Offensive Coaching Staff

Chris Ostrowsky | Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks

Chris Ostrowsky, who joined Tony Reno’s staff in August of 2021 as an offensive assistant, was promoted to offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach in March of 2023 after serving as pass game coordinator and wide receivers coach in 2022. During his tenure, the Bulldogs have won two Ivy championships (2023, 2022).

Ostrowsky helped mentor quarterback Nolan Grooms, a two-time winner of the Asa S. Bushnell Cup as the Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year. Grooms graduated second all-time at Yale in touchdown passes (52), second in total offense (6,929), fifth in career passing yards (5,136) and sixth in career completions (407).

In Ostrowsky's first season on staff, six Bulldogs earned All-Ivy honors on offense, including first team tight end JJ Howland, who went on to sign a free agent contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In addition, Howland and wide receiver Melvin Rouse II were selected to the 2022 Tropical Bowl at Orlando’s Camping World Stadium.

In 2022, Ostrowsky helped the Bulldogs lead the Ivy League in scoring (30.3 ppg) and total offense (412.6 yards per game) on their way to an outright Ivy League championship. The 2023 team repeated as Ivy champions with the second highest scoring offense in the league.

Prior to Yale, Ostrowsky spent one season as a senior offensive advisor at Georgia Tech where the Yellow Jackets earned wins over Miami and NC State.

Before Georgia Tech, Ostrowsky spent two seasons as the offensive coordinator at Central Michigan (2017-18). In 2017 under Ostrowsky's tutelage, CMU quarterback Shane Morris threw for 27 touchdowns and 3,237 yards, which was second and seventh in school history, respectively. Morris ranked second in the Mid-American Conference and in the top 25 nationally in both categories. At CMU, Ostrowsky also coached tight end Tyler Conklin, who is currently with the New York Jets.

Prior to his two years at Central Michigan, Ostrowsky served as head coach at Northern Michigan for five seasons (2012-16) where his high-octane offense averaged 31.7 points per game over his final two campaigns with the Wildcats. NMU established 28 school records in its five seasons under Ostrowsky, including every single season passing record in the history of the program.

Ostrowsky's collegiate coaching career also includes two seasons as offensive coordinator at Northern Michigan (2010-11), three seasons as quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator at Northeastern (2007-09), two seasons as assistant head coach and offensive coordinator at Widener University (2004-06) and two seasons as offensive coordinator at Washington and Lee (2002-04).

Prior to jumping to the collegiate ranks, Ostrowsky served as head coach at East Side High School in Newark, N.J. from 1997-2001. He was named the Newark Star-Ledger's 1998 High School Coach of the Year after turning around a program that had lost 18-consecutive games.

Well-respected by his peers, Ostrowsky has been invited to be a keynote speaker at clinics across the nation where he shares his expertise in the spread offense and red-zone offense.

A Roselle Park, N.J. native, Ostrowsky played quarterback at Jersey City State College, where he earned a bachelor's degree in history in 1993. He was inducted into the Essex County Football Hall of Fame in the summer of 2022

Ostrowsky and his wife Jennifer have two sons, Jackson and Joseph, and a daughter, Hope.

Marcus Knight | Wide Receivers Coach

Marcus Knight joined the Yale Football staff as wide receiver coach in March of 2023.

The Bulldogs captured an Ivy League championship in his first season when he helped mentor Mason Tipton, who was a unanimous first team All-Ivy selection after leading the Ivy League with 10 TD receptions, which was sixth in the FCS and tied for the fourth most in school history. Tipton signed as a free agent with the New Orleans Saints following graduation.

Prior to Yale, Knight spent two seasons coaching wide receivers at Ball State.

In 2022, he coached Jayshon Jackson, who led the Mid American Conference with 74 receptions, which was inside the top-20 nationally, and earned All-MAC recognition. In his first season in Muncie in 2021, Knight tutored wide receiver Justin Hall, who became a finalist for the Paul Hornung Award, given to the most versatile player in college football). Hall, who was chosen All-MAC for the seventh time in his career (as a receiver and return specialist) broke the program record for career all-purpose yards (5,359) and career receiving yards (3,385) and tied the NCAA record for the most consecutive games catching a pass with 54.

Prior to Ball State, Knight coached running backs at Indiana State in 2019 before shifting back to receivers in 2020. ISU did not have a 2020 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before Indiana State, Knight served on Central Michigan’s staff, helping lead the Chippewas to the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in 2017. His receiving corps that year amassed 3,324 yards and 27 touchdown receptions. At CMU, he coached Mark Chapman who went on to become the No. 1 pick in the CFL draft. In addition to serving as wide receiver coach, he also was the passing game coordinator.

Knight broke into coaching at Grenada High School in California before joining the college ranks with Valparaiso and then Northern Michigan.

Knight is a 2007 graduate of the University of Michigan and was a member of the Wolverines' national championship team in 1997. As a wide receiver, he earned All-Big Ten second team recognition in 1999 and ranked in the top 15 in Michigan history in career receptions (88) and receiving yards (1,508).

He played in the NFL with the Oakland Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, including reaching Super Bowl XXXVIII with the Raiders. He also played in an Arena Bowl and a high school state championship game.

Stefon Wheeler | Offensive Line Coach

Stefon Wheeler joined Tony Reno’s staff as offensive line coach in the spring of 2023.

In his first season on staff, the Bulldogs captured the Ivy League title, and one of his pupils, Kiran Amegadjie, was a third round selection of the Chicago Bears in the NFL Draft.

In the spring of 2023, Wheeler joined Bears head coach Matt Eberflus' staff as part of the NFL's Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship Program. Wheeler spent 11 days at the Bears facility in Lake Forest, Ill., during rookie and mini camp.

