Photo and Written By Marquis Frias, Sports Editor
Chris Pincince has been hired as Susquehanna’s next head football coach. With Pincince’s success and experience as a head football coach in Division II, he hopes to bring that same success to the Division III level with the Susquehanna River Hawks.
Pincince was formerly the head coach at the University of New Haven, a program that now competes in Division I, but was a Division II school during Pincince’s tenure with the school.
Pincince coach New Haven from 2014 up to 2024, and in those 10 years, he led New Haven to five Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10) championships, including five trips to the NCAA Division II Tournament where his team made it to the second round in 2018 and 2021.
Pincince also led New Haven to a 76-34 overall record during his time as head coach, with a 65-18 record in NE-10 play.
Pincince takes over a team that has seen success of their own in recent years. Susquehanna went 52-9 in their final five seasons under former head coach Tom Perkovich, who became the new head football coach at The University at Albany.
Since Susquehanna joined the Landmark Conference in 2023, the team has won all three Conference Championships, including going undefeated in conference play in those three seasons.
“The landmark trophy is sitting in my office. It’s a great reminder of the great tradition… kind of shows you about the expectations here in Susquehanna,” Pincince said during his opening press conference.
Pincince takes over a roster that will look completely different from 2025. Multiple former River Hawks like Brian Layton have left for graduation, while others have transferred to other schools. All-American running back Rashan La Mons and multiple other key players for Susquehanna followed Coach Perk to UAlbany, while former starting quarterback Josh Ehrlich made the move to UNC Pembroke.
“I met with Coach Perk… I had nice, long discussions about everybody that was here; the rooms, the quarterbacks, the running backs, the tight ends,” Pincince said. “I’m hoping that we’ve built enough depth here… they’re ready to go, they’re ready to compete, they’re ready to add some depth to our room.”
With Pincince now leading a program that has already seen success in recent years, the new head coach is hoping to add something Susquehanna’s football program hasn’t achieved yet; a National Championship.
Susquehanna has made the NCAA DIII Football tournament for the past four seasons, reaching close to the mountain top multiple times but ultimately not completing the mission. Most notably in 2024, Susquehanna clinched a spot in the final four stage of the NCAA DII Football Playoffs for the first time in program history.
“It ultimately became the health at the end of the day. Some of the guys weren’t playing for them,” Pincince said. “We got to stay healthy. That also goes with build and depth as you go along during the course of the season.”
Susquehanna has been a program on the rise in DIII Football, with their dominance just waiting to be proved with the elusive NCAA DIII Football Championship. As the River Hawks shift gears, Susquehanna will look to Coach Pincince for guidance on the ultimate path of claiming a national championship.