Hall of Fame
A standout athlete, Carmen Cozza played football under Woody Hayes and Ara Parseghian and baseball for Woody Willis. He played three different positions in football--quarterback, halfback and safety. His record of four pass interceptions in a single game, the second highest in Miami's record. He was a member of Miami's 1950 football team, which won the Mid-American Conference title and defeated Arizona State in the Salad Bowl. He ran the football 29 times for 133 yards and one touchdown.
A pitcher and outfielder, he had a career batting average of .388 and an ERA of 1.50. He threw a no-hit shutout his senior year. Cozza was captain of the baseball team in 1952. Following graduation in 1952, he played two and one-half years of minor league baseball with the farm clubs of the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox. After several years of high school coaching at Gilmour Academy and Collinwood, he returned to Miami as freshman football coach under John Pont.
The Green Bay Packers signed on Cozza in 1955. He eventually moved to varsity backfield coach in 1961. He moved to Yale with Pont in 1963 and took over as head football coach in 1965 when Pont went to Indiana. In five years he guided Yale to a record of 30 wins, 14 defeats and one tie and won three Ivy League championships. Cozza record for 11 years as head coach at Yale was 69-29-1.
He was honored as Ivy League Coach of the Year. Carmen Cozza was inducted in to Miami's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1970.
