To help pass those long summer days until football season starts, and hopefully get the Catamount faithful more excited about the upcoming season, we'll continue the 100 day football countdown. #69 not currently assigned, so we'll highlight another Assistant Coach.
Steve Sisa
Hometown: Manassas, Va.
Position: Assistant Coach / Secondary
Alma Mater: Virginia Tech
Steve Sisa (pronounced SEE-suh) joined head coach Mark Speir's staff in mid-February, 2012. He came to Cullowhee after spending the past two years on staff at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, most recently working with the Tar Heel safeties.
At WCU, Sisa will work with the Catamount defensive secondary including defensive backs and safeties. "We are extremely excited to get Steve Sisa on board here at Western Carolina. He brings a great wealth of knowledge and experience of defensive secondary play to our program," said Speir. "He has been a part of a high profile university like North Carolina, as well as, a blue-collared program like Southern Mississippi. He is a bright young secondary coach that will be a great teacher for our players and an asset to our University."
Sisa made the move to North Carolina in 2010 to work in player development with the UNC football program. He was promoted by interim head coach Everett Withers to safeties coach before the start of the 2011 season, helping guide UNC to the AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La. Under Sisa's tutelage last year, the Tar Heel safeties accounted for six of North Carolina's 14 interceptions and forced five of the 13 fumbles on the year. Sophomore safety Tre Boston picked off three passes with two fumble recoveries and five passes defended while junior Gene Robinson and senior Matt Merletti - who tallied a pair of interceptions against Virginia - both forced a pair of fumbles apiece in 2011.
Prior to North Carolina, Sisa served two seasons (2008-09) as a graduate assistant at Southern Mississippi with the Golden Eagles making back-to-back appearances in the New Orleans Bowl during his tenure. Sisa helped tutor the Southern Miss secondary under defensive coordinator Todd Bradford and head coach Larry Fedora. He was also responsible for opponent scouting reports, scout team film study and practice scripts.
A native of Manassas, Va., Sisa got his start at the collegiate ranks as a quality control coach at the University of Illinois in 2007 where he worked primarily with the team's linebackers. Illinois was 9-3 that season and advanced to the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1984.
A linebacker at perennial Division III power Bridgewater College in Bridgewater, Va., in 1997, Sisa's career was cut short by a shoulder injury. He transferred to Virginia Tech where he earned a bachelor's degree in political science in 2001. He received a master's degree in sports management in 2009 from Southern Miss.
Following his graduation from Virginia Tech, Sisa began his coaching career at Ed White High School in Jacksonville, Fla., under head coach Dan Disch, previously the defensive coordinator at Southern Miss and now at North Carolina. Sisa worked as the secondary coach in 2003 and the defensive coordinator from 2004-06. He additionally served as the team's NCAA recruiting liaison for prospective student-athletes and also was the Shrine Bowl defensive coordinator in 2006.
Sisa is married to the former Lisa Taylor of Jacksonville, Fla., who is a school teacher in Durham.
Courtesy WCU Sports Information
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