Joe Rossi: Fabricated Coaching Bio

Hit Harder

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I noticed that Joe Rossi’s coaching biography on the Minnesota football webpage makes the claim that “Maine annually had one of the top defensive units in the Football Championship Subdivision under Rossi.” By no reasonable and logical measure can this claim be made.

By far, the top two statistics used to rank defenses are total yards allowed (total defense) and defensive points allowed (scoring defense). According to his bio, Rossi was Maine’s defensive coordinator from 2009-2011. In 2009, Maine’s total defense was 60th out of 118 teams, which is the bottom half. In 2010 it was 60th out of 117, which is also in the bottom half. In 2011, it was 51st out of 120. Scoring defensive rankings are not much different for Maine during those years.

How could anyone claim that those results lead to being one of the top defenses in the country?

Moving on, his bio also claims that while the DC at Thiel College, his defense led the conference in 2006 in scoring defense, total defense, rush defense, and pass defense. These are also bogus claims.

In 2006, Thiel was behind Washington & Jefferson (a fellow conference member) in scoring defense both in only conference games and in overall games. In total defense, Thiel allowed 255.8 yards to finish 41st nationally. Thomas More, a fellow conference school, finished 25th in the country allowing fewer yards at 244.8 yards per game.

Thiel was also behind Thomas More in rushing defense, so that claim is also bogus.

Now, one can claim that they're only referring to games within the conference, but in that case, it would still be false based on the scoring defense claim as I already pointed out.

All of these things are easily verified both on the conference’s official statistics page and the official NCAA statistical archives.

At small schools, these coaching bios follow a coach and are not verified for accuracy or honesty simply due to having small SID staffs. Minnesota has the resources to verify this stuff, especially for such a major sport. It would be interesting to file a FOI request to get Rossi's resume/application that he would have had to submit based on state requirements to see if he lied by using this false information.

https://gophersports.com/coaches.aspx?rc=149&path=football
 

Probably because they thought no one would actually read it, and those who did wouldn't actually question it. So saying "one of the best" has a good ring to it.

Probably an undergrad intern to the athletic dept wrote them.

Wild guesses
 

When using subjective terms, it's hard to prove inaccurate.
I'm one of the best and most accurate posters on Gopherhole.


Fire up your legal team and see what you can do.
 

There is no subjectivity with the statement "In 2006, Thiel led the President's Athletic Conference in scoring defense, total defense, rush defense and pass defense." There is no question about the veracity of those claims. They are false.

Sure, if you want to be dishonest, you can argue that some fool out there may have an opinion that finishing 60th out of 117 means it's one of the top defensive units. We all know that's exaggerating to the point of a lie. However, the statement about Thiel's defense leading in those categories are blatant lies with no room left for subjectivity.
 

OK. You got em.

Now what?


Like I said it was probably some undergrad itern that was supposed to do it ... so maybe he/she spiced it up a bit, or perhaps didn't quite do all the homework and just wrote something that sounded good.
 


There is no subjectivity with the statement "In 2006, Thiel led the President's Athletic Conference in scoring defense, total defense, rush defense and pass defense." There is no question about the veracity of those claims. They are false.

Sure, if you want to be dishonest, you can argue that some fool out there may have an opinion that finishing 60th out of 117 means it's one of the top defensive units. We all know that's exaggerating to the point of a lie. However, the statement about Thiel's defense leading in those categories are blatant lies with no room left for subjectivity.

Yeh, I hear ya.

Go to town on him!
If you need some lawyer to start a civil suit, I can help you find someone.
 

Here is a cached copy of his bio from Rutgers.


Joe Rossi is in his second season as defensive coordinator at Rutgers after spending the 2012 and 2013 seasons as special teams coordinator. Rossi directed one of the nation's top special teams units during his first two seasons "On the Banks."

Rossi coached a defense in 2014 that produced a pair of All-Big Ten honorees in Darius Hamilton and Kemoko Turay. Hamilton led the RU defense with 11.5 tackles-for-loss, including a career-best six sacks. Turay emerged as a dominant pass rusher in his redshirt freshman season for the Scarlet Knights as he picked up a team-high 7.5 sacks, ranking eighth among Big Ten players.

