Frank Miriello is in his 16th season as the head coach at Washington and Lee University. The veteran coach has led W&L to .500 or better seasons in 10 of his 15 years at the helm and has been named the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Coach of the Year four times. He is just two wins away from becoming the all-time winningest football coach at W&L, producing a 75-73-1 (.507) overall record. He has also coached 51 players to First Team All-ODAC accolades.
Miriello has guided the Generals to a 34-26 overall record and a 20-16 mark in the ODAC over the last six seasons -- one of the most successful stretches in program history. His 2007 squad went 6-3 overall, while Miriello’s 2006 team posted a 7-4 overall record, won W&L’s first ODAC title in 21 years and made the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament berth. For his efforts, Miriello was named the ODAC Coach of the Year, AFCA Region Coach of the Year and Sportexe Division III Coach of the Year for his efforts.
The 2006 season followed a 7-3 record in 2005 and a 6-4 mark in 2004. Miriello earned his third ODAC Coach of the Year award in 2004 after leading a Generals’ squad that was picked to finish in a last place tie to a 6-4 overall record and third-place showing in the conference standings. He also earned the award in 1996 when he led an inexperienced team to a 5-5 overall record. His second award came following the 2001 season when he guided the Generals to a tie for second place in the conference.
Miriello’s inaugural season in 1995 was the best for a first-year coach at W&L since 1922 when James DeHart led the team to an identical 5-3-1 mark.
Prior to becoming the head coach, Miriello was the defensive coordinator for former W&L coach Gary Fallon, the school’s all-time leader for career victories.
Miriello has been involved in coaching football for more than 40 years, including head coaching duties at four Pennsylvania high schools: Southern Columbia (1972-75), Warrior Run High School (1975-77), Steelton High (1985) and Mercersburg Academy (1986-89). He has also served as a college coach at W&L, Hampden-Sydney and VMI.
Miriello began his college coaching career at W&L in 1978 as a member of Fallon’s first staff. He coached the offensive line and remained on staff for four years, helping W&L to its first ODAC title in 1981.
Miriello moved to ODAC-rival Hampden-Sydney for the 1982 season as defensive coordinator and helped the Tigers to the ODAC championship. He then came back to Lexington to work at VMI. Miriello served on the Keydets’ staff for two years coaching linebackers and defensive ends and running the conditioning program.
After one year as the head coach at Steelton (Pa.) High, he became the head football coach, head lacrosse coach and physical education department chairman at Mercersburg Academy in Mercersburg, Pa., in 1986. At Mercersburg he compiled one of the best four-year records in football at the boarding school, including a 7-1 mark in 1988 that was the best at the school since 1924 and the first winning season at the school in nearly a quarter of a century. His final lacrosse team in 1990 went 8-3.
Miriello then rejoined the W&L staff in the summer of 1990 as an assistant football and lacrosse coach. In 1991, he was named defensive coordinator and he developed W&L into one of the top defenses in the ODAC.
Miriello is a 1967 graduate of East Stroudsburg (Pa.) University where he was a three-year starter in the defensive backfield. Miriello helped East Stroudsburg to two conference championships and earned all-conference honors his senior year while serving as a co-captain. He was named East Stroudsburg’s Scholar-Athlete for the 1966-67 school year.
Miriello also had a stellar career at Kulpmont Area High School in Pennsylvania. He served as a co-captain for the football, basketball and baseball teams. In football he was a three-year starter and an honorable mention all-state selection at running back by UPI his senior year. He was inducted into Kulpmont’s Hall of Fame in 1991.
Miriello and his wife, Dee, have a son, T.D.
Garrett LeRose is in his third season as an assistant football
and assistant baseball coach with the Generals.
A December 2007 W&L graduate with a degree in European
history, LeRose was a four-year letterwinner for the Generals'
football team, playing wide receiver, halfback and quarterback. He
was a member of the 2006 ODAC Championship team, the first team in
school history to advance to the Division III
playoffs.
