SAN ANTONIO — UTSA head football coach Frank Wilson announced Saturday that he has hired Frank Scelfo as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
A coaching veteran of more than 30 years, Scelfo comes to the Alamo City from the Jacksonville Jaguars, where he served as senior offensive assistant in 2015 after two years as the quarterbacks coach for the NFL franchise.
“Frank Scelfo has developed two first-round NFL draft picks and possesses more than a decade of play-calling experience," Wilson said. "While coaching in the Pac-12 at Arizona, Coach Scelfo developed Nick Foles, who became a third-round NFL draft pick. With the Jacksonville Jaguars he coached Blake Bortles, and his experience in the NFL will be an asset to us. We wanted to give our players here at UTSA a leader who has a proven background in managing games and managing two-minute situations. One of the best things about Coach Scelfo is that he maintains life-long relationships with all of his former quarterbacks. Coaches and players enjoy being around him. His leadership and ability to foster a great working environment for our offensive staff will pay dividends.”
“The excitement to build a program led by Frank Wilson is what brings me to UTSA," Scelfo said. "His vision and leadership has always been apparent throughout his career, and I couldn't pass up the chance to join him. My family is very familiar with the city of San Antonio and its beauty, and that only enhances the excitement of being here.”
Scelfo helped oversee one of the NFL's most prolific passing offenses in 2015, as Jacksonville ranked 10th in the league with 256.8 yards per game. Bortles threw for 4,428 yards and 35 touchdowns, which was tied for second in the NFL. The Jaguars also boasted a pair of 1,000-yard receivers in Allen Robinson (1,400) and Allen Hurns (1,031).
He played a key role in the development of Bortles, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 draft, who tossed for 2,908 yards and 11 TDs in his rookie season.
Scelfo worked closely with veteran quarterback Chad Henne in 2013. Henne started 13 of 15 games and completed a career-high 305 passes while throwing for 3,241 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Prior to his time with the Jaguars, Scelfo spent two seasons (2010-11) as quarterbacks coach at Arizona, where he tutored Philadelphia Eagles 2012 third-round pick Nick Foles. Foles finished his college career as the school’s all-time leader in passing yards (10,011), touchdowns (67), attempts (1,369) and completions (933). As a senior in 2011, Foles threw for a school single-season-record 4,334 yards and 28 touchdowns, while also setting school marks for attempts (560) and completions (387).
In 2010, Scelfo worked with Foles, Matt Scott and Bryson Beirne. Foles earned honorable mention All-Pac 10 honors after throwing for 3,191 yard and 20 touchdowns. Scott engineered two victories as the starter and Beirne appeared in three games with a 221.4 pass efficiency rating. The Wildcats averaged 307 passing yards per game, one yard shy of the school single-season best, and posted a combined 68 percent completion rate to go along with 25 TDs.
Prior to joining Arizona, Scelfo spent three seasons (2007-09) as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Louisiana Tech.
In 2008, Scelfo directed the Bulldogs offense to a win in the Independence Bowl, the school’s first bowl victory in three decades. The team ranked 27th nationally in rushing, with Daniel Porter leading the way with 1,164 yards. The Bulldogs had six games of 30 or more points and Scelfo mentored a sophomore quarterback, Ross Jenkins, as a first-time starter. Porter also became Louisiana Tech’s all-time rusher with 3,352 yards.
Scelfo entered the collegiate coaching ranks at Tulane where he spent 11 seasons (1996-2006) including the final eight seasons as offensive coordinator. He coached tight ends and was recruiting coordinator for the Green Wave in his first three seasons from 1996-98. With Scelfo on the staff, the Green Wave were ranked in the top 30 nationally in passing five times, including the third-most passing yards in 2000. In 1998 the club finished with a 12-0 record, one of only two undefeated FBS (formerly D-1A) teams, and a win in the Liberty Bowl.
During his tenure at Tulane, Scelfo tutored four quarterbacks that went on to the NFL in Patrick Ramsey, J.P. Losman, Lester Ricard and Shaun King. Each of the players finished their careers ranked in the top five in school history in career passing yards. A total of eight Tulane offensive players were selected in the NFL Draft during Scelfo’s tenure.
The Abbeville, La., native produced Tulane’s all-time passing leader (Ramsey), all-time rushing and all-purpose yardage leader (Mewelde Moore), all-time touchdown receptions leader (Roydell Williams) and all-time scoring leader (Seth Marler). Moore also became only the second player in NCAA history to produce 4,000 career rushing yards and 2,000-plus receiving yards during his time under Scelfo.
Scelfo began his coaching career on the high school level with stops in Louisiana at Prairie View (1982-83), Jesuit (1984) and River Oaks (1985-86) and in Texas at Vidor (1987), Orangefield (1988), Chapel Hill (1989-91), Kilgore (1992-94) and Galena Park North Shore (1995).
Scelfo played baseball at Louisiana-Monroe (formerly Northeast Louisiana) and was named the school's 1981 Athlete of the Year as a senior.
He earned his bachelor's degree in 1981 and his master's degree two years later at Louisiana-Monroe.
Scelfo is married to Holly Kingery and the couple has two sons, Anthony and Jordan.
Anthony played quarterback and baseball at Tulane and was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2008 Major League Baseball draft, while Jordan played quarterback and baseball at Incarnate Word from 2012-15.