Jeff Tomasetti ’13 is in his third season as a full-time assistant coach with the SU coaching staff in 2017. It is his fifth overall as a Red Raider coach, having previously worked stints as both a volunteer assistant and a graduate assistant.
Tomasetti has coached the team’s wide receivers since arriving on staff for the 2013 season. He added the role of quarterbacks coach to his responsibilities when being named a full-time assistant on Feb. 17, 2015, and has also since added tight ends coach to his duties.
In 2016, Tomasetti coached All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division Second Team tight end Jeff Gulyas – the first SU tight end to earn All-PSAC honors in four years. Also in 2016, Tomasetti instructed a group of wide receivers in which six different men caught at least one touchdown pass.
During the 2015 season, Tomasetti mentored sophomore quarterback Ryan Zapoticky, who set single-game (138) and single-season (561) records for quarterback rushing yards. Zapoticky became the first quarterback in SU history to register multiple games with both 200 passing yards and 100 rushing yards in a single season.
Among the wide receivers, Tomasetti worked with Sheldon Mayer ’15 – a multi-talented pass catcher and return specialist who became just the second player in SU history to earn five All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) First Team awards in a career (joining NFL standout Brent Grimes).
Jeff Tomasetti with his girlfriend, Paige — August 2016.
Mayer, a 2015 Associated Press Little All-America Third Team as an all-purpose player, finished his career second all-time in SU history in receptions (209) and fourth in receiving yards (2,920). Tomasetti was his primary coach for the last three seasons of his career.
From 2013-14, Tomasetti mentored All-American wide receiver Trevor Harman ’14, who went on to attend 2015 training camp with the Arizona Cardinals. Harman established career school records of 321 receptions, 4,249 receiving yards and 61 receiving touchdowns – breaking the all-time Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) records for career receptions and career receiving touchdowns.
In his first season as a Red Raider coach, the SU wide receivers led the PSAC in 2013 with 309 receptions and averaged 7.1 yards per catch. The unit included Harman and Mayer.
A native of Claymont, Del., Tomasetti spent five years as a Red Raider quarterback from 2008-12. He was a valuable team leader as a backup quarterback and special teams contributor during his playing career, being named a senior captain in 2012.
He won the Red Raider Pride Award as a junior and senior for his leadership and commitment to excellence. In his final season, Tomasetti was also honored with the George & Meriem Kaluger Award as SU’s Special Teams Player of the Year.
He graduated from Shippensburg in May 2013 with a B.S. Ed. in history/social studies certification. He has taken classes toward his master’s degree in Organizational Development & Leadership, concentrating in higher education structure and policy.