Rossi served as interim defensive coordinator in the 2013 New Era Pinstripe Bowl against No. 25 Notre Dame. He was officially promoted to his current role on Jan. 31, 2014.

In 2013, Rutgers scored four special teams touchdowns, including two kickoff returns and a punt return touchdown. True freshman Janarion Grant earned All-AAC Second Team honors as a return specialist.

The Scarlet Knights put together a strong special teams unit in 2012, ranking first in the nation with eight blocked kicks, ninth in kickoff return yardage defense (18.09) and 34th in kickoff return average (23.21). He also assisted with the fourth-ranked scoring defense (14.2 points per game) in the nation.

Under Rossi's tutelage, kick returner Jeremy Deering ranked third in the Big East and among the national leaders in kickoff returns in 2012.

Rossi came to Rutgers after working alongside former RU defensive coordinator Robb Smith at Maine (2007-08). Rossi, who coached at Maine from 2007-11, was promoted to defensive coordinator following Smith's departure to Rutgers after the 2008 season.

Maine annually had one of the top defensive units in the Football Championship Subdivision under Rossi's watch. In 2011, the Black Bears ranked 26th nationally in sacks, 31st in pass defense and 25th in pass efficiency defense.

In 2010, Rossi developed the Maine linebackers and secondary into two of the best positional units in the Colonial Athletic Association. Linebacker Donte Dennis collected All-CAA honors for the second-straight year and ranked sixth in the conference with 108 tackles. In his first season as defensive coordinator in 2009, Rossi's unit totaled 19 interceptions (second in the CAA), led by All-CAA defensive back Steven Baker.

Prior to his promotion as defensive coordinator, Rossi directed Maine's special teams in 2007 and 2008. During those two seasons, the Black Bears totaled 16 kickoff returns of 30 yards or more. In 2007, punter Kash Kiefer set a school record with an 82-yard punt at Villanova.

Before arriving at Maine, Rossi coached six seasons at Division III Thiel College in Greenville, Pa., including the final four years as defensive coordinator. In 2006, Thiel led the President's Athletic Conference in scoring defense, total defense, rush defense and pass defense.

In 2005, he was instrumental in leading Thiel to the PAC championship, as the squad made an appearance in the NCAA Division III playoffs.

A 2001 graduate of Allegheny, Rossi lives with his wife, Lynsey.

The Rossi File
Hometown: Pittsburgh, Pa.
Alma Mater: Allegheny, 2001
Wife: Lynsey

Coaching Career
Rutgers
2014-present: Defensive Coordinator
2012-13: Special Teams Coordinator/Defensive Assistant

Maine
2009-11: Defensive Coordinator
2007-08: Special Teams Coordinator

Thiel College (Pa.)
2003-06: Defensive Coordinator
2001-02: Assistant Coach

Playing Career
A four-year starter and three-time all-conference performer at Allegheny College, serving as team captain in 2000.
 

OK. You got em.

Now what?


Like I said it was probably some undergrad itern that was supposed to do it ... so maybe he/she spiced it up a bit, or perhaps didn't quite do all the homework and just wrote something that sounded good.
I blame Tracy Claeys.

Sent from my RS988 using Tapatalk
 

I blame Tracy Claeys.

Sent from my RS988 using Tapatalk

Tracy had nothing to do with this and you know it. Besides, Tracy led us to 9 wins with the same team Fleck would only win 5 games with in 2017 and 4 so far in 2018. Also, don't you remember the 2016 Holiday Bowl? As Mark Coyle and Kaler salivated all day waiting for WSU to blow out Claeys, Claeys held a prolific offense to 9 points... or something like that.
 



George O'Leary anyone? Different types of lies, but it cost him the HC job at Notre Dame less than a week after getting hired.

Send a letter to Coyle from all GHers asking if lying is an acceptable part of the Fleck's culture.
 

