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| UW-Oshkosh finished the season 6-3, which used to be a tremendous year by program standards, but now the standards have been raised. Photo by Steve Frommell, d3photography.com |
Pat Cerroni, who spearheaded a program revival by winning more games, capturing more conference championships and earning more national postseason appearances than any football coach in UW-Oshkosh history, announced his retirement Monday, Nov. 29, after leading the Titans for 15 seasons.
Cerroni, just the sixth head football coach UW-Oshkosh has employed since 1946, has been reassigned to another position on campus and will serve that appointment until officially retiring from the university July 5, 2022.
"Twenty-one years ago, I walked onto this campus and never realized what an impact it would make of my life," Cerroni said. "It has been a great journey. In my time all decisions that we made were based on one simple question: 'What is the best for the football program?'
"It's never easy saying goodbye, and it's hard to know when the best time is to walk away. I feel in my heart this is the perfect opportunity and what is best. My wife and I have been discussing this for over a year and right now it feels right."
Cerroni replaced Phil Meyer as UW-Oshkosh's head coach in 2007 and compiled a 109-45 record (.707 winning percentage) with four Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships and five National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III postseason appearances. His 109 wins are the most by the 23 head coaches who have served the UW-Oshkosh football program during its 126-year history and seventh best among all WIAC head football coaches.
"I want to thank the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh administration for giving me the opportunity to be the school's head football coach the past 15 years," Cerroni said. "It has been an absolute honor to work here and represent this University.
"A big thank you to the Oshkosh community. Having the chance to raise my kids here and become a part of this great community of wonderful people was a blessing."
After inheriting a UW-Oshkosh program that won only 221 games and three conference championships during its previous 61 seasons, Cerroni led the Titans to each of their five Division III postseason appearances, including visits to the program's first national championship game in 2016, to the semifinals in both the school's playoff debut in 2012 and in 2017, and to the quarterfinal round in 2015.
"To all the players, coaches, and support staff, I loved every second!!!" Cerroni said. "No one can take away what we all accomplished.
"I'm excited about the new challenges that lay ahead. Although I am no longer the head football coach, I will spend the rest of my time making the UW-Oshkosh athletics program the best it can be."
Cerroni's 11 winning seasons at the helm of the Titans included records of 13-1 in 2012, 12-1 in 2017, 11-2 in 2015 and 13-2 in 2016. Cerroni became UW-Oshkosh's winningest coach with his 69th career victory on Oct. 15, 2016, against UW-Stevens Point and earned his 100th career win against UW-Eau Claire on Oct. 19, 2019.
Cerroni guided UW-Oshkosh to outright WIAC championships in 2012, 2015 and 2017, and a share of the league title in 2019. He was named both the American Football Coaches Association Region 5 and WIAC Coach of the Year in 2012 and 2015, and WIAC Coach of the Year in 2017 and 2019. Cerroni was also selected the D3football.com West Region Coach of the Year in 2012 and 2017.
"All of us in the UW-Oshkosh community are very grateful for Pat's contributions," UW-Oshkosh Assistant Chancellor, Athletics Darryl Sims said. "Pat has galvanized our fan base with his accomplishments and helped our football program gain respect throughout the nation. In addition, Pat has mentored young men and led them to success on the field, in the classroom and in life, while serving as a great ambassador for our university. I know the entire Titan Nation joins me in wishing Pat the best in his retirement. He is indeed a true Titan!"
Sims announced that current assistant coaches Craig Stenbroten and Luke Venne will lead the football program while a national search is conducted to find Cerroni's successor.
Cerroni coached 57 players to 79 All-WIAC First Team laurels, 44 players to 48 All-Region citations and 19 players to 24 All-America selections. UW-Oshkosh quarterback Brett Kasper, a two-time WIAC Offensive Player of the Year, was named winner of the 2017 Gagliardi Trophy for Division III's most outstanding player. Kasper was also the D3football.com Offensive Player of the Year in 2017 and the first team quarterback on the 2017 Associated Press Little All-America Team. Titan quarterback Nate Wara was named both a Gagliardi Trophy finalist and the D3football.com Offensive Player of the Year in 2012.
Cerroni and his football players performed several community services projects over the past 15 years, including events associated with the Oshkosh Boys & Girls Club, Oshkosh YMCA, Habitat for Humanity, Old Glory Honor Flight, Gus Macker 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament and Feeding America. In 2015, Cerroni received the Excellence In Leadership Award for his work with Be The Match, a national marrow donor program in which six of his players have donated to.
