Staten Island, NY – Two former members of the Wagner College football staff took part in Super Bowl XLVI last Sunday as Patrick Graham, an assistant coach from 2002-03 for the Green & White, is the linebackers coach for the New England Patriots while the Seahawks' head strength and conditioning coach from 2004-09, Domenic Reno, is now an assistant strength and conditioning coach for the World Champion New York Giants.
“It's always gratifying when your former coaches and players go on to achieve great things in their careers,” said Wagner College Athletic Director/Head Football coach
Walt Hameline. “Both Patrick and Dom were excellent in their roles during their time at Wagner and I am thrilled to follow their success in the NFL. Certainly watching this year's Super Bowl was particularly enjoyable.”
After spending seven years as an assistant coach at four different colleges, Graham joined the Patriots in 2009 as a defensive coaching assistant. In 2010, his title was changed to defensive assistant coach before being elevated to linebackers coach in 2011.
A native of Waterbury, CT, Graham was a defensive lineman at Yale University, graduating with a bachelor's degree in sociology in 2002. His first coaching assignment was on Grymes Hill where he spent the 2002 and 2003 seasons as a graduate assistant while also studying for an MBA with a concentration in finance.
Graham instructed the Wagner tight ends and assisted with the offensive line in 2002 and worked with the defensive tackles and assisted on special teams in 2003. At Wagner, Graham coached the junior varsity football team to an undefeated season and served as strength and conditioning coach and academic coordinator.
Following his two years at Wagner, Graham moved on to the University of Richmond, where he was a defensive line coach in 2004 and then a tight ends coach in 2005 and 2006. In 2007, was named a defensive graduate assistant under head coach Charlie Weis at the University of Notre Dame. Following the 2008 season, Graham accepted a position as defensive line coach at the University of Toledo. However, he left the school in February 2009 to join the New England Patriots , where Weis had formerly been an assistant coach under Belichick.
Reno joined the Giants' staff in July, 2011 following a stint as a minor league strength and conditioning coach for the San Diego Padres. Reno arrived at Wagner after serving as the strength and conditioning coach for the Charleston Alley Cats, a minor league affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Prior to his duties in the Blue Jay organization, Reno served as a strength and conditioning intern at Boston College where he worked exclusively with the football program.
The Worcester, MA native, who earned a Health Education degree at Worcester St., has been on the football sidelines before as Offensive Coordinator and Assistant Defensive Coordinator at Oxford High School (Oxford, MA) before acting as assistant iffensive coordinator and assistant defensive coordinator at Bartlett Junior High School (Webster, MA) and the S.P.E.E.D. Clinic (Central, MA).
A 2002 graduate of Worcester State College (MA), he received an MBA from Wagner in 2008 and is a member of the National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA), the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and the International Sports Science Association (ISSA).
