Defending the 2x2 RPO with Base Defense

The Coach

Vince Luvara

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Vince Luvara enters his seventh season with Washington & Jefferson’s football coaching staff in 2021 and will serve his sixth year as the defensive coordinator.

The W&J defensive unit allowed just 11.75 points and just 198.3 yards per game during an abbreviated 2020-21 season. Eight defensive players earned All-PAC honors, which included first teamers Keith Knowell, Sean Doran and Drew Ehrlich. 

The 2019 President defense ranked among the best in Division III, ranking second in the nation in sacks (4.27), third in takeaways (34), sixth in third down defense (25.6 percent), seventh in team tackles for loss (9.1), ninth in red zone defense (52.6 percent), 10th in passes intercepted (18) and 12th in defensive touchdowns (4). The Presidents boasted the number-one scoring defense (16.1) and total defense (297.6) in the PAC.

Senior defensive tackle Mike Williams was honored as an All-American by The Associated Press and D3football.com. Senior defensive lineman Conor Manning was named a First Team CoSIDA Academic All-American. In total, seven W&J defenders earned All-PAC honors in 2019 with Williams and junior DB Max Garda collecting First Team laurels. 

The W&J defense had 11 players honored with All-PAC recognition during another PAC Championship season in 2018. Senior Zac Quattrone and junior Nick Getz received First Team All-PAC accolades. Getz and Quattrone helped the Presidents lead the conference in interceptions (19) and turnover margin (+6) in 2018. 

In 2017, four Presidents defenders earned First-Team All-PAC laurels and were named All-Region, while cornerback O’Shea Anderson became W&J’s first defensive All-American since 2010. A season ago, the Presidents boasted the second-ranked scoring defense in the PAC (18.9 ppg), while topping the conference in interceptions (23), defensive pass efficiency (96.4), sacks (41) and tackles for loss (101).

His first season running the defense of 2016 saw the Presidents lead the PAC in tackles for loss (112) and sacks (40). The tackles for loss were the most for W&J since 2001 (117) and the 10.2 TFL per game were third in NCAA Division III, while the 3.64 sacks per game ranked ninth in the nation.

Luvara inherited a defense that ranked fourth in the PAC in total defense and second in pass defense in 2015, allowing 350.6 total yards per game and 177.5 yards through the air. W&J ranked third in the PAC by allowing just 18.0 opponent first downs per game and held its opponents to just a 34.1 percent (56-of-164) conversion rate.

After spending the 2015-16 academic year as an intern assistant coach focusing primarily on the linebacking corps and recruiting, Luvara earned his first coordinator position on a defense.

From 2007-10 Luvara played as an inside linebacker at Allegheny College, obtaining 75 career tackles, including 7.5 TFLs and 0.5 sacks. Following his collegiate career, where he played three years as a varsity letterman and graduated with a BA in Managerial Economics and minor in Communications Arts, he worked as an assistant coach at his alma mater. During that time he was the position coach for inside and outside linebackers and a special teams coordinator. He also coached the 2014 NCAC Newcomer of the Year, Nick Murgo.


Luvara is a Pittsburgh native who has also volunteered, worked, and coached numerous camps and clinics in the area and beyond, including prospect camps hosted by: Villanova, Duquesne, University of Pittsburgh and Penn State.