died of a heart attack while jogging at the age of 44, and Tosches was promoted as his replacement.Tosches starts well in job he didn't want
''Daily News'', September 23, 1987. He led the Tigers to the

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schools ...

championship in 1989, 1992, and 1995. After the 1989 season, he was awarded the Scott M. Whitelaw Trophy as the Eastern Division I-AA Coach of the Year. Tosches coached the Ivy League Senior All-Stars in the 1993 Epson Ivy Bowl in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. He failed to achieve a winning season from 1996 to 1999, and posted a 17–23 record over that period. Princeton fired Tosches in November 1999 and bought out the remaining time left on his contract.Football: Nationwide search for new football coach underway
''The Daily Princetonian'', December 2, 2009.

Honors

Tosches was inducted into the University of Rhode Island Athletic Hall of Fame in 1996.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tosches, Steve 1950s births Living people American football quarterbacks Players of Canadian football from Connecticut Canadian football quarterbacks Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Idaho State Bengals football players Maine Black Bears football coaches Princeton Tigers football coaches Rhode Island Rams football coaches Rhode Island Rams football players Sportspeople from Stamford, Connecticut Coaches of American football from Connecticut Players of American football from Fairfield County, Connecticut