The Albany Great Danes and Greg Gattuso have agreed to a two-year extension that keeps him with the school through the 2026 season. Gattuso recently led Albany to the school’s best season as they reached the FCS Semifinals before losing to eventual National Champions South Dakota State.
Before Gattuso took over in 2014, he was the head coach at Duquesne from 1993 through 2004 where he amassed a 97-32 record in 12 seasons. When he took the reins at Duquesne in 1993, the football program was moving up from the NCAA Division III level and the 1993 campaign was his only losing season with the Dukes. He had 11 straight winning seasons and parlayed that success into assistant coaching jobs at the FBS level with Pittsburgh and Maryland from 2005 through 2013.
Gattuso’s tenure at Albany followed Bob Ford’s 44 seasons in charge of the football program. 2013 was Ford’s last season as head coach and the first season that Albany played in the CAA after 14 years in the Northeast Conference. Gattuso had winning seasons in two of his first five years, finally breaking through and into the FCS Playoffs in 2019. Albany won the first-round game 42-14 against Central Connecticut State but lost the next round versus Montana State 47-21.
After three straight losing seasons from 2020 through 2022, Albany returned to the FCS Playoffs in 2023. The Danes were co-champions of the CAA and awarded the 5th seed in the bracket. After dispatching fellow CAA foe Richmond 41-13 in the second round, they traveled to Idaho for the quarterfinals where they won 30-22. The run ended in the semifinals with South Dakota State showcasing a dominant performance in a 59-0 rout. Albany finished 11-4 in 2023 with 11 wins marking the most as an FCS member, won their first conference championship as a member of the CAA, and Gattuso took home the AFCA FCS Coach of the Year honors.
Photo Credit to the University at Albany Athletics
