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Academic Integration and Competitive Excellence in Division I Athletics
harvard Football News 2016
assistant coaches
Ryan Crawford
Assistant Coach
Special Teams Coordinator/
Defensive Backs
Ryan Crawford is in his fifth season working
with Harvard’s defensive backs and his third
as special teams coordinator in 2016.
Crawford is responsible for recruiting the
Atlantic coast section of the United States,
including Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas.
In 2015, Harvard’s secondary assisted in holding its opponents to an
average of 13.0 points per game and leading the Crimson to its 17th Ivy
League title. Sean Ahern, who was elected the Harvard’s 143rd captain,
was unanimously selected to All-Ivy first team. Chris Evans and Asante
Gibson were also recognized on All-Ancient Eight teams.
Justice Shelton-Mosley was named the conference’s Rookie of the Year
and to the first team after averaging 19.0 yards on punt returns, the highest
in school history. The special teams unit was one of the premiere in
the nation, ranking second in punt return defense (0.9), third in blocked
punts (five), fifth in blocked kicks (seven) and sixth in punt returns (16.5).
In 2014, the Crimson’s secondary and special teams were some of the
premiere units in the country, helping Harvard finish 10-0 and earn the
program’s 16th conference championship. Harvard ranked first in the
nation in scoring defense (12.3 points allowed per game), and the team
blocked four punts, good for third in the country. Andrew Fischer, who
garnered All-Ivy honors, was 29th in the nation, averaging 23.7 yards per
kick return. Three members of the secondary also earned All-Ivy status,
including Norman Hayes and Sean Ahern, who garnered first-team status.
Crawford’s defensive backs helped Harvard claim its 15th Ivy League
title in 2013, while earning four All-Ivy League honors. Among the
quartet was Norman Hayes, a first-team selection, who tied for 16th
nationally with three forced fumbles. The foursome helped the Crimson
rank 25th nationally in scoring defense at 22.7 points allowed per
game, while Harvard blanked Columbia for the second-straight season
and held five of its opponents to 21 points or fewer.
In Crawford’s first season in Cambridge, three Harvard defensive
backs earned All-Ivy League recognition. Among that group was Chris
Splinter, who picked off five passes and tied for fifth nationally with
0.5 interceptions per game. The group helped the Crimson rank eighth
nationally in scoring defense at 17.4 points allowed per game.
Crawford came to Harvard after spending four seasons at the University
of Rhode Island. He served as the Rams’ defensive coordinator and
also carried out a previous stint as the program’s recruiting coordinator.
Over his final three seasons at URI, Crawford’s secondary intercepted
30 passes in the tough Colonial Athletic Association. Crawford has mentored
a pair of all-conference defensive backs, including Jarrod Williams,
who left URI in 2010 among the school’s all-time leaders in interceptions.
Prior to his tenure at URI, Crawford spent three years as a cornerbacks
coach at Bucknell. In 2007, the Bison led the Patriot League with
14 interceptions.
Crawford also spent two years at his alma mater, Davidson. He spent
one year coaching the quarterbacks before switching to defense in
2004 to coach the defensive backs.
A 2001 Davidson graduate with a degree in biology, Crawford earned
Associated Press first team All-America honors in 1999, when he led the
nation with eight interceptions as part of a Davidson team that topped
the country with 28 picks. In 2000, Crawford was named the I-AA
Mid-Major Defensive Back of the Year as well as the I-AA Independent
Defensive MVP. In 2000, he was named Davidson’s Special Teams Player
of the Year as well as the school’s Male Athlete of the Year.
Crawford was inducted into Davidson’s Hall of Fame on Feb. 4, 2012
as part of the college’s 23rd induction class.
After graduation, Crawford played semipro football for the Carolina
Cowboys and competed professionally with the Indiana Firebirds of the
Arena Football League. He was also a 2007 camp invitee with the Montreal
Alouettes of the Canadian Football League and worked as a stuntman
and featured extra in the movie “Radio,” starring Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Crawford, his wife, Carrie, and their daughter Dylan (1) reside in
Charlestown, Massachusetts.
