Pat Leone '19 is back on the Wesleyan staff as special teams coordinator and tight ends coach for his second season in the 2025 campaign.
A member of the 2024 NESCAC Coaching Staff of the Year, which marked the team's first-ever NESCAC Coaching Staff recognition, Leone helped lift the Cardinals to the team's best season in the modern era in 2024, as Wesleyan went 8-1, captured a third straight Little Three title, and culminated in the team's first-ever outright NESCAC Championship. Opening the year with a 43-7 drubbing of Middlebury on the road, that win marked the Panthers' biggest home loss in over 40 years. Wesleyan then held Tufts without a touchdown in a 20-9 triumph under the lights at home. After suffering their first defeat of the season to Bates in Week 3, the Cardinals rebounded with six straight wins to end the year. That six-game win streak started with 19 unanswered fourth quarter points to defeat Hamilton on the road 19-7. Jake Edwards returned a fumble 88 yards for a game-winning, walk-off overtime touchdown in a 23-17 win over Colby in Week 5. The Cardinals held off Bowdoin for a 17-14 road win before scoring 31 unanswered to defeat Amherst 31-14 in a game that Wesleyan trailed 14-0 in the first quarter. With a third straight Little 3 title on the line, the Cardinals drove over 90 yards down the field with less than two minutes to play in regulation, as WR Luke LaSaracina '25 hauled in a game-deciding touchdown with six seconds left as Wesleyan defeated Williams 25-24 in an epic clash to claim three straight Little Three Championships for the first time since 1946-48. Then in the season finale, Wesleyan's defense held Trinity scoreless in the second half, converting two lengthy fourth downs in pivotal moments in the fourth quarter, to defeat Trinity 27-17 in what was the de-facto NESCAC Championship game in Hartford.
Prior to Wesleyan, Leone spent three seasons at Yale University - working as assistant defensive line coach (2021-22) before being named assistant quarterbacks coach for the 2023 season. The Bulldogs won back-to-back Ivy League Championships in 2022 and 2023 during his time with the program.
In 2023, he coached QB Nolan Grooms, who won his second consecutive Bushnell Cup as Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year. Grooms led the conference in passing touchdowns (22), total touchdowns (26), and passer efficiency (149.6) in route to becoming the sixth player in Ivy history to earn the award twice. Leone also worked closely with First Team All-Ivy Wide Receiver Mason Tipton, who led the conference with 10 receiving touchdowns. Tipton signed with the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent in May of 2024.
From 2021-22, before switching to the offense, Leone worked closely with Yale’s defensive line. He coached All-Ivy Defensive Tackles Clay Patterson, Adam Raine, and Alvin Gulley Jr. Patterson finished the 2021 season as a Third Team All-American while Raine went on to sign with the Edmonton Elks of the CFL in May of 2023. He also coached All-Ivy Defensive End Reid Nickerson during this time.
A 2019 Wesleyan graduate, Leone was a member of the football and men's lacrosse programs. He and his classmates contributed to the 2017 NESCAC Championship and 2018 National Championship, eventually becoming the winningest graduating class in program history for Men’s Lacrosse.
