HEAD COACH
JOE TRAINER
HEAD COACH SECOND SEASON Joe Trainer, a veteran of nearly 20 years of college football coaching experience, Trainer was introduced as head coach on Feb. 27, 2009 when the University begins his third season at the University of Rhode Island and his second as selected him as its 19th head coach in school history. head coach. “I cannot tell you how honored and humbled I am to be the head coach at the In his first season as head coach, Trainer oversaw a defensive unit that ranked University of Rhode Island,” Trainer said at his introductory press conference. “It second in the CAA in turnover margin. During the 2009 campaign, the Rams is truly an honor that I am going to embrace and I am going to make everyone gained a league-best 15 fumbles and picked off 11 passes. associated with this program proud of the way we conduct ourselves from the head coach all the way down to the team manager.” Offensively, the Rhody made tremendous strides down the stretch as it averaged 352.3 total yards of offense per game in its final three contests. Trainer returned to Rhode Island after he joined the coaching staff at Bowling Green in December 2008 where he served as the Assistant Head Coach/ Following the 2009 season, Rhody had three individuals earn CAA all- Defensive Coordinator under two-time Football Championship Subdivision conference honors, including linebacker Rob Damon, who also earned Sports (FCS) Coach of the Year Dave Clawson. Network All-America accolades. “Coming back here in a different capacity as a head coach I believe we are Off the field, Trainer places a strong emphasis on academics. This past season, going to do great things on the field and above all else we are going to do it 10 Rhode Island players earned Academic All-Conference, including defensive the right way,” Trainer explained. lineman Matt Rae, who was named ESPN The Magazine/CoSida District II AllAcademic First Team. “We are not going to cut corners and we are going to make our kids accountable in every phase.”
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