Joe Villapiano
Assistant Coach
Wide Receivers
Joe Villapiano, Harvard’s wide receivers
coach, is in his 12th season as a member of
the Crimson coaching staff in 2016.
Villapiano recruits the western section of
the United States, including California and
Arizona. He returned to coaching the wide
receivers in 2012 after spending the previous four years with the running
backs. He has served previous stints coaching the wide receivers
and the defensive backs.
At the conclusion of the 2015 season, Harvard’s wide receivers helped
the team average 303.5 passing yards per game. The unit helped Harvard
post a 9-1 record and win the ninth-consecutive meeting against
Yale en route to the program’s 17th championship overall. Freshman
Justice Shelton-Mosely was named Ivy League Rookie of the Year, as
well as earning second team honors as a wide receiver.
In the fall of 2014, Harvard’s wide receivers helped the Crimson average
230.9 passing yards per game, as well as 461.4 total yards per
contest, good for 19th in the nation. This unit helped the Crimson post
a perfect 10-0 record en route to the program’s second straight Ivy
title and 16th championship overall.
During the 2013 season, Villapiano’s receiving corps contributed to
Harvard’s 15th Ivy League title by helping a passing attack that ranked
seventh nationally in passing efficiency (155.38 rating), 18th in scoring
offense (37.3) and 32nd in total offense (426.1 yards per game).
In 2012, Harvard’s receivers aided the fourth-best passing attack in
the nation with a passing efficiency rating of 157.25. They also helped
the Crimson rank third in total offense (387.5 yards per game), fourth
in scoring offense (39.4) and 19th in yards per game (273.20).
From 2008 to ’11, Villapiano coached the team’s running backs, including
Ivy League Player of the Year Gino Gordon ’11 in 2010. He also
coached Ivy Rookie of the Year Treavor Scales ’13 in 2009. Gordon and
Scales each earned three All-Ivy honors under Villapiano, and Scales
claimed his fourth All-Ivy nod in 2012.
Villapiano coached the Crimson defensive backs from 2006 to ’08.
All four of Harvard’s defensive backs were named All-Ivy League in
2007, with three of them, Steven Williams ’08, Andrew Berry ’09 and
Doug Hewlett ’08, earning first-team status. In 2008, three Crimson
defensive backs earned all-league accolades, while cornerback Matthew
Hanson earned the selection as Ivy Rookie of the Year.
Williams would set his name apart as Harvard’s all-time interceptions
leader. His eight picks in 2007 tied a single-season record for the Crimson
and gave him sole possession of first place on the all-time list with
16. Named first team All-America by the American Football Coaches
Association, Williams went on to represent his home state in the Texas
versus The Nation All-Star game in El Paso, Texas.
Berry meanwhile, capped an All-America career by twice being named an
Academic All-American while also earning the FCS Scholar-Athlete of the
Year award as a senior and graduating with two degrees in just four years.
Villapiano came to Cambridge in 2005 after spending two years on
the staff at the University of Connecticut, where he coordinated the
offensive scout team and analyzed game video of opponents’ offenses.
Villapiano joined the staff at Connecticut following his four-year
playing career in Storrs. He caught five passes for 47 yards in his career
and holds the distinction of having scored the final Connecticut
touchdown in Memorial Stadium, the team’s former home facility.
He earned the team’s Student-Athlete Award as a senior.
Villapiano earned a bachelor’s degree in math education from Connecticut
in 2003 and added a master’s degree in education in 2005. His
uncle, Phil, was a four-time Pro Bowl linebacker with the Oakland Raiders
and was a member of Oakland’s Super Bowl XI championship team.
In addition to his work with the Crimson football program, Villapiano
and his former high school teammates are active in the formation of a
company called iB-LIEVE, which is designed to empower individuals
and teams using belief, positive attitude and positive action.
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