Football Announces Coaching Staff Additions
5/20/2024 2:09:00 PM | Football
Coach Nofri adds three new coaches to staff
FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Sacred Heart University football head coach Mark Nofri announced additions and new appointments to his 2024 coaching staff.
Mike Kennedy, Kyle Wiggins, and Nate Marr are joining the Pioneers. Kennedy will be the new outside linebackers coach, while Wiggins will take over as the corners coach. Marr will serve as the Director of Football Operations.
Kevin Duke, who previously coached the outside linebackers, will transition to quarterback coach. He has been part of the SHU coaching staff since 2022.
"We are excited to announce the hires of these three coaches," said Coach Nofri. "We aimed to fill our staff with the best possible candidates to build up our student-athletes on and off the field, and we feel we have done that. We are thrilled to have these three on our staff here as we continue to elevate our program."
Kennedy served as the Defensive Coordinator/Special Teams Coordinator/Defensive Line Coach/Travel Coordinator for the past five seasons with Anna Maria College. During his time with the AMCATS, Kennedy coached eight All-ECFC selections, including two First-Team All-ECFC defensive linemen and an ECFC Special Teams Player of the Year, and helped guide them to three ECFC Championships and a 2023 bowl game invite for the first time in school history.
Before his stint at Anna Maria, Kennedy coached at Monroe College, where he was the outside linebackers coach before getting promoted to defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator. Kennedy helped build the number one defense in yards, rushing, and points allowed in the NJCAA during the 2017 season. Along with being the number three rush defense in 2016, they were nationally ranked for the first time in school history. He helped lead the 2018 Mustangs to a bowl game for the first time in school history.
Wiggins comes from Frostburg State, where he spent five seasons as an assistant coach and worked with the safeties after serving as a defensive assistant for two years. While at Frostburg State, Wiggins helped build a defensive unit that led the MEC in scoring defense in 2019, as well as finished second in sacks and fourth in interceptions.
Wiggins also worked at Monmouth where he served as the defensive quality control coach. While assisting the head coach and defensive staff, Wiggins also organized practices, game preparation, and monitoring student-athlete academic progress.
Prior to Monmouth he coached both inside and outside linebackers at William Patterson while being tasked with recruiting coordination. He helped shape the Pioneers by constructing the kickoff teams in 2018.
Marr joins SHU after spending four seasons at the high school level and nine at the college level. Most recently, he spent two seasons with Saint John's Catholic Prep from 2022-24, where he was the youngest football coach in the MIAA Conference and made league history by leading the program up to the MIAA-B Conference after two successful seasons in the MIAA-C Conference.
From 2021-22, Marr worked at Concordia Preparatory School and helped the team capture its first-ever MIAA-B Conference Championship and its first-ever 10-win season in school history.
Before heading to Concordia, Marr was the Running Backs Coach/Co-Special Teams Coordinator/Director of Football Operations/Recruiting Coordinator at McDaniel College. As Recruiting Coordinator, Marr led the recruiting efforts for the largest signing classes in program history (2020-21). He also coordinated all day-to-day operations of the football program, including planning, travel, meals, compliance, etc., as the Director of Football Operations.
His journey began at West Virginia University as the Defensive Student Assistant Coach/Manager, where he directly assisted coaches with all practice and game-day operations and activities. He was also responsible for the setup, operation, and breakdown of all drills for the cornerback and safety position groups. He also assisted in logistics and team operations as it pertained to practice schedules, game-day management, and daily football operations.
