Recruiting Areas: Pennsylvania Districts 1 and 11, Southern New Jersey, Tennessee, Kentucky
Josh Hutchison enters his 11th year with the Red Flash in the 2024 season and currently serves as the special teams coordinator and the running backs coach.
In 2023, Saint Francis finished atop the NEC with 27.2 points and ranked third with 168.6 rushing yards per game. The Saint Francis rushing attach had a season-high 288 yards in the season finale at Central Connecticut on Nov. 18. The Red Flash had three 100-yard rushing performances.
Punter Aidan Cirulli finished second in the NEC with 39.2 yards per punt and had a season-long punt of 62 yards at Robert Morris on Sept. 9. Kicker Mac Plummer went 7-for-7 in extra point attempts in the season finale at Central Connecticut.
In 2022, Hutchison led a special teams unit that was fourth in the FCS with 13.9 average kick return yards against. Under his guidance, kicker Alex Schmoke earned HERO Sports Sophomore All-American and All-NEC First Team honors. In 2022, he tied a single-season program record with 22 converted field goals. Freshman Makai Jackson also returned one kickoff for a touchdown.
The Saint Francis run game ranked second in the NEC with 182.2 yards per game. Both QuaSean Holmes (47.9) and Lovell Armstead (42.2) ranked top-10 in the NEC in rushing yards per game. The running game scored six touchdowns on Oct. 15 against LIU, which was third in single-game program history.
During the 2021 season, Hutchison guided a special teams unit that ranked second in the FCS with five blocked punts and third with six blocked kicks. He assisted HERO Sports Freshman All-America and All-NEC First Team kicker Alex Schmoke. He led the NEC with 70 points scored, 15 converted field goals and made six first goals of 40+ yards. He also assisted All-NEC Second Team punter Jordan Slaiby, who had a conference-high seven punts of 50+ yards and 22 punts inside the 20-yard line.
Return specialist Josh McGrigg was also named All-NEC Second Team under Hutchison's guidance. He was named FCS Special Teams Player of the Week after he recorded a 94-yard kick return touchdown and 59-yard punt return touchdown against LIU on Oct. 9.
Saint Francis averaged 146.4 rushing yards per game and running back Marques DeShields was named All-NEC First Team. DeShields had 167 rushes for 767 yards and four touchdowns and set a record for the longest run in program history with his 98-yard touchdown against Bryant on Oct. 16.
Hutchinson played a vital role in the success of the Saint Francis return game as Nick Rinella graduates as the career leader in punt return yards and punt return yard average, while ranking second in kick return yards. Rinella was a two-time All-Conference return man, earning First Team accolades in 2019. He finished his career with three kick return touchdowns.
Sophomore Trevor Thompson also flashed under Hutchinson, winning NEC Special Teams Player of the Week twice, while Rinella won the award once.
Hutchinson has also played a role in the development of the SFU tight ends prior to his time as special teams coordinator.
Hutchinson aided the Saint Francis offense to average 21.9 points, 287.1 total yards, 185.6 passing yards and 101.5 rushing yards per game in 2017. The tight ends helped Bear Fenimore to throw for 1,893 yards and 14 touchdowns, while completing 159 passes, the fifth-most in a season in program history. SFU’s offense had 38 plays of 20 or more yards, including 29 passes and nine rushes.
Senior and team captain Matt Valenzuela led the tight ends with 15 catches for 108 yards and a touchdown. Valenzuela scored SFU’s first touchdown, a nine-yard reception, in the win at No. 22 Liberty. He had three receptions in each of SFU’s first four games, with 30 yards vs. Lock Haven and 33 at Liberty.
At 6-6, Terell Johnson presented a big target for Fenimore. Johnson caught seven passes for 97 yards and two touchdowns. He had a 27-yard touchdown receptions vs. Lock Haven and a two-yard TD catch against Wagner. Johnson also had a 44-yard reception vs. Towson and a 19-yard catch at Liberty. Senior Colin Hindle caught a five-yard touchdown against Sacred Heart.
Hutchison’s tight end unit helped SFU to rank third in the NEC, and 55th in the FCS, with a 26.9 scoring average in 2016. SFU averaged 218.9 yards through the air and 126.2 on the ground. SFU averaged 345.1 total yards per game.
Junior Colin Hindle caught four passes for 66 yards, including a 26-yard touchdown at Sacred Heart. Senior Marcus Alston had eight catches for 41 yards, including three touchdowns, with a six-yard touchdown catch at Montana, a four-yard touchdown catch against Bryant and a six-yard touchdown reception against Central Connecticut State. Senior Matt Valenzuela started the first four games of the season before suffering an injury.
