Heading into year three under Head Coach Ryan Lusby, the Dodge City football team will have some new assistant coaches roaming the sidelines. The latest addition to the coaching staff for the Conquistadors is T.J. Vernieri, who will serve as an assistant coach and oversee the wide receivers. 

Vernieri joins the Conqs after a tenure with the Memphis Showboats in the United Football League (UFL), serving as tight ends and wide receivers coach for two seasons. 

The Long Valley, New Jersey native looks to make an impact for the Conqs in several ways, especially with his position group he will oversee. "I want to continue to grow my track record of optimizing position groups to match their potential. This is an exciting group of Wide Receivers that has the ability to showcase their talent not only to the KJCCC but to the NJCAA as a whole," said Vernieri. 

Prior to his time in the UFL, Vernieri was on the sidelines as wide receivers coach at Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania for the 2023 season, where he coached wide receiver Ke'John Batiste to All-PSAC honors. His coaching career includes stops in the United States Football League (USFL) and the Canadian Football League (CFL). In the USFL, he worked with the New Orleans Breakers as a tight ends coach and offensive quality control during the 2023 USFL season, while in the CFL, he worked for the Calgary Stampeders from June 2021 to December 2022, holding multiple titles including offensive assistant, runningbacks coach, and Global Draft Coordinator. 

In his lone season with the Breakers, the team finished 7-3, taking second in the South Division and qualifying for the USFL playoffs. During his tenure with the Stampeders, he coached two-time CFL All-Star runningback, Ka'Deem Carey, who ranked top five in several stat categories in the 2021 and 2022 seasons. The Stampeders went 12-6 during the 2022 season and 8-6 in 2021. 
Vernieri started his coaching career as a student assistant at the University of Connecticut for the 2018 season, before moving on to Lycoming College in Pennsylvania, where he worked from January 2019 to June 2021 as the wide receivers coach. 

He suited up for UConn playing wide receiver for the Huskies from 2016-18, playing under Head Coaches Bob Diaco and Randy Edsall. He earned a scholarship during his time as a Husky, while also being named to the American Athletic Conference All-Academic team multiple times. 

The Conqs are eager to hit the ground running for the 2026 season and challenge in the KJCCC and NJCAA.