Following his playing days, LeRose joined the Generals’
staff as a student assistant, working with both the running backs
and the wide receivers. His duties included comprehensive film
assessment and breakdown, as well as preparation of practice
plans.
Scott Abell is in his third season with the W&L football staff, serving as the team’s offensive coordinator. During his first two seasons, Abell has helped the Generals average better than 300 total yards per game and nearly 24 points per game. Additionally, his offenses have ranked among the best rushing attacks in the ODAC.
Abell came to W&L following six seasons as the head coach at
Amherst County High School. During that time he compiled a 60-12
overall record and won three Seminole District Titles, while
leading the Lancers to the 2006 and 2007 Virginia Group AA,
Division 4, State Championship. Three times he was named the
Seminole District and Virginia Region III Coach of the Year, while
he received the State Coach of the Year Award after each of his
final two seasons.
Abell, who served as the team’s offensive coordinator,
quarterbacks and linebackers coach and strength and conditioning
coach at Amherst County, is also the co-founder and co-director of
the Central Virginia Coaches Clinic, a well-respected camp for over
150 high school coaches.
Prior to taking over at Amherst County, Abell spent four seasons
as the head football coach at Liberty High School, turning an 0-10
team in 1998 into a Seminole District Champion in 2001. He has also
been an assistant football coach and physical education teacher at
Altavista High School (1996-97), Western Albemarle High School
(1994-96) and Albemarle High School (1993).
Abell is a 1992 graduate of Longwood College with a bachelor of
science degree in physical education and health. He also attained a
master’s degree in administration/supervision from Lynchburg
College in 2007.
Gavin Colliton is in his 21st season as a member of the W&L coaching staff, with responsibilities for coaching the offensive line. During his tenure, Coach Colliton has also coached the defensive line, defensive backs and special teams.
Colliton is a 1984 graduate of Salisbury University were he was a two-year starter, helping the Seagulls to the NCAA Division III semifinals as a senior. Colliton then joined Salisbury's coaching staff and helped the Seagulls to an NCAA quarterfinal appearance in 1985 and a championship game appearance in 1986.
Colliton, who earned his master's at Salisbury, coached at Central Connecticut and Princeton before coming to W&L. He helped Princeton earn a share of the 1989 Ivy League title.
Colliton has also served as the head golf coach at Washington and Lee since 2000. He has led the Generals to the last two ODAC titles and to 16th- and 17th-place finishes at the NCAA Championships in 2008 and 2009, respectively.
Colliton also helped mentor Nathaniel James '08, who was a three-time All-American and the 2008 winner of the prestigious Byron Nelson Award.
Gavin and wife, Patti, have two sons, John and Joe.
Brendan O'Brien is in his second season as an assistant football coach at Washington and Lee. In this role, he is responsible for coaching the Generals' defensive backs and assists with special teams and video operations.
O'Brien came to W&L from Bowdoin College, where he served as assistant football coach and recruiting coordinator during the 2008 season. O'Brien worked with the safeties, kickers and was the special teams coordinator, helping the Polar Bears to a 4-4 overall record. He was also an athletic department admissions liaison, working with all 31 Bowdoin sports in their recruiting efforts.
Prior to Bowdoin, O'Brien served as an assistant football coach
at Amherst College from 2006-08, was an assistant football coach at
Bentley College for the 2005 season and was an assistant football
and assistant baseball coach at Norwich University from 2002-05.
O'Brien has also worked numerous summer camps over the years,
including camps at Harvard, Lafayette, Princeton, Yale and Boston
College.
A 2002 graduate of Norwich University with a bachelor of science
in physical education with a minor in coaching, O'Brien was a
four-year letterwinner for both the football and baseball teams. On
the gridiron, he was a three-year starter at linebacker and a
two-time all-conference selection. On the baseball diamond, O'Brien
was a four-year starter at catcher and served as a team captain
during his senior season.
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