Shippensburg University Athletics

Zach Zulli is the only Raider and one of just four players in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) history to win the Harlon Hill Trophy, which is awarded to the best football player in NCAA Division II. In just three years as a starting quarterback, Zulli broke 35 school records – totaling 10,988 passing yards, 123 passing touchdowns, 11,663 yards of total offense and 313.9 passing yards per game.
 
Zulli paced the PSAC circuit in touchdown passes in all three years as a starter. His 123 passing touchdowns ranks fourth all-time in PSAC history. He is also among the PSAC’s all-time Top 10 in three other major career categories, ranking seventh in passing offense and passing yards and eighth with 862 pass completions.
 
The 2012 Harlon Hill trophy campaign remains one of the greatest offensive seasons in PSAC history. Zulli quarterbacked NCAA Division II’s No. 1 total offense (529.92 yards per game) and No. 2 passing offense (387.69 yards per game) to an 11-2 record and an NCAA playoff victory. ­Zulli led all divisions of college football with 54 touchdown passes, a PSAC single-season record that remains to this day, and he led NCAA Division II with 4,747 passing yards, another PSAC record that lasted for nine seasons.
 
Zulli set a then-NCAA Division II record for points responsible for in a season with 344. Among the numerous PSAC records he accomplished included 200 consecutive passes without throwing an interception. His nine touchdown passes in a 73-35 win at Kutztown are tied for the most in a single game in PSAC history. His 46 completions in that game are the second-most in a game in the history of the league, while his 581 passing yards rank fourth best.
 
Later that season, in a matchup of Top 10 teams, Zulli threw a total of seven touchdown passes, including the game-winning touchdown pass with 4.8 seconds remaining, to beat No. 4 Bloomsburg, 49-42, in front of a historic crowd at Seth Grove Stadium to clinch the PSAC East title. SU later routed that same Bloomsburg squad in the first round of NCAA playoffs, 58-20, for the program’s first and only NCAA Tournament win since 1991. The Raiders were ranked as high as No. 7 in the AFCA poll during the 2012 season – the highest ranking in school history. 
 
In addition to the Harlon Hill Trophy, Zulli was named to the 2012 Associated Press (AP) Little All-America First Team and was chosen as the Daktronics Ron Lenz Offensive Player of the Year, Don Hansen’s Football Gazette Super Region 1 Offensive Player of the Year and PSAC East Offensive Player of the Year.
 
Zulli is a two-time All-PSAC East First Team honoree, repeating as the First Team quarterback as a senior. In 2013, Zulli threw for 3,500 yards and 35 touchdowns – second-only to his 2012 totals for the most prolific in SU single-season history. His 2011 totals included 2,741 passing yards, 34 passing touchdowns, a career-high 364 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns.
 
Zulli’s remarkable career began with little to no fanfare. After redshirting in 2009, Zulli was a reserve wide receiver and special teams player in 2010 – not even making the quarterback depth chart. Following the 2010 season, Mark ‘Mac’ Maciejewski took over as the head coach and Mike Yurcich, currently the offensive coordinator at Penn State, was installed as Shippensburg’s offensive coordinator. Zulli was given a shot to compete for a starting spot and officially won the job by the third week of the 2011 season.
 
Following graduation with a degree in business management, Zulli attended minicamp with the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and had a stint with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League. In 2019, Zulli was named one of the PSAC’s 150 Contributors in recognition of the conference’s sesquicentennial season.
 
Zulli works as the Director of Fitness at Retro based in Howell, N.J.