UW-Oshkosh concluded the 2021 campaign with a 6-3 record to extend the program record to 10 consecutive winning seasons. The Titans placed fourth in the WIAC with a 4-3 record to increase its streak of top-four league finishes to 11 straight seasons.
Prior to having its 2020 season canceled due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, UW-Oshkosh compiled an 8-3 record in 2019 while earning a share of the WIAC championship and the program's fifth NCAA postseason trip in eight years. The Titans secured a piece of the league title and the conference's automatic berth into the Division III Championship with a 27-20 victory over third-ranked UW-Whitewater in the regular season finale.
In 2018 the Titans finished with a 6-4 record and a third-place 4-3 mark in conference play, completing their eighth consecutive winning season. The Titans had produced an eight-year run of winning seasons just once in program history from 1918-25.
The 2017 season included the program's third unbeaten conference title in six years and a trip to the national semifinals. Cerroni's Titans hosted four NCAA postseason contests and concluded the year ranked third in the country after amassing a school-record 36 touchdown passes. UW-Oshkosh's season-long march to the semifinal round included wins against eighth-ranked John Carroll, ninth-ranked UW-Platteville, ninth-ranked North Central (Ill.) and 17th-ranked Wartburg before falling, 43-40, to eventual national champion Mount Union.
In 2017 Cerroni and the Titans listed second in the country in passing efficiency rating and yards per kickoff return, seventh in first downs, and 10th in scoring offense and interceptions gained.
During UW-Oshkosh's historic 2016 season, Cerroni coached the Titans to wins against six of their seven opponents that advanced to the NCAA postseason. UW-Oshkosh finished second to defending national runner-up UW-Whitewater in the WIAC standings, but the Titans received an at-large berth into the 32-team field and concluded the season ranked second in the country.
UW-Oshkosh's postseason run to the 2016 national championship game (Stagg Bowl) included home victories over Washington U. and St. John's before the Titans won at St. Thomas during the quarterfinal round. UW-Oshkosh then secured a home victory over John Carroll University to advance to the title game against top-ranked Mary Hardin-Baylor, which edged the Titans by a 10-7 score in a nationally televised game on ESPN from Salem, Va.
In 2016 Cerroni's squad ranked third nationally in turnovers and interceptions gained; fifth in fumbles recovered, turnover margin and points allowed per game; and seventh in passing efficiency defense.
In 2015 UW-Oshkosh advanced to the quarterfinal round of the Division III playoffs and finished the season with an 11-2 record. The Titans ended UW-Whitewater's NCAA-leading 36-game winning streak with a 10-7 decision in the regular season and established a WIAC record with 829 yards of offense during a 69-14 rout over UW-Stout.
UW-Oshkosh ceded just six fourth-quarter points during the 2015 campaign while becoming the first team in WIAC history to score 60 or more points three times in a season. The Titans set a school record for points in a game with their 86-0 triumph over Finlandia University (Mich.) en route to scoring a program-record 550 points on the season. Defensively, UW-Oshkosh produced four shutouts in the same season for the first time since 1933.
In 2014 Cerroni led UW-Oshkosh to a second-place finish in the WIAC with a 6-1 record after guiding the Titans to six straight victories to open the 2013 campaign, when UW-Oshkosh peaked at eighth in the national rankings before finishing the season 11th.
UW-Oshkosh won its first 13 games of the 2012 season and reached the national semifinals. The fifth-ranked Titans posted victories over five nationally ranked teams, including wins of 31-24 over third-ranked Linfield, 28-13 over fifth-ranked UW-Whitewater and 34-13 over 14th-ranked UW-Platteville. UW-Oshkosh also captured the WIAC championship for its first league title since 1976. A program record seven Titans were named to the D3football.com All-America Team.
In 2011 the Titans went 7-3 and finished second in the WIAC standings for the program's best finish since clinching the 1976 title. Cerroni's first UW-Oshkosh team in 2007 also went 7-3.
Cerroni joined the Titans as an assistant football coach in 2000 after three seasons as the head football coach of Menomonee Falls High School. In 1997 Cerroni guided the Indians to a 7-4 record and an upset victory of defending state champion Hartland Arrowhead High School in the first round of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Division 1 Playoffs.