SUNY Cortland Athletics

Larry Czarnecki works with Cortland’s tight ends in 2012 as he continues a long-standing coaching career with the Red Dragons.

Czarnecki served as Cortland’s offensive coordinator from 2001-04 and was the team’s defensive coordinator and interior defensive line coach from 1999-2000. He was Cortland’s head football coach from 1983-85 after working as the team’s defensive line coach in 1978 and defensive coordinator from 1979-82.

A former Cortland track and field head coach, Czarnecki was named the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Men’s Track and Field Coach of the Year in both 2001 and 2002 after guiding the Red Dragons to two outdoor league titles. In 1999, Czarnecki earned SUNYAC Women’s Track and Field “Coach of the Year” honors after leading the Red Dragons to indoor and outdoor league titles and a 12th-place outdoor national finish. Czarnecki served as Cortland’s assistant track and field coach from 1978-85, working with the Red Dragons’ field event athletes. He was the program’s interim head coach in 1981.

Czarnecki received a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education from Ithaca College in 1976 and his master’s degree in the same field the following year. He returned to his alma mater in 1986 as an assistant football and track and field coach. He worked with the Bombers’ football squad until 1996, coaching the offensive line on squads that won NCAA Division III titles in 1988 and 1991.

Czarnecki was a standout defensive tackle at Ithaca, earning Kodak and Associated Press First Team All-America honors. He was named the ECAC Division III Football “Player of the Year” as a senior captain in 1975. He led the Bombers to Lambert Trophies and appearances in the NCAA Division III championship games in his junior and senior seasons. Czarnecki also competed on Ithaca’s Track and Field club team and played semi-pro football with the Scranton Stars (1976-78) and Binghamton Jets (1979-80).