Syracuse to Hire James Vollono as Special Teams Coach

The Orange is bringing in the Troy assistant to run its special teams.

Syracuse football is set to hire Troy Special Teams Analyst James Vollono as its new Special Teams Coach, according to Pete Thamel of ESPN. Vollono spent the last two seasons with Trojans. He has strong recruiting ties to the DMV (Washington D.C., Maryland, Virginia) area. 

More from his bio on the Troy Athletics website: 

In his two seasons at Troy, the Trojans have won 23 games and back-to-back Sun Belt championships. Additionally, Troy kickers have converted on 36-of-43 field goals, 83.7 percent, since his arrival on campus.

In 2023, Scott Taylor Renfore put together one of the best seasons in program history by a kicker connecting on 19-of-24 field goals, the second-most makes in school history and tied for the second-most attempts. In the punting department, Robert Cole ranked ninth in a season in program history with a 42.27 average.

In his first season, Brooks Buce connected on 17-of-19 field goal attempts while Mike Rivers averaged 42.1 yards per punt. Buce's 89.47 success rate on field goals established a Troy single-season program record, while Rivers' punting average ranked 10th all-time in school history. From a return standpoint, the Trojans did not allow a kickoff return or a punt return touchdown all season and ranked 33rd nationally in opponent kickoff return average.

Troy allowed just one punt return of more than 20 yards in 2022 and tied for eighth nationally allowing just one kickoff return of 30-plus yards -- the longest kickoff return by an opponent all season was 36 yards and the longest punt return was 23 yards.

In 2022, the Trojans finished the season ranked in a major poll for the first time in program history, checking in at No. 19 in the AP Top 25 and No. 20 in the USA Today/Coaches Poll. Additionally, Troy's appearance in the Coaches Poll and College Football Playoff Poll after its Sun Belt Championship Game victory were also firsts for the program.

Vollono was the running backs coach for the Elks in 2021 where James Wilder ranked third in the league with 770 rushing yards and the Elks had two backs rank among the top 14 rushers in the CFL.

Before moving to the CFL, Vollono spent three seasons as the special teams coordinator and tight ends coach at FIU. Following the 2018 season, punt returner Maurice Alexander earned All-Conference USA honors as a first team selection and punter Stone Wilson took home second team honors. The Panthers had multiple special teams players selected twice to the All C-USA team in two of his three seasons.

Vollono went to FIU after serving as an analyst for special teams at Georgia during the 2016 season. Prior to joining Georgia’s staff, Vollono spent three years at Mississippi State. From 2013 to 2014, he was a quality control assistant for special teams, and in 2015, he was a quality control assistant for offense, in addition to continuing his work with special teams. During his time in Starkville, the Bulldogs were ranked No. 1 for the first time in program history and stayed in that position for five weeks, which led to Dan Mullen being named 2014 SEC Coach of the Year. MSU’s special teams led the SEC in kickoff coverage in both 2014 and 2015. The Bulldogs also set a new program record by blocking four kicks in 2014, a mark they matched in 2015.

Prior to joining Mullen’s staff, Vollono spent one season at Colorado as a special teams assistant. From 2009-2011, Vollono was an assistant at Towson. In his time with the Tigers, he spent two seasons as special teams coordinator and also worked with running backs and tight ends. He served as the lead recruiter for current NFL running back Terrance West, whose rushing paved the way for Towson to win the Colonial Athletic Association Championship and reach the second round of the FCS playoffs in 2011. After that season, West won the Jerry Rice Award given to the top player in the FCS and Towson Head Coach Rob Ambrose was named the Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year. West went on to set the FCS single-season record for rushing yards in his junior year.

Vollono spent the 2007 and 2008 seasons, under Butch Davis, at North Carolina as the Tar Heels’ special teams quality control and offensive assistant. During his time in Chapel Hill, he worked with kicker Connor Barth who earned All-ACC honors in 2007 and is currently with the Chicago Bears.

Vollono began his coaching career at the United States Naval Academy and later held positions at Annapolis High School and Georgetown. In 2003, he graduated from The Catholic University of America with a bachelor’s degree in political science. He also holds a master’s degree in teaching from Mississippi State.

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