Caruso wins PFL Coach of the Year

Coach Glenn Caruso spoke to his team after a win over Butler on Nov. 19. (TommieMedia/File Photo)

In his team’s second year of Division I, St. Thomas football coach Glenn Caruso received the Pioneer Football League Coach of the Year award for his team’s remarkable 10-1 record and undefeated conference season.

Caruso was also a hopeful for last year’s award, but lost to Davidson’s Scott Abell. However, during the 2022 season, Caruso stole the show as his Tommies finished the season No. 19 in the Football Championship Subdivision national rankings and earned the PFL title outright.

The award makes Caruso St. Thomas’s first coach to win a conference Coach of the Year award in DI, and his Tommies were the first team to win a DI conference title thus far for St. Thomas.

Coming into the season, the Tommies were picked to finish in third place–the same place as their finish last season. But Caruso and his team had other plans, finishing the season with a 10-game win streak after dropping their first game to Southern Utah on the road.

After being crushed by Davidson last season and falling in a close game to San Diego, the Tommies had it out for last season’s conference co-champions, beating both teams 27-16 (Davidson) and 49-42 (San Diego) at O’Shaughnessy Stadium in 2022. Those wins contributed to the team’s undefeated home record this season, extending its regular season home win streak to 37 games.

This is not Caruso’s first time winning a conference Coach of the Year award, as he won it six times while the Tommies still played in the Division III Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Caruso previously won the DIII National Coach of the Year award six times: two from the AFCA (2012, 2015); three by Liberty Mutual (2010-, 2011, 2012); and one by American Football Monthly (2011).

Caruso has been a finalist for the FCS’s Eddie Robinson Award as National Coach of the Year in his first two seasons as a DI coach. Last year, he finished ninth in voting, but it’s possible that a 2022 conference Coach of the Year award and a nearly undefeated season might turn more heads this time. The award will be announced on Dec. 6.

Cam Kauffman can be reached at kauf8536@stthomas.edu.