Wheeler came to Yale after spending four seasons as the OL coach at Rhode Island.

At URI, he mentored a line that helped the Rams rank fourth in CAA Football in both rushing (168.8 yards per game) and passing (235.3 yards/game) and fifth with just 21 sacks allowed in 11 games in 2022. Guard Nick Correia excelled under Wheeler’s tutelage, earning third team All-America honors, and three linemen earned All-CAA recognition.

In 2022, Wheeler oversaw a unit in which the same five players started all 11 games. Center Sebastian Delasoudas served as a team captain for the year. The team's two feature backs, Justice Antrum and Jaylen Smith, combined for 1,059 of the team's 1,469 yards on the ground, URI's highest rushing total in nine seasons.

In the COVID-19 shortened 2020-21 season, Wheeler's offensive line unit paved the way for the Rams to average 147.7 rushing yards per game. Rhody scored eight rushing touchdowns in just three games, and Correia earned second team All-CAA Football honors.

In 2019, Wheeler coached consensus All-America and First Team All-CAA Football left tackle Kyle Murphy. Murphy was the anchor of the Rhode Island offensive line, starting 11 games at left tackle. A team captain, Murphy was the primary reason the line allowed just 2.17 sacks per game despite team averaging a league-high 42 pass attempts per game. In addition, URI was one of two teams in the league to top 3,500 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing. In addition to Murphy, Wheeler coached right tackle Kevin Lawrence, who signed with the Canadian Football League's Winnipeg Blue Bombers in February of 2020.

Wheeler joined the Rhode Island staff after five seasons at Wagner. During his time on Staten Island, Wagner had eight offensive linemen earn all-conference recognition. Wheeler was Wagner's running game coordinator during his final two years. His squad had the league’s second-leading rusher in 2018, and the third-leading rusher in 2017.

From 2010-13, Wheeler was the offensive coordinator at Milford Academy Prep, where he also coached the linemen and running backs.

After starring along the Milford offensive line in 2000, where he led the Falcons to a 10-3 record, Wheeler was awarded a full scholarship to Michigan State where he went on to start 35 games at left tackle. A two-time All-Big 10 honorable mention selection, he was voted to the Spartans First-Team All-Decade squad in 2012.

A 2005 Michigan State graduate, Wheeler signed a free agent contract with the New Orleans Saints in 2006 and played in NFL Europa for the Cologne Centurions in 2007. While playing left tackle overseas, he helped open holes for the league's leading rusher. Later in 2007, Wheeler signed with the CFL's Toronto Argonauts.

Paul Rice | Tight End Coach

Rice, the captain of the 2009 Yale Football team, joined Tony Reno’s staff as Tight Ends coach in February of 2024. He returns to Yale after coaching linebackers and serving as the Special Teams Coordinator at Columbia for the last two seasons. With the Lions, he mentored first team All-Ivy linebacker Anthony Roussos and unanimous first team All-Ivy punter William Hughes.

Prior to Columbia, Rice spent one season as a Defensive Analyst with the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons (2021-22). With the Falcons, his primary responsibilities included providing defensive insight through research and review of statistics.

Rice joined the Falcons after serving as the Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach for three years at Fordham (2018-20). Overall, six of his defensive players earned All-Patriot League honors, including four who earned first team all-conference.

Prior to Fordham, Rice coached for five years at Yale (2013-17), serving as Outside Linebackers Coach for the entire tenure and Special Teams Coordinator from 2015-17. Rice helped the Yale defense rank No. 1 in scoring defense in the Ivy League in 2017 as well as No. 2 in defensive pass efficiency. He coached two First Team All-Ivy players and one Second Team honoree, and was selected as one of the top-30 coaches under the age of 30 in the NCAA/NAIA/High School ranks by the American Football Coaches Association.

Rice began his college coaching career as an Offensive Graduate Assistant Coach at Georgia Tech in 2012, where he helped the Yellow Jackets to a 2012 Sun Bowl victory over Southern California.

He also played one season for the L’Hospitalet Pioners (Barcelona, Spain) in the spring of 2011. He served as a player/coach, competing on both sides of the ball and helping the Pioners to a national championship.

Rice earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Yale in 2010. On the football field, he was a team captain, four-year starter, and three-time All-Ivy League cornerback/linebacker, including a first team selection as a senior in 2009. In his career, he accumulated 196 tackles, six interceptions and three fumble recoveries.

A former Ohio Division III co-defensive player of the year and National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete at University High School in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, Rice helped the Bulldogs lead the nation in scoring defense in consecutive seasons. A First Team All-Ohio safety, First Team Ohio News Network All-Ohio, he was selected to play in the prestigious Big 33 All-Star game.

Chris Bergeski | Running Backs Coach

Bergeski joined the Yale staff as running backs coach in February of 2024. He comes to Yale after spending the 2023 season as the wide receiver coach for the University of Rhode Island. He helped lead a Rams passing attack that averaged nearly 285 yards per game and mentored Kahtero Summers, who was a first team All-CAA receiver, and Marquis Buchanan, who was named freshman All-America.

Prior to URI, Bergeski spent 14 years at Southern Connecticut. He was the wide receivers coach from 2009-13 before being promoted to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach before the 2014 season. In eight seasons as the offensive coordinator, he coached three Division II All-Americans, seven All-ECAC selections and 16 All-Northeast-10 picks at quarterback and wide receiver. Bergeski was also the program's recruiting coordinator.

Bergeski is a 2009 graduate of Southern Connecticut where he ranked third in school history with 148 career receptions, fourth in receiving yards (2,260) and fifth in touchdown receptions (23).

Bergeski earned All-Region and All-Conference honors in his junior campaign.

Following his collegiate career, Bergeski played professionally in France and was a player-coach for Thonon-Les Bains.