Yeah thank you, Hit Harder, for joining Gopherhole tonight to expose this lunacy.
That being said if the defense has a pulse these next three weeks, the intern that wrote this will have better material to work with.
 

Coyle and the SID were aware about the false bio two days ago. Nothing has been changed yet, so it clearly accuracy and honesty aren't top priorities for something that takes ten minutes to verify.

I'm sure this bio has followed him for many schools. It doesn't change the fact that somebody in the SID department isn't doing their job. On top of that, if somebody really wanted to push the issue, they'd see if Rossi's application/resume included these lies.
 

Coyle and the SID were aware about the false bio two days ago. Nothing has been changed yet, so it clearly accuracy and honesty aren't top priorities for something that takes ten minutes to verify.

I'm sure this bio has followed him for many schools. It doesn't change the fact that somebody in the SID department isn't doing their job. On top of that, if somebody really wanted to push the issue, they'd see if Rossi's application/resume included these lies.

If you don't mind saying, what's your personal connection to this story?
 



Coyle and the SID were aware about the false bio two days ago. Nothing has been changed yet, so it clearly accuracy and honesty aren't top priorities for something that takes ten minutes to verify.

I'm sure this bio has followed him for many schools. It doesn't change the fact that somebody in the SID department isn't doing their job. On top of that, if somebody really wanted to push the issue, they'd see if Rossi's application/resume included these lies.

Sorry you lost your job, Robb...but it’s really time to move on.

Best of luck.
 

Tracy had nothing to do with this and you know it. Besides, Tracy led us to 9 wins with the same team Fleck would only win 5 games with in 2017 and 4 so far in 2018. Also, don't you remember the 2016 Holiday Bowl? As Mark Coyle and Kaler salivated all day waiting for WSU to blow out Claeys, Claeys held a prolific offense to 9 points... or something like that.

I think he was also writing bios that day while he was on the sideline.
 

If you don't mind saying, what's your personal connection to this story?

Thinking that he or she may have been the only one to read the bio.

From the Rutgers bio F the Facts printed they should just substitute that one.
 

Thinking that he or she may have been the only one to read the bio.

From the Rutgers bio F the Facts printed they should just substitute that one.

Just wondering since this issue is the first time Hit Harder has posted.
 


Why is someone trying to sandbag an interim DC? Weird.
 

Seems to me to be against the HYPRR culture to lie - but I guess no one cares about this one. The HYRR culture appears to have a lot of leeway.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

I noticed that Joe Rossi’s coaching biography on the Minnesota football webpage makes the claim that “Maine annually had one of the top defensive units in the Football Championship Subdivision under Rossi.” By no reasonable and logical measure can this claim be made.

By far, the top two statistics used to rank defenses are total yards allowed (total defense) and defensive points allowed (scoring defense). According to his bio, Rossi was Maine’s defensive coordinator from 2009-2011. In 2009, Maine’s total defense was 60th out of 118 teams, which is the bottom half. In 2010 it was 60th out of 117, which is also in the bottom half. In 2011, it was 51st out of 120. Scoring defensive rankings are not much different for Maine during those years.

How could anyone claim that those results lead to being one of the top defenses in the country?

Moving on, his bio also claims that while the DC at Thiel College, his defense led the conference in 2006 in scoring defense, total defense, rush defense, and pass defense. These are also bogus claims.

In 2006, Thiel was behind Washington & Jefferson (a fellow conference member) in scoring defense both in only conference games and in overall games. In total defense, Thiel allowed 255.8 yards to finish 41st nationally. Thomas More, a fellow conference school, finished 25th in the country allowing fewer yards at 244.8 yards per game.

Thiel was also behind Thomas More in rushing defense, so that claim is also bogus.

Now, one can claim that they're only referring to games within the conference, but in that case, it would still be false based on the scoring defense claim as I already pointed out.

All of these things are easily verified both on the conference’s official statistics page and the official NCAA statistical archives.

