Tony DeMeo (born July 5, 1948) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach. He served as the head football coach at

Iona College Iona University is a private Roman Catholic university with a main campus in New Rochelle, New York. It was founded in 1940 by the Congregation of Christian Brothers and occupies a campus of in New Rochelle and a campus of in Bronxville, ...

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state of ...

from 1975 to 1978, Mercyhurst College—now known as

Mercyhurst University (Seize the day) , former_names = Mercyhurst College (1926–2012) , established = , type = Private university , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic (Sisters of Mercy) , endowment = $31.8 million , faculty = 136 full-time , administrat ...

—in

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

from 1981 to 1987,

Washburn University Washburn University (WU) is a public university in Topeka, Kansas, United States. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and business. Washburn has 550 faculty members, who teach more than 6,100 ...

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ; Kansa language, Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the Capital (political), capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the County seat, seat of Shawnee County, Kansas, Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the ...

from 1994 to 2001, and the

University of Charleston The University of Charleston (UC) is a private non-profit university with its main campus in Charleston, West Virginia. The university also has a location in Beckley, West Virginia, known as UC-Beckley. History The school was founded in 1888 as ...

Charleston, West Virginia Charleston is the capital and List of cities in West Virginia, most populous city of West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Elk River (West Virginia), Elk and Kanawha River, Kanawha rivers, the city had a population of 48,864 at the 20 ...

from 2005 to 2010. DeMeo also worked as 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 ...

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...

(1988),

James Madison University James Madison University (JMU, Madison, or James Madison) is a public research university in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Founded in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg, the institution was renamed Madison Coll ...

(1990),

Murray State University Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper level and graduate courses in Paducah, H ...

(1992), and the

University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a private liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approximately 4,350 undergraduate and graduate students in five schools: the School ...

(2002–2004). He was an assistant football coach at

Pace University Pace University is a private university with its main campus in New York City and secondary campuses in Westchester County, New York. It was established in 1906 by the brothers Homer St. Clair Pace and Charles A. Pace as a business school. Pace ...

(1973–1974), the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

(1979–1980), the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...

(1989) and the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...

(1991).

Coaching career

DeMeo began his head coaching career at his alma mater,

. He compiled a 22–10–2 record at Iona and was twice named Metropolitan area coach of the year (1976 and 1977). DeMeo was inducted into the Iona College Hall of Fame in 1997 for his affiliation with two undefeated teams: first as a player in 1967 and then as the head coach in 1977. DeMeo moved to the

in 1979 to serve as backfield coach for the

Penn Quakers football The Penn Quakers football program is the college football team at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. The Penn Quakers have competed in the Ivy League since its inaugural season of 1956, and are a Division I Football Championship ...

team on the staff of head coach

Harry Gamble Harry T. Gamble (December 26, 1930 – January 28, 2014) was an American football coach and executive. He was the head coach at the Lafayette College and University of Pennsylvania and general manager of the Philadelphia Eagles. Early life and ...

. In March 1981, DeMeo was hired as the first head coach for the new football team at Mercyhurst College—now known as

. In seven seasons at Mercyhurst, he led the Lakers to a record of 41–21–2. DeMeo was named Eastern Intercollegiate Athletic Association Coach of the Year in 1985. He was inducted into the Mercyhurst University Hall of Fame in 2017. DeMeo was the 39th head football coach at

, serving for eight seasons, from 1994 to 2001, and compiling record of 31–54. His 31 wins are third-most among head coaches in Washburn's history, behind

Ernest Bearg Ernest Elmer Bearg (July 20, 1893 – August 24, 1971) was an American football and basketball coach. He served as the head football coach at Washburn University from 1918 to 1919 and again from 1929 to 1935 and the University of Nebraska–Lincol ...

and

Craig Schurig Craig Schurig (born March 2, 1965) is an American football coach and former player. He is the current head football coach for Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas and he held that position since the 2002 season. He is the 40th person to hold the ...

. After leading Washburn to a 6–5 record in 1999, the program's first winning season in over 10 years, and DeMeo was named

Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) is a List of NCAA conferences, college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the NCAA Division II, Division II level, headquartered ...

(MIAA) Coach of the Year. DeMeo coached at the

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

from 2005 to 2010. His Golden Eagles finished the 2007 season with an 8–3 record and ranked ninth in the Northeast Region of Division II. Charleston tied for second place in the

West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) was a collegiate athletic conference which historically operated exclusively in the state of West Virginia, but briefly had one Kentucky member in its early years, and expanded into Pe ...

(WVIAC).Tony DeMeo

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Demeo, Tony 1948 births Living people American football defensive backs American football running backs Charleston Golden Eagles football coaches Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football coaches James Madison Dukes football coaches Iona Gaels football coaches Iona Gaels football players Mercyhurst Lakers football coaches Murray State Racers football coaches Pace Setters football coaches Penn Quakers football coaches Richmond Spiders football coaches Temple Owls football coaches UMass Minutemen football coaches Washburn Ichabods football coaches People from Pelham, New York Sportspeople from Westchester County, New York Coaches of American football from New York (state) Players of American football from New York (state)