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“Today we start a new era of Pace Football history. I am so pleased to be able to welcome Coach Rondeau to Pace. He has a resume rich with both Division I and Division II experience and fully embraces the role a quality football program plays on a college campus. His energy, enthusiasm and work ethic is exactly what our football program needs,” said Brown.
Rondeau comes to Pace from the College of the Holy Cross, where he served as the defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach the past two seasons. At Holy Cross, he was also responsible for organizing community service initiatives for the football team as well as assisting with recruiting.
Prior to Holy Cross, Rondeau was part of restarting the football program at Old Dominion University, where he was the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach from 2007-11. During his time with the Monarchs, Rondeau helped lead the team to an overall record of 27-8 in his final three seasons, with the school earning its first-ever bid to the NCAA FCS Playoffs in 2011.
In 2010, Rondeau’s defense ranked 11th in the nation in tackles for loss and 19th in quarterback sacks. In the first season of varsity play in 2009, Rondeau’s defense ranked eighth in the country in takeaways. His first two seasons at Old Dominion (2007 and 2008) were spent building the program from the ground up, prior to the team’s first season of varsity competition in 2009.
Prior to Old Dominion, Rondeau had stops at the University of Maine, University of Buffalo, University of Tennessee-Martin, North Dakota State University, University of Pittsburgh and Northeastern University.
“It is with great pleasure and enthusiasm that I accept the position of head football coach at Pace University,” Rondeau said. “Based on the leadership of Mark Brown in the athletic department and the master plan for the Pleasantville Campus it is clearly an exciting and new time at Pace. I am thrilled to do my part and lead this football program to new heights. I can't wait to meet our current players and see what they are all about as well as begin recruiting new players. Together we will find a way to get it done. I cannot completely express in words how excited the Rondeau family is to become a part of the Pace University family.”
Rondeau earned his bachelor’s degree in English from Syracuse in 1991. He and his wife, Tiffany, have two sons (Ryan and Jack) and two daughters (Alison and Kiley).
