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Football
- Title:
- Charles W. Caldwell Jr. '25 Head Coach of Football
- Email:
- football@princeton.edu
| QUICK FACTS ON BOB SURACE |
| • guided Princeton to the 2013, 2016, 2018, 2021 Ivy League championships |
| • led Tigers to 10-0 season in 2018, the first perfect season at Princeton since 1964 |
| • Princeton reached #8 ranking in 2018, the highest since Division I-AA/FCS level began in 1978 |
| • 2012, 2013, 2016, 2018 Eddie Robinson Jr. National Head Coach of the Year finalist |
| • 2016, 2018 Ivy League Head Coach of the Year |
| • has coached the two highest-scoring offenses in Ivy League history (2018 and 2013) |
| • had 11 straight seasons of .500 or better |
| • has coached five NFL draft picks (Mike Catapano '13; Caraun Reid '14; Seth DeValve '16, Andrei Iosivas '23, Jalen Travis '24) at Princeton |
| • has coached eight Bushnell Cup winners (Catapano, 2012; Epperly, 2013; Zeuli, 2014; Lovett, 2016/2018; Kanoff, 2017, Tyler, 2021, Liam Johnson '22) |
| • coached Chad Kanoff to single-season Ivy League passing yardage record during 2017 season |
| • one of two people to win an Ivy League title as a player (1989) and head coach (2013, 2016, 2018, 2021) |
| • has coached 182 All-Ivy League honorees, including 59 first-team selections |
| • first-team All-Ivy League center when he led Princeton to the 1989 Ivy League title |
| • coached nine years in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals |
Email Coach Surace at football@princeton.edu
Bob Surace ‘90, a four-time finalist for the Eddie Robinson Jr. National Head Coach of the Year award, has built Princeton football into a model FCS program as head coach, complete with four Ivy League championships, multiple NFL draft picks and players, Bushnell Cup winners and finalists and the program's first national first-team Academic All-America in more than 20 years.
Surace has a record of 81-59, including a record of 79-39 after a 2-20 start. He has led the Tigers to six seasons of at least eight wins; Princeton had five eight-win seasons in the 44 years prior to when he became head coach.
He has placed 182 players on the All-Ivy League teams throughout his tenure, and he has coached a Bushnell Cup recipient in eight of the last 12 seasons, the most for any coach in the Ivy League. He has seen a quarterback win the Offensive Player of the Year honors four times — Quinn Epperly in 2013, Lovett in 2016/2018, and Chad Kanoff in 2017 – and had four Defensive Players of the Year – Mike Catapano in 2012, Mike Zeuli in 2014, Jeremiah Tyler in 2021 and Liam Johnson in 2022.
The Tigers had 10 All-Ivy honorees in 2024 including four second-team selections in Tommy Matheson, Nasir Hill, Marco Scarano and Jack DelGarbino. Jalen Travis '24 was selected in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts.
Travis (127th overall) is the highest selection of a Princeton football player in the modern NFL Draft era surpassing Seth DeValve who was picked 138th overall in the fourth round of the 2016 draft by the Cleveland Browns.
Princeton recorded 10 All-Ivy selections in 2023 with Ozzie Nicholas and Liam Nicholas earning First-Team accolades. Travis, in addition to second-team All-Ivy honors, collected the 2024 Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup and won the Princeton University Art Lane ’34 Cup. Nicholas was named a Pro Football Focus All-American and was selected a Stats Perform FCS All-American Third Team honoree.
The 2022 season saw Princeton go 8-2 and be in contention for the Ivy League title into the final week of the regular season. The Tigers had 16 All-Ivy selections tied for second-most at Princeton since 2013 while Liam Johnson was named the Bushnell Cup winner for Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year.
The Tigers had the No. 1 passing offense (274.2) and No. 2 scoring offense (27.6) in the Ivy League while the defense finished No. 1 in the country in scoring (13.5), third in rushing defense (90.7), fourth in total defense (299.7) and interceptions (16), 11th in passing efficiency defense (115.37) and 15th in fewest first downs allowed (189).
Andrei Iosivas was later selected in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals.
