Ricky Santos
Ricky Santos (born April 26, 1984) is an American former gridiron football quarterback who is currently the interim head coach of the New Hampshire Wildcats football team. He played college football at New Hampshire, and was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in 2008.
| Born: | April 26, 1984 Norwood, Massachusetts |
|---|---|
| Career information | |
| CFL status | American |
| Position(s) | QB |
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) |
| Weight | 205 lb (93 kg) |
| College | New Hampshire |
| High school | Bellingham (MA) |
| Hand | Right |
| Career history | |
| As player | |
| 2008 | Kansas City Chiefs* |
| 2008–2009 | Montreal Alouettes |
| 2009 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers |
| 2010–2011 | Montreal Alouettes |
| 2012 | Toronto Argonauts* |
| *Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Coaching career | |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 2012 | Bellingham HS (asst.) |
| 2013–2015 | New Hampshire (wide receivers) |
| 2016–2018 | Columbia (quarterbacks) |
| 2019–present | New Hampshire (interim HC) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 6–5 |
Early years
Santos attended Bellingham High School in Bellingham, Massachusetts, and was a letterman in football, basketball, baseball, and track and field. In football, he was a two-time Tri-Valley League MVP, was twice named the Division V Player of the Year,a two-time MetroWest Player of the Year, and as a senior, won all-State honors. In November 2002, during the first annual Thanksgiving Day game against Norton, he threw for seven touchdown passes, which is still one of the best high school performances in Bellingham history. He broke the state touchdown record and led his teams to two Massachusetts High School Super Bowl titles (2000 and 2001). He graduated from Bellingham High in 2003.
College career
Santos attended the University of New Hampshire and was a four-year starter at quarterback. During his time, the Wildcats went a combined 37–14, winning one Atlantic 10 Football Conference Championship, two Northern Division Championships, and made the NCAA I-AA/FCS Playoffs all four seasons. A three-time All-America selection, Santos won the Walter Payton Award in 2006, as the top offensive player in FCS (formerly Division I-AA). Santos finished his college career third on the NCAA all-time career passing yardage list with 13,212 yards, and third on the NCAA all-time list for career touchdown passes with 123. After the 2007 season, his no. 2 jersey was retired by New Hampshire.[1]
Professional career
- Kansas City Chiefs
After going undrafted in the 2008 NFL Draft, Santos agreed to join the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in May. However, he was released the same month.
- Montreal Alouettes
In May 2008, Santos was signed by the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League.
- Winnipeg Blue Bombers
On September 21, 2009, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers acquired Santos from the Montreal Alouettes in exchange for non-import defensive ends Riall Johnson and Shawn Mayne.[2] He was released by the Blue Bombers on May 17, 2010.[3]
- Montreal Alouettes (second stint)
After an injury to Adrian McPherson, the Montreal Alouettes re-signed Santos on June 22, 2010 to serve as the third-string quarterback.[4] On June 9, 2012, he was released by the Alouettes.[5]
- Toronto Argonauts
On June 16, 2012, Santos was signed by the Toronto Argonauts.[6] He was released four days later.[7]
Coaching career
Santos was quarterbacks coach for three seasons (2016–2018) with the Columbia Lions.[8]
Santos joined the New Hampshire coaching staff in March 2019, as associate head coach and quarterbacks coach.[8] When Wildcats head coach Sean McDonnell took a leave of absence for health reasons in late August 2019, Santos was named interim head coach for the team.[9] The 2019 Wildcats finished with a record of 6–5.
Personal life
Santos is a cousin of racecar driver Bobby Santos III.
Head coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Hampshire Wildcats (Colonial Athletic Association) (2019) | |||||||||
| 2019 | New Hampshire | 6–5 | 5–3 | T–3rd | |||||
| New Hampshire: | 6–5 | 5–3 | |||||||
| Total: | 6–5 | ||||||||
References
- Football players honored at award banquet and Santos' jersey retired
- Tait, Ed (September 22, 2009). "Blue make yet another move at QB". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved September 23, 2009.
- http://www.torontosun.com/sports/football/2010/05/17/13983881.html
- https://web.archive.org/web/20120220051917/http://en.montrealalouettes.com/roster/show/id/1467
- http://blogs.montrealgazette.com/2012/06/09/bowman-suffers-knee-injury/
- http://www.argonauts.ca/article/argos-add-qb-ricky-santos ARGOS ADD QB RICKY SANTOS
- Christie, James. "Quarterback Ricky Santos among players released by Argos". The Globe and Mail. June 20, 2012. Retrieved June 21, 2012.
- "Ricky Santos - Staff Directory - University of New Hampshire". unhwildcats.com. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
- Connolly, John (August 27, 2019). "New Hampshire football coach Sean McDonnell on leave for health reasons". Boston Herald. Retrieved February 17, 2020.