Support Staff

Larry Ciotti | Advisor to Head Coach

Larry Ciotti completed 21 total years of collegiate coaching in 2014, having worked primarily as the running backs coach for former Yale head coaches Carm Cozza and Jack Siedlecki. He now serves as an advisor to head coach Tony Reno.

Ciotti began at Yale in 1991 and served two seasons as the head coach of the freshman squad.  Since then he helped Rashad Bartholomew '01 become Yale’s career rushing leader before he signed with the Tennessee Titans. He also mentored two-time All-Ivy back Robert Carr ’05, who surpassed Bartholomew in the record books. He continued the trend by coaching Ivy MVP and All-American Mike McLeod ’09, who holds every major rushing record at Yale.

His latest protege, Tyler Varga '15, was an All-American who led the nation in scoring, served as captain of the North team in the Senior Bowl (scored 2 TDs) and played for the Indianapolis Colts.

Ciotti, who had an 8-4 record coaching the Bullpups, is a Connecticut high school coaching legend. In 19 seasons (1970-88) as the head coach at Daniel Hand in Madison, Conn., he compiled a 141-41-2 record and won five state titles. Ciotti then served as director of athletics at Hand from 1988 to 1992. In 1993, he was inducted into the Connecticut High School Coaches Hall of Fame. Ciotti received the Walter Camp Football Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011.

The captain of the 1965 Southern Connecticut State University football team (graduated in '66), Ciotti earned All-New England and All-Eastern League honors as a center/linebacker. He was inducted into the SCSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998.

His son, Mike '90, was a center for the 1989 Ivy Champion Bulldogs. Ciotti and his wife, Barbara, reside in Madison. They also have three daughters, Susan, Deanna, and Cathryn, and 12 grandchildren.

Elijah Weeks | Director of Player Development

Elijah Weeks joined the Yale football program in 2016.

During his tenure, the Bulldogs have captured four Ivy League titles (2017, 2019, 2022, 2023).

Weeks is a Bronx native and a graduate of St. Andrew’s School (Del.). He then attended Williams College and was a three-year starter and two-sport athlete in both lacrosse and football.

Weeks has spent the last decade developing his coaching skills and expanding his knowledge of the game at a number of secondary institutions. From 2009-10, he taught and coached several sports at Emily N. Carey School in Harlem, N.Y. and spent three years at the Asheville School in North Carolina.

Weeks has his master's degree from Wesleyan after interning for the athletic department. He coached lacrosse, football and basketball during his time with the Cardinals.

Alex Kurtz | Director of Recruiting

Alex Kurtz joined the Yale Football staff in March of 2022 as Director of Recruiting. Yale has won Ivy League championships in each of his two seasons on the staff.

Prior to Yale, he served as the Assistant Director of Scouting at Boston College where he was responsible for player evaluation and recruitment. In 2018, Kurtz was the quarterback coach at Bryant. He also spent three seasons as a graduate assistant at Boston College, working with quarterbacks and receivers.

Kurtz is a 2011 graduate of Vanderbilt University with a BA in history and political science. He earned a master’s in administrative studies from Boston College in 2017.

Kurtz is a Westport, Conn. native.

Dr. Elizabeth Gardner | Head Team Physician; Head Orthopaedist

Dr. Elizabeth Gardner is a Board Certified Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Yale University School of Medicine, specializing in the practice of sports medicine, including open and arthroscopic approaches to the knee and shoulder. In May 2023, Gardner assumed the role of Head Team Physician, in addition to her responsibilities as Head Orthopaedist, for Yale Athletics.

In her role as Yale's Head Team Physician and Orthopaedic Surgeon, she works comprehensively with athletic trainers, physical therapists, primary care and sports medicine physicians, and strength and conditioning coaches to optimize Yale student-athlete performance.

Dr. Gardner graduated from Yale University in 2001 with a BA in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology. As an undergraduate at Yale, Dr. Gardner was a two-sport varsity athlete, playing both field hockey and lacrosse for the Bulldogs. During her career, she garnered recognition as an All-Ivy and Academic All-American player. In her senior year, she was named the sole captain of the Women’s Lacrosse team. It was through these athletic pursuits that Dr. Gardner quickly came to appreciate the practice of sports medicine and appreciate the dedication and unique challenges of our student-athletes.

Following a two-year stint as a field hockey player and coach in England, Dr. Gardner returned to the United States to attend Emory University School of Medicine, from which she graduated in 2007. She then came back to Yale School of Medicine to complete her orthopaedic surgery residency. Following her passion for collegiate athletic medicine, she was awarded a fellowship in Sports Medicine and Shoulder Surgery at the University of Michigan. There she had the opportunity to work with the student-athletes at the University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University, including their football and lacrosse teams.

Additionally, she is active in developing Yale’s Sports Performance Program, encouraging innovation in the training and recovery of Yale's student-athletes.  She is also the Medical Director for the Southern Connecticut State University Masters in Athletic Training Program, helping to train the next generation of athletic trainers.

Dr. Gardner is a member of the Yale School of Medicine faculty, as well as working at the Yale Health Center. She remains active as a member of Alumnae Boards for both Yale Field Hockey and Lacrosse. She is also a Fellow of Davenport College, and an undergraduate first-year and sophomore student advisor.

Spencer Field | Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach

Spencer Field joined the Yale staff as assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Yale Football team in the summer of 2022. The Bulldogs have won Ivy League championships in each of his two seasons.

Prior to Yale, he was an intern at the University of South Florida in 2021 and 2022 and also served as the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Palm Bay Magnet High School in Melbourne, Fla.

Field is a 2016 graduate of the University of Florida with a Master’s Degree in Applied Physiology & Kinesiology in 2016. He graduated from Florida Institute of Technology with a Bachelor’s Degree in Sports Psychology in 2014.

Field is an NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and has CPR/AED & First Aid through the American Red Cross.

John Vecchio |  Assistant Data Analytics Specialist

John Vecchio’s career at Yale started as a strength and conditioning intern during the 2021 season. The following season he was brought back as an assistant strength coach for the football team.

Vecchio graduated from Western Connecticut State University with a degree in health promotion and fitness in 2021. He is a certified NCSA strength and conditioning specialist, and he is certified in CPR/AED through the Red Cross.

Vecchio grew up in Southington, Conn., where he was raised by John and Cyndi Vecchio. He is the oldest of six siblings: Anthony, Jacob, Eliza, Ava and Andrew.