Tom Cecchini

Thomas A. Cecchini (born December 9, 1944) is a former American football player and coach. He played college football as an All-Big Ten Conference linebacker at the University of Michigan, and he held coaching positions with Xavier University, University of Iowa, and the Minnesota Vikings. In two years as the head coach at Xavier, he compiled a record of 8–13–1.

Football player

Cecchini began his football career as an all-city player at Pershing High School in Detroit. He played college football for the University of Michigan from 1963 to 1965. He was a first-team All-Big Ten Conference linebacker in 1964 and was selected as the captain of the 1965 Michigan Wolverines football team.

Coaching career

After receiving his bachelor's degree from Michigan in 1966, he remained at Michigan as a member of Michigan's coaching staff. He also received a master's degree in education at Michigan. In 1970, he was hired as the defensive line coach at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. He served as the head football coach at Xavier from 1972 to 1973. At the end of the 1973 season, Xavier terminated its intercollegiate football program. In January 1974, he was hired as an assistant football coach at the University of Iowa, where former Michigan head coach Bump Elliott was employed as the athletic director. After seven seasons as an assistant coach at Iowa, he was hired as the defensive line coach for the Minnesota Vikings in March 1980.