Rhode Island hires Rizzi as football coach
December 19, 2007

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (AP) -- Rutgers associate coach Darren Rizzi has been hired as coach at Rhode Island.

Rizzi, a former tight end at Rhode Island, replaces Tim Stowers, who was fired last month after one winning season in eight years. Rizzi, 37, agreed to a five-year deal with a base pay of $160,000.

"This opportunity is a dream come true and I'm excited to be back at my alma mater," Rizzi said Tuesday. "Ever since I graduated from URI and joined the coaching profession, this was always an opportunity I cherished. I look forward to getting started right away and to help build URI into a championship program."

Rizzi spent six seasons at Rutgers, and coached linebackers and special teams this season. Rutgers (7-5) is preparing for its third straight bowl game.

"He has done a great job here at Rutgers and I know that he will do a great job as the head football coach at the University of Rhode Island," Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said. "We will miss him but are very happy for him and his family."

At Rhode Island, Rizzi ranks fourth on list for career receptions and yards.

This article appeared on the Yahoo Sports website on Wednesday, December 19, 2007.

And let the Greg Schiano coaching tree begin with now he and Mario Cristobal in the head coaching ranks of Division 1 programs.

Well hopefully Darren Rizzi can get off to a better start at Rhode Island than Mario Cristobal has at Florida International. Then again, going 1-11 while not getting into any bench-clearing brawls on the field this season is better than anything the Golden Panthers did last year, so he does seem to at least have that program moving in the right direction.

Props to Mario on the attire for gamedays. Several of the games that were televised had him in the dress shirt and tie.

Is URI really that great a job? There's been rumors for a while that they're going to drop to 30 scholarships for football.