Richard P. Gunnell (born January 12, 1987) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

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 ...

. He was signed by the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in 2010. He played

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 ...

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

.Joe O'Gorma
Gunnell grateful for football career at Boston College
December 21, 2009 Trentonian He is currently the wide receivers coach and pass game coordinator at the

College of the Holy Cross The College of the Holy Cross is a private Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by educators Benedict Joseph Fenwick and Thomas F. Mulledy in 1843 under the auspices of the Society of Jesus. ...

Early years

Gunnell is from East Windsor Township, New JerseyPlayer Profile
Boston College and was a standout at Notre Dame High School in

Lawrenceville, New Jersey Lawrenceville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) within Lawrence Township in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

. In high school, he made 115 receptions for 2,200 yards and 38 touchdowns. He also returned three kickoffs and two punts for touchdowns. He played for head coach Chappy Moore, and was on the school's basketball and track teams.

College career

Gunnell set the career receiving yard record at Boston College, surpassing Pete Mitchell's. Gunnell broke the record on a 61-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter of his final game against USC in the 2009

Emerald Bowl The San Francisco Bowl was an annual postseason college football bowl game certified by the NCAA and played in the San Francisco Bay Area. Originally named the Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl during its first two editions from 2002 to 2003, it w ...

. He finished with 2,459 receiving yards in his career surpassing Mitchell's 2,388 yards. In his final collegiate game Gunnell he had 130 receiving yards and one touchdown on six catches. He was also the active leader in catches, receiving yards, and punt return touchdowns in the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

. Gunnell was voted the Eagles Most Valuable Player by his teammates, the first time a wide receiver captain received the honor since 1990. His "dream" is to play professionally and is awaiting an invitation to the

NFL Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

. Gunnell was a senior team captain along with center Matt Tennant and

middle linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the li ...

Mike McLaughlin.Dan Rowinsk
Seniors Set To Bid Adieu in San Francisco
December 26, 2009 WEEI Gunnell played under three head coaches start including Tom O'Brien and Frank Spaziani Gunnell played with

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 Matt Ryan, Dominique Davis, and Dave Shinskie. His best season statistically was as a sophomore with Ryan as quarterback when he had 64 receptions for 931 yards and 7 receiving touchdowns. His senior year with 25-year-old freshman Shinskie he caught 54 passes for 750 yards, and 6 touchdown, plus another 5 catches for 117 yards and a touchdown against USC in the Emerald Bowl.

Professional career

On April 25, 2010, it was announced that Gunnell had signed with the

. However, just prior to the start of the 2010 season on September 3, the Chiefs released Gunnell along with 6 other players vying for roster spots. Gunnell was the final cut for the Chiefs and was placed on the practice squad.

Coaching career

Gunnell was a graduate assistant at Boston College, his

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

. He coached at Marian High School in Framingham, Massachusetts, in 2014. Gunnell became the wide receivers coach for Boston College in the 2016 season. Gunnell was named interim head coach following the firing of

Steve Addazio Stephen Robert Addazio (born June 1, 1959) is an American football coach and broadcaster and former player. He became a color commentator for ESPN's college football broadcasts before the 2024 season. Before becoming a broadcaster, Addazio ser ...

at the conclusion of the 2019 regular season. For the 2022 season, Gunnell joined the Holy Cross football coaching staff as the Wide receivers coach and Pass game coordinator.

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

Holy Cross Crusaders bio

Boston College Eagles bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gunnell, Rich 1987 births Living people American football wide receivers Boston College Eagles football coaches Boston College Eagles football players Holy Cross Crusaders football coaches Kansas City Chiefs players Tufts Jumbos football coaches High school football coaches in Massachusetts Notre Dame High School (New Jersey) alumni People from East Windsor, New Jersey Players of American football from Mercer County, New Jersey Coaches of American football from New Jersey African-American coaches of American football 21st-century African-American sportsmen