Feb. 5, 2008

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Richmond football coach Mike London announced Tuesday the addition of Mike Faragalli to his staff as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Faragalli, who possesses extensive college and pro experience, comes to the Spiders from Lafayette College where he served for eight years in the same position.

"I am very excited to add Mike to our staff," said London. "He brings with him a wealth of experience form the pros to college and he's built conference-leading offenses in rushing, passing and scoring. I am extremely confident in Mike's ability to continue the offensive production that the Spiders have become accustomed to."

Faragalli took the offensive reigns at Lafayette in 2000 and his impact was immediately felt. He implemented a passing attack that was ranked either first or second in the Patriot League in five of his first six seasons as offensive coordinator and the Leopards captured three conference championships in the process.

Four of his student-athletes earned major Patriot League postseason awards, as tailback Jonathan Hurt was the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year in 2006 and Joe McCourt achieved the same honor in 2004 after being named Rookie of the Year in 2001. Phil Yarberough was named the 2000 Offensive Player of the Year and quarterback Marko Glavic earned 2000 Rookie of the Year honors.

"I'm very excited to be here on Coach London's staff," said Faragalli. "I started my career right down the road at William & Mary and it has come full circle. Richmond is an outstanding academic institution with a great football team and it's exciting for me to take on a challenge like this."

Faragalli sandwiched two four-year stints as the offensive coordinator at Bowling Green around one season as the head coach of the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts in 1995. Faragalli has a wealth of CFL experience, serving as the offensive coordinator with three different clubs from 1985-1990. He spent one season in Montreal and two in Hamilton - winning the 1986 Grey Cup championship with Hamilton as a 27-year old - and three in Edmonton.

Guiding an explosive BGSU offense, the Falcons led the Mid-American Conference in scoring offense in four of his eight seasons and never ranked lower than third in total offense. He played a significant role in the development of quarterbacks Erik White, the conference MVP in 1991 and 1992, and Ryan Henry, fourth on the MAC list with 46 career touchdown passes.

Prior to his tenure at Bowling Green, his three seasons at Edmonton were under his father, Joe where the Eskimos advanced to the Western Conference title game in each of the three years. He also played a role in the development of quarterback Tracy Ham, the CFL Most Valuable Player in 1989, helping lead Hamilton to the Grey Cup.

Faragalli began his coaching career at the Rhode Island in 1979 and later coached at Wisconsin and William & Mary. He coached the receivers during each of those three stints. A 1980 graduate of URI with a bachelor of arts degree in secondary education, Faragalli played defensive back for the Rams.

Faragalli and his wife have four children: Joseph, Phillip, Theresa, and Laura.

With Faragalli's appointment, current Richmond assistant Mark Carney, who has coached the quarterbacks for four years at Richmond, moves to wide receivers coach. Scott Burton, who was named an assistant on Jan. 23, will coach the tight ends and h-backs. Second-year assistant Charles Bankins was named the special teams coordinator, in addition to coaching the running backs. The final hire of an offensive line coach has yet to be made.

On the defensive side, Russ Huesman will remain as the defensive coordinator/safeties coach, while Dave Legg moves to coaching the cornerbacks and Byron Thweatt moves to the defensive tackles. Newly-hired assistant Vincent Brown is the linebackers coach and Jeff Hanson is the defensive line coach.