Head Coach
Jack Leipheimer

Entering his seventh season as the Tomcat's head coach, Jack Leipheimer has returned Thiel College football back to prominence.  Thiel has amassed a 23-9 record over the past three years with its most successful season in school history coming in 2005.  After posting an undefeated regular-season record (10-0) and leading the Tomcats to their first NCAA Division III playoff birth in 2005, Leipheimer was named the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) Coach of the Year, the AFCA (American Football Coaches Association) Division III Region II Coach of the Year and the Football Gazette’s South Region Coach of the Year. He guided Thiel to an 11-1 overall record, the program's first PAC title since 1972, its first undefeated regular season since 1950, its first-ever playoff victory, and final season rankings of 15th in the Football Gazette’s Top 40, 16th in the AFCA Coaches Poll, and 17th in the D3foootball.com Top 25 poll.

Leipheimer has led the resurgence through a solid recruiting effort and strong emphasis on academics. 39 players attained a 3.0 or higher GPA while 13 were named to the PAC Academic Honor Roll (attaining a 3.6 or higher semester GPA) during the fall of 2006.  

Over the past six seasons Thiel has had 100 all-Conference selections, 21 players named all-Region, 11 players named all-American and three players named Academic all-American.  Thiel has also had 34 players earn PAC Player of the Week honors and set or tied 56 school records. 

A 1974 Thiel graduate, Leipheimer was a four-year letter winner and three-year starter at tight end, earning all-PAC accolades in 1973. He was a member of the 1972 squad that registered the college’s second PAC title with a 6-1 conference mark. He was also a three-year letter winner with the Tomcat baseball squad, playing both catcher and first base.

Leipheimer enters his 33rd year of coaching and his 24th at the collegiate level. Before arriving at Thiel he served as an assistant coach at Allegheny College for 17 years, with the last 12 seasons as the defensive coordinator. He began his coaching career in 1975 as the offensive coordinator at the Bullis School, Potomac, Md. He then served as the defensive coordinator at Trinity High School, Garfield Heights, Ohio, from 1976-1978, and as head coach of the former Kennedy Christian High School, now Kennedy Catholic, Hermitage, Pa., from 1979-1984.

During his 12 seasons as Allegheny’s defensive play-caller (1989-2000), the Gators tallied an impressive overall record of 106-23-1, including 22 shutouts. Leipheimer’s defensive schemes helped the Gators win the NCAA Division III National Championship in 1990, and six North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Championships.  At Allegheny Leipheimer coached 70 All-North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) defensive players, 43 of whom were named to the first team and 22 defensive All-Americans.

Jack and his wife, Patti, reside in Greenville. They have two daughters: Shanna Bossler, a 2002 Thiel graduate and Krista, a 2005 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh.

Volunteer Assistant Coach/Secondary (Cornerbacks)
Frank Amato

Frank Amato enters his 14th season as a Tomcat assistant and will work primarily with the cornerbacks. A former head coach at Reynolds High School, Amato amassed a record of 156-58-9 (.700) during his 23-year tenure.

He is a 1960 graduate of Purdue University and played defensive back for the Boilermakers from his sophomore through senior years. In 1974 he earned a master’s degree from Edinboro University.

Amato and his wife, Patti, have six grown children.

Assistant Coach/Defensive Line
Brian Dickison

A 2002 Thiel College alumnus, Dickison returns to his alma mater in 2007 for his second stint as an assistant coach under Coach Leipheimer. He will serve as the team’s defensive line coach.

Dickison spent the past two seasons as the assistant defensive line coach at the University of Maine. In all, he was an assistant coach with the Tomcats for five seasons before departing for the University of Maine. His coaching career began in 2000 as a student coach, a position he held through the 2001 season. He became a regular assistant in 2002 and last served under Leipheimer in 2004 when he worked primarily with the fullbacks.

Dickison is a 1998 Reynolds High School graduate. He resides in Greenville.

Intern Assistant Coach/Assistant Defensive Line
Jonathan Howson

Jon Howson begins his second season as a member of Coach Leipheimer's staff and will assist Coach Dickison with the defensive line as well as a junior varsity special teams coordinator.

Howson, a 2006 Thiel graduate, is the program's all-time leader in tackles for loss (53.5) and is second in career sacks (25.0). He was named to the all-PAC first team following the 2005 season after being recognized as a second team selection in 2003 and 2004 and a honorable mention pick in 2002. Howson started all 42 games during his Tomcat playing career.