At small schools, these coaching bios follow a coach and are not verified for accuracy or honesty simply due to having small SID staffs. Minnesota has the resources to verify this stuff, especially for such a major sport. It would be interesting to file a FOI request to get Rossi's resume/application that he would have had to submit based on state requirements to see if he lied by using this false information.

https://gophersports.com/coaches.aspx?rc=149&path=football

What about turnovers caused, sacks, safeties, and defensive touchdowns. Was Maine in the upper echelon for those stats during those years?
 

top defensive units in the Football Championship Subdivision

That's a pretty vague line to hang your hat on / worry about.

And yeah who goes after an interim DC like this?

This reads like someone with a weird axe to grind.
 
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I couldn’t find the 2006 Thiel stats off the PAC stats website. Broken link. However, it does look like Thiel was close to the top of the conference in 2005 so reasonable to think they could have been first in 2006. Hitman will have to post the link. The Maine stats indicate the defense was pretty poor in 2009-2010 but climbed to 4th in scoring and total, first in passing in 2011. Not “top” in my book thus an exaggeration. Our boy PJ is no stranger to that.

In summary he may have exaggerated a tad (and I couldn’t verify the 2006 Thiel claim) and can not verify an outright lie regarding 2006. His defenses improved at Maine over his tenure but were never top 3 in the conference. I can’t imagine Gopher diehards getting worked up over this when recruiting rankings in May are celebrated.

2005 Thiel
http://www.pacathletics.org/documents/2014/7/18//fb2005-stats001.pdf

2009 Maine
https://static.caasports.com/custompages/stats/FB/2009/FBStatsXOS.pdf

2010 Maine
https://static.caasports.com/custompages/stats/FB/2010/FBStats.pdf

2011 Maine
https://static.caasports.com/custompages/stats/FB/2011/FBStats.pdf
 

I couldn’t find the 2006 Thiel stats off the PAC stats website. Broken link. However, it does look like Thiel was close to the top of the conference in 2005 so reasonable to think they could have been first in 2006. Hitman will have to post the link. The Maine stats indicate the defense was pretty poor in 2009-2010 but climbed to 4th in scoring and total, first in passing in 2011. Not “top” in my book thus an exaggeration. Our boy PJ is no stranger to that.

In summary he may have exaggerated a tad (and I couldn’t verify the 2006 Thiel claim) and can not verify an outright lie regarding 2006. His defenses improved at Maine over his tenure but were never top 3 in the conference. I can’t imagine Gopher diehards getting worked up over this when recruiting rankings in May are celebrated.

2005 Thiel
http://www.pacathletics.org/documents/2014/7/18//fb2005-stats001.pdf

2009 Maine
https://static.caasports.com/custompages/stats/FB/2009/FBStatsXOS.pdf

2010 Maine
https://static.caasports.com/custompages/stats/FB/2010/FBStats.pdf

2011 Maine
https://static.caasports.com/custompages/stats/FB/2011/FBStats.pdf

Basically, exactly what many people do with their resumes.
 


I for one am glad this total fabrication has been exposed.

Rossi must be held accountable.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Seems to me to be against the HYPRR culture to lie - but I guess no one cares about this one. The HYRR culture appears to have a lot of leeway.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ah, me thinks Sir Spoofin is looking for his armor so he can resume The Crusade.
 

I for one am glad this total fabrication has been exposed.

Rossi must be held accountable.

He's gotta coach this sieve for 3 more games against Purdue, Northwestern, and Wisconsin. I think that's plenty.
 

Basically, exactly what many people do with their resumes.

And would be an outright DQ as far as I’m concerned. Salesmen, administrators, football coaches, lobbyists, politicians, attorneys, journalists are not known for their honesty thus exaggerations, fabrications, and lies may actually be a prerequisite in some or all areas of those fields.
 
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And would be an outright DQ as far as I’m concerned. Salesmen, administrators, football coaches, lobbyists, politicians, attorneys, journalists are not known for their honesty thus exaggerations, fabrications, and lies may actually be a prerequisite in some or all areas of those fields.

Cover letters are guilty of the same thing. Is every applicant the perfect candidate for the position? Of course not. Yet, every single one of them is going to, in some way, state that they are. Personally, I like this interview style...

 




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