The Bucknell Bison have dismissed head coach Dave Cecchini after seven seasons. Cecchini went 24-48 overall and 13-26 in Patriot League games during his tenure.
Cecchini was named head coach in 2019 to replace Joe Susan. Susan went 38-61 in 9 seasons from 2010 through 2018, which included three winning seasons in 2011, 2013, and 2014. The Bison started Cecchini’s tenure with a 3-8 record in 2019. The 2020-21 COVID-impacted season saw Bucknell tie for the Patriot League’s South Division title and make the conference championship. The Bison lost that game 33-10 against Holy Cross to miss the FCS playoffs and finish 2-2.
Bucknell went 1-10 the following season, with the lone victory coming against Cornell. In 2022, they improved to 3-8 overall and made another improvement to 4-7 in 2023. In 2024, Bucknell went 6-6 overall, which included a 38-35 double overtime victory at the eventual conference champions, Lehigh. The two confernece losses they had came on the road by a combined margin of 3 points: Georgetown (21-20) and Holy Cross (40-38). Had the Bison won those games, they would have reached the FCS playoffs for the first time.
This year, Bucknell started 4-2, with losses against Air Force and Lehigh. Unfortunately, the Bison would lose five of the final six games to fall to 5-7 overall. The lone win came on the road at Fordham, while four of the five losses were by double digits.
Before taking the Bucknell role, Cecchini was the head coach at Valparaiso for five seasons from 2014 through 2018. He went 17-38 overall and 13-27 in PFL games. For his career, Cecchini is 41-86 overall and 26-53 in conference games.
Cecchini is the 10th FCS coaching change to occur in the current cycle. Albany (CAA), Cal Poly (Big Sky), Hampton (CAA), Penn (Ivy League), Portland State (Big Sky), Sacramento State (Big Sky), Samford (SoCon), Southern (SWAC), and Weber State (Big Sky) have also announced changes. The full list of changes can be found here.
Photo Credit to Bucknell University Athletics
