HAMILTON — Fred '50 and Marilyn Dunlap Head Football Coach Curt Fitzpatrick has added two new coordinators to his offensive staff for the upcoming 2025 football season. Joe Gerbino will serve as the wide receivers coach and pass game coordinator, while Patrick Rotchford will fulfill offensive line duties and coordinate the run game. 

"When adding new members to our staff, we will always seek out coaches who, above all else, will serve as outstanding mentors and leaders for our players," Fitzpatrick said. "Joe and Pat both check that box in addition to their ability to teach and innovate on the field."

"Coach Gerbino has a proven track record in game planning and play calling, as well as player development.  In Coach Rotchford, we have one of the best offensive line coaches in the country and someone in whom I have the utmost confidence and trust. I am looking forward to working with both as we build our offensive identity this spring."

Gerbino heads to Hamilton after most recently serving as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Bethune-Cookman last season. With the Wildcats, Gerbino mentored second-team All-SWAC running back Dennis Palmer while his quarterback Cam Ranson broke the program single-season record with a 62.5% completion percentage, ending the year top-five in the conference in passing yards, passing yards per game, passing touchdowns, and efficiency rating.

Gerbino is no stranger to upstate N.Y. having spent seven seasons with Utica University serving in a variety of roles, including offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach, recruiting coordinator, and associate head coach. Gerbino's offenses broke single-game records for total yards (688) and points (76) with individuals setting new program bests for passing yards in a season (3,207), receiving yards in a season (1,391), and season-long offensive efficiency (159.1).

Gerbino also helped lead the Pioneers to their first bowl victory in school history in 2018, coordinating the program's first-ever national playoff win in 2022 as part of Utica's only recorded 10-win season. 

The AFCA 2023 Assistant Coach of the Year was invited to the association's 35 Under 35 Coaches Leadership Institute in the same year after being promoted to be one of the youngest offensive coordinators in college football at 24 years old in 2017.

A native of Belleville, N.J., Gerbino was a two-time captain and Empire 8 Sportsman of the Year as a football student-athlete at Utica University, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in Business Management in 2015. He would later graduate with a master's in business administration from Utica in 2022.

"I am fired up to join the Colgate community and give everything I have to the program," Gerbino said. "This university has a long history of academic and athletic excellence. I look forward to pouring into the development of our student-athletes and enhancing their experience at a place as special as this one." 

Rotchford has spent the past five seasons with Fitzpatrick at SUNY Cortland where he served as the offensive Coordinator, offensive line coach, recruiting coordinator and associate head coach. 

He helped lead the Red Dragons to four-consecutive Empire 8 titles and a Division III National Championship in 2023. His offenses were never been ranked lower than eighth in the nation in scoring his last three years, and he has helped mentor at least one all-american in each of his seasons at Cortland in addition to 14 all-conference student-athletes.

The 2023 FootballScoop national Division III Coordinator of the Year helped set program records with 46.2 points and 509.2 total offensive yards per game during the national title run, and scored 35 or more points in all but two games that season. 

Before Cortland, Rotchford spent six years with SUNY Morrisville in a variety of roles, including offensive line coach, run game coordinator, and associate head coach in 2018. He helped Morrisville to an NJAC Co-Championship his first season in 2014 while mentoring four all-conference offensive linemen. 

From 2015-2019, Rotchford's offenses never ranked lower than third in the Empire 8 for total rushing yards, and was a top-two total offense in three out of those five seasons. In total, he produced 13 all-league offensive linemen in his time at Morrisville. 

Rotchford was an assistant coach for three seasons at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges in California from 2011-2014, overseeing the offensive line, running backs and quarterbacks at various times and acting as the offensive coordinator in 2012 and 2013. He was a graduate assistant at St. Ambrose University for two seasons working with the offensive line, and spent one year overseeing the same position group with MacMurray College in 2008. 

A Baldwinsville, N.Y. native, Rotchford graduated from St. John Fisher College in 2007. He played four years with the Cardinals on the offensive line, helping the program to a combined 38-10 record in four years with four postseason appearances and a pair of Empire 8 championships. 

"I couldn't be more proud and excited to join Coach Fitz and the entire staff here at Colgate," Rotchford said. "It is a dream come true to join a program that has such a history and tradition of competing at a high level. I'm excited to get to work."