Holy Cross Athletics

RECRUITING AREAS: South New Jersey, Delaware, Eastern/Central Pennsylvania

Nick Della Jacono enters his second season as the defensive line coach for Holy Cross in 2023. He was promoted to the role in 2022 after working in defensive quality control at Holy Cross the past two seasons.

Della Jacono has earned three Patriot League titles with the Crusaders, and during the Fall 2021 season, he helped lead the nation’s top defense at the FCS level, with Holy Cross allowing just 254.5 yards per game.

In 2022, the Holy Cross defense ranked atop the Patriot League in total defense and scoring defense, with senior defensive end Dan Kuznetsov earning All-Patriot League honors. As a team in 2022, Holy Cross went 11-0 during the regular season for the third time in program history and first time since 1991. The 2022 Crusaders (12-1) recorded the most single-season wins in program history and advanced to the NCAA FCS quarterfinals for the first time since 1983; their lone loss on the campaign was a hard-fought playoff contest to top-seeded South Dakota State, the eventual national champions. Holy Cross finished the year with a No. 6 ranking among all FCS teams as a result of numerous marquee wins, including a Hail Mary victory against FBS foe Buffalo and an overtime win over nationally ranked Fordham; the Crusaders also earned their first win at Harvard since 2000 and defeated Harvard and Yale in the same season for the first time in program history.

In 2020, he was selected on behalf of the Chicago Bears to be a participant in the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship, and previously spent two seasons coaching the linebackers at Muhlenberg College. He helped lead the Mules to a 24-3 record in the Centennial Conference and back-to-back conference titles, with the team finishing no lower than No. 8 in every national postseason poll.