Finalists Named For Titans' Head Football Coaching Position
Following the review of applicants, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh officials will be interviewing three finalists for the school's head football coaching position.
The search and screen committee, along with director of athletics Allen Ackerman, has named UW-Oshkosh interim head coach Pat Cerroni, University of South Dakota assistant coach Todd Hoffner and former Oakland Raiders assistant coach Darryl Sims as finalists. All three candidates will be on campus during the next 10 days for interviews with the search and screen committee, team members, athletics staff and university administrators.
Cerroni served as UW-Oshkosh's interim head coach this past fall and guided the Titans to a 7-3 record and a third-place finish in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC). It was the Titans' highest finish in the WIAC standings since 1976 and just their sixth seven-win season in the 113-year history of the program.
Since 2000, Cerroni has been the defensive coordinator at UW-Oshkosh, with his units ranking second in the WIAC in total defense in each of the past five seasons. This past year, the Titans ranked 17th in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III in scoring defense (15.0), 22nd in pass efficiency defense (93.6) and 52nd in total defense (297.5). The Carroll College graduate and Johnson Creek native came to UW-Oshkosh following three seasons as the head football coach at Menomonee Falls High School.
Hoffner recently completed his second season as the offensive coordinator at the University of South Dakota. The Coyotes posted a 6-5 record this past fall and ranked seventh in the NCAA Division II in total offense (496.2), eighth in rushing offense (263.5) and 41st in scoring offense (31.4). In 2006, the University of South Dakota compiled a 9-4 record and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division II Championship. Hoffner directed an offense that season that ranked fourth in the NCAA Division II in rushing offense (253.4), fifth in total offense (427.5) and 15th in scoring offense (32.3).
Before arriving at the University of South Dakota, Hoffner was the head coach at UW-Eau Claire from 1999-2005. He led the Blugolds to a 42-28 record, including six consecutive winning seasons in the WIAC. His 2001 squad compiled an 8-2 record and tied for the WIAC title. Prior to his position at UW-Eau Claire, the Valley City State University (N.D.) graduate and Esmond, N.D., native was as an assistant coach at UW-Stevens Point from 1991-98.
After spending the 2006 season as an assistant defensive line coach for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League (NFL), Sims returned to UW-Oshkosh this past September to direct the fundraising efforts for the Oshkosh Sports Complex. Sims previously worked with the UW-Oshkosh Foundation from 2001-05 and the UW-Oshkosh football team as an assistant coach from 1999-2000. He is a 2003 graduate of UW-Oshkosh.
Sims was a two-time All-Big Ten selection as a defensive end for the University of Wisconsin football team in the early 1980s. In 1985, he was the 21st player selected in the first round of the NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. After playing 32 games over two seasons for the Steelers, Sims joined the Cleveland Browns in 1987. The Winston-Salem, N.C., native participated in 26 games over two seasons for the Browns before retiring in 1990.
Sims' coaching resume includes NFL preseason internships with the Baltimore Ravens, Oakland Raiders, New Orleans Saints, New York Jets and the Washington Redskins. Sims was also the defensive coordinator for the Amsterdam Admirals, which won World Bowl XIII in NFL Europe in 2005. He was the head coach of the Cologne Centurions of NFL Europe in 2006.
UW-Oshkosh plans to name a head football coach within the next two weeks. The position became available when Phil Meyer left UW-Oshkosh after seven seasons to become the offensive line coach at the University of Minnesota last spring.