After serving for two seasons as the defensive quality control coach for the Terriers, B.J. Connolly joined the staff in February of 2015 as an assistant coach and worked with the tight ends for seven seasons. The 30-year coaching veteran has experience at the NAIA, NCAA FCS, NCAA Division III, and high school levels.
During the 2021 season, Wyatt Bartkowiak had four catches for 67 yards and a touchdown to lead the tight ends. In the 2021 spring season, Landon Parker led the team with 155 receiving yards on eight catches and he scored a pair of touchdowns. Garrison Moore added five catches for 71 yards and a touchdown, as tight ends accounted for over 25% of the receptions in the five games.
In 2019, the team secured the third straight Southern Conference Championship and played in the NCAA FCS Playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. The tight ends were led by Landon Parker with nine catches for 121 yards and Garrison Moore with four catches as the position became a more frequent target in the offense. During the 2018 season the tight ends were an integral part of a passing offensive that averaged 115.5 yards per game, the most since the 2008 season. The team won the Southern Conference Championship for the second straight season and advanced to the second round of the NCAA FCS Playoffs.
During the 2017 season, the tight ends combined for six catches for 182 yards. Chandler Gouger paced the group with four catches. The team posted a 10-3 overall record and won the Southern Conference Championship with a 7-1 mark. The Terriers reached the NCAA FCS Quarterfinals for the second straight season.
In 2016, Chandler Gouger led the team in catches with 13 and receiving yards with 205. He had three touchdown catches, which led the squad. In his first season with the tight ends, Zach Muller was second on the team in receptions with seven and he was third in receiving yards with 107.
Prior to assisting at Wofford, Connolly spent four seasons in the local high school ranks. He served as defensive coordinator at Spartanburg High School in 2012, defensive backs and defensive line coach at Chapman High School in 2010 and 2011, and was the defensive backfield coach at Blue Ridge High School in 2009.
He was the defensive line coach and director of football operations at Presbyterian College in 2008. While with the Blue Hose, he coached the Big South Conference’s sack leader. Connolly was the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at Pikeville College in the 2006 season. In 2005, he was a volunteer defensive assistant and video assistant at Wofford.
From 2002-2005, Connolly served in various defensive capacities (defensive coordinator, secondary coach) at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, California. Connolly’s defenses ranked first in their conference in 2002 and second in their conference in 2004. Connolly’s defense overall led the conference in total sacks in each of his three years with the program, totaling 91 sacks in 27 games.
Connolly worked at Ponoma-Pitzer College in Claremont, California, in differing capacities from 1995-2002. During the time frame he served as the defensive coordinator, secondary coach and special teams coordinator. In 1998 (fourth) and 1999 (18th), his Sagehens defenses ranked in the top 20 in NCAA Division III. Overall, during Connolly’s seven years with the Sagehens the program won 65 percent of their games at what is considered one of the top academic institutions in the country.
He has also worked on the football staff at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio (1990-95) and Davidson College in Davidson, N.C. (1986-1989). He was the head baseball coach at Oberlin College from 1994-95.
Connolly is a 1984 graduate of Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology. While a Williams, he was a four-year letterman in football and baseball. He also attended graduate school at Syracuse University.
A native of Long Island, New York, Connolly and his wife, Judy, have a daughter, Taylor, and son-in-law Nick Massey.