On special teams, senior kicker Lance Geesey made 12 of 20 field goal attempts, with a long of 52 yards. He converted all 39 extra point attempts. Geesey ended his career with 57 career field goals to tie the NEC record. Geesey finished his career with SFU records in field goals made (57), attempted (75), percentage (76), PATs made (123) and points (294). He earned invitations to the FCS Bowl and Dream Bowl V. Geesey was named the Special Teams MVP of Dream Bowl V, setting the game’s scoring record with five extra points, all from NFL range, and a 40-yard field goal.
Sophomore Andrew Zecca and senior Zack Drayer shared the punting duties. Drayer averaged 35 yards per punt on 41 kicks, with a long of 53. Zecca averaged 43.4 yards per punt on 32 kicks and set a school-record with a 73-yard punt at Villanova.
Senior Lorenzo Jerome ranked second in the nation with a 28.9 kick return average, including a 73-yard touchdown on a squib kick and another 86-yard return at Montana. After that game, he was named STATS FCS National Special Teams Player of the Week. One of the special teams highlights of the season was a blocked punt, by Da’Jon Lee, against Robert Morris.
The running back and tight end units helped the Saint Francis offense to rank second in the NEC and 49th in the FCS in scoring, averaging 28.2 points per game, in 2015. SFU also ranked second in the league in rushing, gaining 158.7 yards per contest.
Senior Khairi Dickson was named First Team All-NEC for the second straight year after rushing for 1,003 yards and eight touchdowns on 184 carries. Dickson averaged 5.5 yards per carry and 100.3 yards per game. He ranked second in the NEC and 15th in the FCS in rushing yards per game. Dickson hit the 100-yard mark in six games this season, including five times in conference games. Dickson was on the STATS FCS Offensive Player of the Year and CFPA National Performer of the Year Watch Lists.
Sophomore Marcus Bagley ranked fifth in the NEC in rushing yards per game. Bagley totaled 626 yards and two touchdowns on 113 carries. Bagley had three 100-yard games on the year.
At tight end, Frank Failace started nine games and tied a school record with three touchdown catches vs. Wagner.
On special teams, kicker Lance Geesey led the FCS in field goal percentage, making 16-of-17 attempts for 94 percent. Geesey was also first in the NEC and sixth in the FCS in field goals made per game (1.6). The First Team All-NEC selection hit 28-of-29 extra point attempts and led the conference in total points (76). Geesey hit three or more field goals in three games. The three-time NEC Special Teams Player of the Week honoree set a program and NEC-record with five field goals at Central Connecticut State. For his efforts, Geesey was named STATS FCS National Special Teams Player of the Week. He also punted during the last two games of the season, averaging 37.1 yards per kick. Geesey was a finalist for CFPA Kicker of the Year.
Junior kick returner Lorenzo Jerome led the nation in kick return average, with 31.2 yards per return to earn First Team All-NEC honors. Jerome totaled 531 yards on two touchdowns on 17 returns. Jerome had a school-record 99-yard return for a touchdown at Towson. Three weeks later, Jerome returned the opening kickoff at East Tennessee State 98 yards for a score. The Florida native also returned punts with 101 yards on 15 returns. Jerome was a finalist for STATS FCS National Returner of the Year.
Zack Drayer handled the punting duties for most of the season, averaging 34.9 yards per punt and placing 10 inside the 20-yard line.
During the 2014 campaign, Hutchison mentored kicker Lance Geesey to an All-NEC First Team selection, as the redshirt sophomore had easily the best season for a kicker in Red Flash history. The redshirt sophomore made 18-of-22 field goal attempts, the most in the conference and fourth most in the FCS. The 18 makes were a school record, shattering the 11 he made last season to tie Josh Thiel. He also led the NEC in field goal percentage, converting on 81.8 percent of his kicks.
Prior to his role at Saint Francis, Hutchison served as the wide receivers and defensive backs coach for Hollidaysburg Area High School for the varsity program. He also was given more responsibilities with the junior varsity program, where he was named the offensive coordinator.
Hutchison attended Temple University from 2006 until 2010, where he earned his bachelor’s of arts in criminal justice. While at Temple, he was a two-year letterman where he played wide receiver, defensive back and started on special teams. He received the J. Myron Honigman Award for Spirit, Dedication and Loyalty in his senior season and played in the Eagle Bank Bowl in 2009. Hutchison returned to his alma mater in 2013 in a coaching capacity in which he assisted the wide receivers coaches while also helping with film and football operations.
Hutchison resides in Hollidaysburg.
