University of New Haven Athletics

Cazzie Kosciolek quarterbacked the UNH football team to new heights in 1997, helping bring UNH into the national spotlight by leading the Chargers to the NCAA championship game in his only season in the blue and gold. UNH became the first school from the State of Connecticut to play in a college football title game and was at that time the smallest school in terms of enrollment to play for the national title. Cazzie stayed on as an assistant coach for the Chargers from 1998 to 2001, later coached at Division I Hofstra University, and was an assistant coaching at Division I College of the Holy Cross through the 2014 season.

In 1997, Kosciolek finished third in the voting for the Harlon Hill Trophy - Division II's version of the Heisman - after passing for 3,232 yards and 32 touchdowns to lead the NCAA's highest-scoring offense (43.3 points per game). Cazzie amassed 905 yards and nine touchdown passes in the playoffs, and UNH finished that season 12-2 overall as the national runners-up. Kosciolek was named to the Associated Press Small College All-America Team and was also an All-New England and All-ECAC selection. Despite playing just the one season, Cazzie's passing numbers put him in the career top 10 at UNH in yardage (11th) and touchdowns (eighth). When including playoff statistics in his totals, only one person in UNH history has passed for more yards in a season than Kosciolek, who earned his undergraduate degree at Boston University before transferring to UNH to finish out his eligibility.