Ernie Ricco

Ernie Ricco enters his seventh year with the Monroe University football staff as the tight ends coach among other duties including offensive skills coach for the 2025 season.
 
Throughout his quarter century coaching career, Ricco has garnered eight championships in three divisions of football, ranging from collegiate to high school to youth, where he has coached numerous players receiving honors such as All-American, All-Conference, Honorable Mention, National Scholar-Athlete, and Academic All-American, as well as numerous players that have gone on to NCAA Div. 1 and NFL careers.
 
Ricco has coached every position in all three facets of the game including offense, defense and special teams. He has served as a coordinator and head coach at various divisions including numerous camps and clinics, including the National Football League for High School Development, Sports International Camps for the New York Jets, New York Giants and New England Patriots, Football University, Top Gun, Nike, Rivals, Sparq and many others.
 
Prior to Monroe he comes from a stint in Connecticut High School football as the Offensive Coordinator for Stamford High School, Defensive Secondary Coordinator at Staples High School and Offensive Line, Defensive Line and Quarterbacks Coach at Darien High School. Darien was ranked No. 1 in the State of Connecticut and New England during an undefeated State Championship season.
 
Prior to this, Ernie has coached at several collegiate programs, including SUNY Maritime where he coached the No. 4 nationally ranked defensive secondary, offensive line, defensive attack and special teams. At Div. II University of New Haven, the program enjoyed an undefeated No. 3 nationally ranked championship season, where Ricco coached the defensive secondary, outside linebacker corps and special teams. During this tenure, the UNH defense yielded 14.0 points per game and were the No. 1 nationally ranked Div. II program in numerous defensive categories. Ricco helped guide the team to a combined 18-4 record over two seasons, including an undefeated Northeast-10 Conference record. While at Western Connecticut State University, Ricco coached running backs, defensive secondary and special teams. During his stay at West Conn, the Punt Return unit set a school record for blocked punts while the Running Back unit garnered 8.16 yards per touch while he coached two Rookie of the Year players.
 
Throughout his collegiate career, he has recruited for junior colleges and post-graduate programs, as well as high schools in New England and the Tri-State area.
 
Prior to coaching at the collegiate level, Ricco was a varsity coach at Westhill High School in Stamford, Conn., where he coached wide receivers, quarterbacks and defensive secondary and was the JV Offensive Coordinator.
 
Prior to his time with Westhill, Ricco spent over a decade with the Wilton Youth Football program, serving in numerous positions, including head coach, offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator. As head coach, he garnered numerous league championships and bowl game appearances, with a .787 regular season winning percentage and .888 postseason winning percentage, along with numerous players as National Scholar-Athletes and Academic All-Conference players.
 
Aside from his coaching background, Ricco was part of the creation, implementation and involvement of the successful campaign for the upstart professional Arena Football League in the 1980s. He is also a member of the Collegiate AFCA Awards Committee and Coach of the Year Committee, a position he has held since 2010.  Ricco is Coaching Certified as well as Concussion, CPR and First Aid Certified.
 
Ricco also owns a successful Property Management, Operations & Construction business for 36 years, a 39 year past and present elected government official and a United States Senatorial & Congressional Delegate. Ricco resides in Wilton, Conn., with his wife, Brenda, of 37 years, where they have six children ranging from 20 to 34 years of age and a grandson age 1 ½.