The 2021 season saw the Tigers go 9-1, securing the program's third Ivy League title in five seasons. Princeton had 16 All-Ivy selections including 10 first-team honorees, a program record. Surace's offense ranked first in the conference in scoring, second in passing offense and passing efficiency and third in total offense. The Tigers' defensive unit was one of the best in the NCAA FCS as it allowed the second fewest first downs, third in rushing defense, eighth in team sacks per game and ninth in total defense. Tyler was named Second-Team Stats Perform FCS All-America and the Bushnell Cup winner as the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year.
Princeton had one of the greatest seasons in program and Ivy history, recording a perfect 10-0 record, the first perfect year for a Tiger football team since 1964. Princeton was ranked as high as No. 8 in the AFCA Coaches Poll in 2018, the highest it has been ranked since the Division I-AA/FCS level began in 1978. Princeton set an Ivy League record for total points (470) in a season and produced a defense that limited seven of 10 opponents to 10 points or fewer.
Previously, Surace led Princeton to both the 2013 and 2016 Ivy League championships. He was named a National Coach of the Year finalist after all three championship seasons, as well as a 2012 season that saw the Tigers break through from a 1-9 campaign to one where they were in the Ivy race until the final day of the season.
Surace was first named the Ivy League Head Coach of the Year in 2016 after leading Princeton to the Ivy League championship. His team led the Ivy League in scoring, total and rushing offense, as well as scoring, total and rushing defense. Princeton had two All-America honorees, the Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year, a finalist for Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year, and 18 All-Ivy League players. He won the award again after the perfect 2018 season, when 18 Tigers earned All-Ivy honors, and Princeton had both Offensive Player of the Year finalists in Jesper Horsted and eventual winner John Lovett.
That championship performance came three seasons after the memorable 2013 Ivy championship season, when Princeton set Ivy League records in both total offense and scoring offense. Princeton, which averaged 43.7 points per game, saw quarterback Quinn Epperly earn the Bushnell Cup as the league’s Top Offensive Player.
A 1990 Princeton grad, Surace was a center for the Tigers, helping the team to the 1989 Ivy League title while winning first-team All-Ivy honors. He is one of two people to win an Ivy League championship as a player and a head coach.
Surace’s wife, Lisa, was a four-time letterwinner in women’s soccer at Princeton and is a member of the Class of 1992. She holds a Ph.D. in psychology and is now the Associate School Head at Princeton Day School. They have a daughter, Alison, and a son, A.J., both of whom are athletes themselves.
| Year |
Overall |
Ivy |
Ivy |
1st-Team |
Overall |
Top Individual Honors |
| 2010 | 1-9 | 0-7 | 8th | 2 | 8 | |
| 2011 | 1-9 | 1-6 | 7th | 2 | 7 | Dibilio wins Rookie/Year |
| 2012 | 5-5 | 4-3 | T-3rd | 4 | 11 | Catapano wins D Player/Year |
| 2013 | 8-2 | 6-1 | T-1st | 6 | 17 | Epperly wins O Player/Year |
| 2014 | 5-5 | 4-3 | 4th | 2 | 12 | Zeuli wins D Player/Year |
| 2015 | 5-5 | 2-5 | 6th | 2 | 13 | |
| 2016 | 8-2 | 6-1 | T-1st | 6 | 18 | Lovett wins O Player/Year |
| 2017 | 5-5 | 2-5 | 7th | 4 | 12 | Kanoff wins O Player/Year |
| 2018 | 10-0 | 7-0 | 1st | 9 | 18 | Lovett wins O Player/Year |
| 2019 | 8-2 | 5-2 | 3rd | 3 | 14 | Griffin 1st-team national Academic All-America |
| 2021 | 9-1 | 7-1 | 1st | 10 | 16 | Tyler wins D Player/Year |
| 2022 | 8-2 | 6-2 | T-2nd | 7 | 16 | Johnson wins D Player/Year |
| 2023 | 5-5 | 4-3 | 4th | 2 | 10 | |
| 2024 | 3-7 | 2-5 | T-5 | 0 | 10 | |
| Totals | 81-59 | 52-44 | 59 | 182 | 4 Off, 4 Def, 1 Rookie |
