1st Year as Assistant Football Coach – Wide Receivers Coach
Hometown: Long Valley, New Jersey
College(s): University of Connecticut
T.J. Vernieri enters his first season on the coaching staff for Dodge City football, serving as an assistant coach overseeing the wide receivers. He joined the staff in June of 2026.
Vernieri comes to Dodge City after most recently coaching for the Memphis Showboats in the United Football League (UFL) where he served as tight ends and wide receivers coach from January 2024 to December 2025. He was also an Offense Quality Control coach and served as interim offensive player caller for a period. He coached tight end Sage Surratt, who went on to sign with the Arizona Cardinals.
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.
The New Jersey native 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. During his coaching career in 2023, he was selected to the American Football Coaches Association 35 under 35 Coaches Leadership Institute.
Before wrapping up his education at UCONN, serving as a student assistant coach, Vernieri walked on at UCONN and played 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.
Vernieri earned his Bachelor of Science in Business from UCONN in December of 2018.
