Charley Molnar Jr. (born July 23, 1961) is an American

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

coach. Molnar served head football coach at the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

(UMass), for two seasons, from 2012 to 2013, compiling a record of 2–22. Molnar had previously been the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

Coaching career

Early positions

Molnar began his coaching career at his alma mater

Lock Haven University Commonwealth University-Lock Haven (LHU) is a public university in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). The main campus covers and the branch campus in Clearfield co ...

from 1984 to 1986, working with the

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

s and

placekicker In gridiron football, the placekicker (PK), or simply kicker (K), is the player responsible for attempts at scoring Field goal (football), field goals and extra points. In most cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist ...

s. He made his first entry into major college football as a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research resp ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

from 1987 to 1988. While with the Cavaliers, he assisted the

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

s coach. Molnar then called the offensive plays and coached quarterbacks at Western Carolina in 1989. He spent time as

as well as working with quarterbacks and wide receivers at Illinois State from 1990 to 1993, followed by seven seasons in the same capacity at Kent State from 1994 to 2000. Molnar coached quarterbacks at

Eastern Michigan Eastern Michigan University (EMU, EMich, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern) is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Michigan State Normal School, it was the fourth normal school (teachers' ...

in 2002 and then from 2003 to 2004 at

Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for a region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Generally, it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Peninsula's Lake ...

. He directed another record-setting quarterback during his only season at Indiana State in 2005. As the associate head coach and offensive coordinator of the Sycamores, Molnar’s offense broke six school passing records (including passing yards, completion percentage and

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

passes) and two of his players combined to break 11 single-season or single-game school marks.

Central Michigan

Molnar coached the quarterbacks and wide receivers at

Central Michigan Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Lower Peninsula of the United States, U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said t ...

under head coach Brian Kelly and developed the most prolific freshman quarterback and wide receiver duo in the nation in 2006. Dan LeFevour was named

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...

(MAC) Freshman of the Year and was selected first-team all-MAC after he led the conference in passing touchdowns, passing yards, passing efficiency, completion percentage, total completions and total yards. Under Molnar’s tutelage, LeFevour completed 247 of 388 pass attempts for 3,031 yards with 26 touchdowns. He also rushed 132 times for 521 yards and seven touchdowns and ranked 13th nationally in total offense (253.7 yards per game). LeFevour set school records for passing yards and touchdown passes, and his 3,552 total yards also were a Central Michigan record. He finished his rookie campaign ranked 19th nationally in passing efficiency.

Cincinnati

From 2007 to 2009, Molnar followed coach Brian Kelly to

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

and continued to help develop record-breaking quarterbacks and wide receivers. With the Bearcats, Molnar was passing game coordinator and coached the wide receivers. He oversaw the two most prolific passing seasons in Cincinnati history and mentored a pair of record-setting receivers. Molnar was a large part of the historic 2009 season where the Bearcats won the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

Championship, played

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

in the

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed only ...

and finished third in the

Bowl Championship Series The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was a college football post-season selection system that created four or five bowl game match-ups involving eight or ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of America ...

(BCS) rankings.

Notre Dame

When Brian Kelly was hired as the head coach at Notre Dame in December 2009, Molnar was shortly thereafter named his offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. In 2010, his first year with the Irish, Molnar helped install a new offensive system and developed both Dayne Crist and Tommy Rees as first-time starting quarterbacks. Crist started the first nine games and passed for 2,033 yards with 15 touchdowns before injuring a knee in the first quarter of the ninth game. Rees played the rest of the ninth game after Crist was injured and completed 33 of 54 passes for 334 yards with four touchdowns. In 2011, Molnar helped the Irish earn a second straight bowl game bid thanks in part to the play of quarterback Tommy Rees. Rees threw for over 2,700 yards that season with 19 touchdowns averaging 225.7 yards per game. As a unit, the Irish averaged 424.1 yards per game on offense thanks in part to Rees and 1,000-yard rusher Cierre Wood.

UMass

On December 8, 2011, Molnar was named the new head coach of the

UMass Minutemen football The UMass Minutemen football team represents the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The Minutemen compete as an NCAA Division I FBS independent schools, FBS independent. Since 1965, their ...

team, replacing ousted coach Kevin Morris. The 2012 season was the team's first as a member of the

, and UMass' final transition year to NCAA Division I FBS play. In his inaugural season with the Minutemen the team would struggle in their first year of FBS Football play. UMass would finish with an overall record of 1–11, including a 1–7 conference record, which placed them in 6th place in the MAC East. Molnar won his first game as a head coach on November 10, 2012, with a 22–14 victory over

Akron Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 census. The Akron metropolitan area, covering Summit and Portage counties, had ...

. Molnar was fired on December 26, 2013 after going 2–22 over the course of two seasons. He was succeeded by

Mark Whipple Mark John Whipple (born April 1, 1957) is an American football coach, who most recently served as offensive coordinator at Nebraska in 2022. Whipple was the head football coach at University of New Haven from 1988 to 1993, Brown University from ...

Personal life

Molnar is a 1984 graduate of

with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

. Molnar and his wife Meg have eight children: Charley III, Gillian, Tate, Bryce, Mitch, Gemma, Gianna and Dominic. His son, Charley III was an assistant on his staff at UMass. Molnar is an avid runner and completed his first

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

in May, 2013 with a time of 3:44:38 in the New Jersey Marathon.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Idaho profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Molnar, Charley 1961 births Living people Carroll Fighting Saints football coaches Central Michigan Chippewas football coaches Cincinnati Bearcats football coaches Eastern Illinois Panthers football coaches Eastern Michigan Eagles football coaches Idaho Vandals football coaches Illinois State Redbirds football coaches Indiana State Sycamores football coaches Kent State Golden Flashes football coaches Lock Haven Bald Eagles football coaches New Mexico Highlands Cowboys football coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish football coaches Western Carolina Catamounts football coaches Western Michigan Broncos football coaches UMass Minutemen football coaches Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania alumni People from Morris Plains, New Jersey Coaches of American football from New Jersey