Dec. 19, 2002
EASTON, Pa. (www.lafayette.edu) - Lafayette head football coach Frank Tavani has been signed to a five-year contract extension, solidifying the position through the 2007 season. Specific terms of the contract extension will not be disclosed.
Tavani guided the Leopards to the second-best turnaround among NCAA Division I-AA programs this past season. After finishing with a 2-8 overall record in 2001 and being picked seventh in the Patriot League's preseason poll, the Leopards improved by five victories to go 7-5 overall and 5-2 in the Patriot League for a third-place finish. In fact, Lafayette's two league losses were to co-champions Colgate and Fordham, each by a margin of just one touchdown.
"Lafayette is very pleased with and excited about the direction the football program is headed under Frank Tavani's leadership," said Bruce McCutcheon, Lafayette's director of athletics. "The most impressive and rewarding aspects about our football program under his leadership are the serious level of commitment to both academics and athletics and the successes achieved in both."
For the third straight year, Lafayette led the Patriot League in Verizon District II Academic All-Americans with five honorees. That raises the program's total to 31 Academic All-Americans in the past seven seasons and 16 in three seasons under Tavani.
"We still have a lot of work to do," Tavani said. "Obviously, this vote of confidence and good faith in the efforts of our coaching staff mean a lot to me personally, but we are far from finished. Our players have catapulted us quicker than even I ever thought they would, but our goal is to return this program to the point where we can contend for a Patriot League championship each season."
In just three seasons as the Leopards' mentor - and with just two full-year recruiting efforts - Tavani is molding the program into a legitimate Patriot League championship contender. In 2002, Lafayette's offense featured the league's rushing leader in sophomore tailback Joe McCourt (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic) with an average of 116.1 yards per game and one of the conference's top quarterbacks in junior Marko Glavic (Pickering, Ontario/St. Mary Catholic), who set a new Leopard record with 2,670 passing yards on the season.
The Leopards' defense entered the 2002 season with just four returning starters, but Lafayette improved from seventh to second in the Patriot League in scoring defense. The Leopards allowed 111 points in seven conference games - 108 less points than the they allowed in 2001.
Heading into the 2003 season, nine starters will return on both sides of the ball. Three All-Patriot League players will be back, including first-team offensive tackle Kevin Moss (New York, N.Y./Simsbury) and second-team honorees in Glavic and wide receiver John Weyrauch (Mountain Top, Pa./Crestwood).
The Tavani era in Lafayette Football officially began on Dec. 11, 1999, when he was named the 27th head football coach in the history of the program.
No stranger to College Hill, Tavani had been a top member of the College's football coaching staff for 13 seasons prior to taking over the helm of the program. During that time, he primarily mentored the offense, but had been an integral component of all aspects of the Leopards' gridiron program.
Tavani has been a part of three Patriot League Championships, helping guide the Leopards to the league crown in 1988, 1992, and 1994.
In 1986, Tavani served as the defensive coordinator at Lebanon Valley College, his alma mater. During that time, he was also Lebanon Valley's director of alumni services and parents' programs, activating 15 alumni chapters. From 1976-85, Tavani was the offensive coordinator at Franklin and Marshall College, helping guide the Diplomats to a 10-year record of 67-23-1.
As an undergraduate at Lebanon Valley, Tavani was an outstanding running back, earning the team's Most Valuable Player honors twice in his career. As a senior, he became the school's first player to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a single season. An Associated Press All-American as a senior, he was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame in the fall of 1988.
Tavani earned a bachelor of arts degree in Psychology from Lebanon Valley in 1975, and has completed postgraduate work in Counselor Education.
Tavani and his wife, Agnes, reside on College Hill with their four children, Liam, Daniel, Meghan, and Bridget, and dog, Zach. Liam, their oldest son, is a senior Marquis Scholar at Lafayette majoring in Engineering. Meghan is a freshman at Lafayette and is a member of the Leopards' women's soccer program.
