Legendary Tufts Coach, Athletic Director Rocky Carzo Dies At 89

Medford MA

18 January, 2022

12:21 PM

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MEDFORD, MA — Rocco "Rocky" Carzo, longtime athletic director at Tufts University and former head football coach, died Jan. 16. He was 89 years old. Carzo played a pivotal role in the development of the university's athletics program. First hired as the football coach in 1966, he was elevated seven years later to athletic director, a role he held for more than 25 years. Carzo is credited with expanding women's sports programs, improving physical education and intramural offerings and leading the construction of new and improved athletics facilities, according to Paul Sweeney, director of athletics communications at Tufts. Carzo was a member of the National Association of College Directors of Athletics Hall of Fame and inducted into the Tufts Athletics Hall of Fame as part of its inaugural class in 2018. He held several other leadership roles in the NCAA, the Eastern College Athletic Conference and college football. He retired in 1999 and helped publish the first book on the history of Tufts athletics, "Jumbo Footprints: A History of Tufts Athletics, 1852-1999."