Intern Assistant Coach/Wide Receivers
Jon Kutterna

Jon Kutterna enters his first season as a member of the Tomcat coaching staff.

Kutterna, a native of North East and a 2007 Thiel graduate, was a four-year letter winner with the Tomcat football team and was a two-time all-PAC second team selection at tight end. He caught 10 passes last season for 118 yards.

Kutterna will coach the wide receivers this year as well as the junior varsity receivers and backs.

Intern Assistant Coach/Video Coordinator/Tight Ends
Eric Ouellette

Eric Ouellette begins his first season as a member of the Tomcat coaching staff. An 2007 alumnus of the University of Maine, Ouellette was a four-year member of the Maine football team. He played two years at tight end and two years on the offensive line. He spent last season as a student assistant with the Maine football program, working mostly with the running backs and offensive line.

Ouellette’s main role with Thiel will be to serve as video coordinator. He will also coach the tight ends and junior varsity offensive line.

Assistant Coach/Secondary
J.P. McFeeley

McFeeley begins his first season as secondary coach. He most recently served as assistant secondary coach at Division I-AA Lafayette College in Easton, Pa. McFeeley was part of the Leopard team that won the Patriot League championship in 2006 and went on to participate in the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs.

Prior to his stint at Lafayette, McFeeley spent a season as assistant linebackers coach at Division I-AA Fordham University. He also spent two seasons as linebackers and strength and conditioning coach at Clarion University.

A 2003 Allegheny College alumnus, McFeeley was a four-year starter with the Gators. He was a two-time All-NCAC selection and was named All-American by the National Strength & Conditioning Association following his senior campaign in 2002. He was the Gators’ captain and MVP in 2002. McFeeley furthered his education while coaching at Clarion, graduating cum laude with a master of arts in English in 2004.

His full name is John Paul McFeeley. He resides in Greenville.

Barry Oman enters his seventh season as a volunteer assistant coach at Thiel and will be working primarily with the safties.  Oman earned his bachelor’s degree from Thiel in 1974 and his master’s degree from Youngstown State University in 1986.

He was a two-time all-PAC first team selection as a free safety for the Tomcats and is third on the school’s all-time interceptions list with 13.  Oman was inducted into the Thiel Athletic Hall of Fame in February, 2006.  

He and his wife, Linda, have two children: Ryan and Lauren.  

Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator/Strength & Conditioning Coordinator
Kurt Reiser

Kurt Reiser begins his seventh season as a member of the Tomcat coaching staff and his first as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Reiser also serves as the team’s strength and conditioning coordinator and is the director of the Paul Bush ’66 Memorial Fitness Center on campus.

Prior to arriving at Thiel, Reiser was the offensive coordinator at Leyden High School, Chicago, for six years. A 1993 Allegheny graduate, he earned his master’s degree from DePaul University in 1997. With the Gators, Reiser was a three-year starter at tight end and was a two-time All-NCAC selection and an All-American. Reiser was also a starter on the Gators’ 1990 National Championship team.

He and his wife, Nancy, have two sons and a daughter: Ben, Ethan, and Ellie.

Assistant Coach/Assistant Linebackers

Corey Russell is in his first season as a member of the Tomcat coaching staff. He will assist Coach Darby with the linebackers.

Russell graduated from Thiel in 2007 with a bachelor of arts degree in history. Hailing from Euclid, Ohio, he was a three-year letter winner for the Tomcats and started at strong safety last season.  This is not his first time on head coach Jack Leipheimer's staff; due to an injury in 2004, he briefly worked as a student assistant.

Kyle Smesko begins his first season as the offensive line coach and academic coordinator for the Tomcat football squad.

Smesko came to Thiel from Franklin & Marshall College where he had served as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach from 2003-06. Prior to his time at Franklin & Marshall Smesko was an assistant at Yale University from 1999-2002.

Under Smesko's direction the Diplomats passing offense finished the 2006 season ranked 37th in Division III (225.7 yards per game) and 64th in total offense (347.2 yards per game) while ranking first and second in the Centennial Conference in passing and total offense, respectively.

Smesko, a 1997 Allegheny College graduate, was a two-time all-North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) selection for the Gators. He holds the top spot in the NCAC record book in career rushing average (6.9 yards per carry) and is sixth in career rushing touchdowns (46). Smesko rushed for a career-high 1,068 yards during the 1995 season.