Tom Dexter, a longtime assistant coach at Colby, has joined the Wesleyan football coaching staff for his first season with the Cardinals heading into the 2026 season.
Dexter finished a 36-year coaching career with the Mules at the end of the 2024-25 academic year. He first arrived at Colby in August 1989 as an assistant coach for both football and baseball. He was elevated to head coach of Colby baseball in 1992, a position he held until 2007, when he returned to an assistant role for another 12 seasons. On the football side, Dexter was elevated to defensive coordinator in 1994, calling Colby's defense until 2019 when he transitioned to lead the defensive backs and then the defensive line to close out his career.
Throughout his 36 years with Colby football, Dexter saw a roster of 37 players in 1990 turn into a 7-1 season in 1994. He helped a winless team in 1997 flip their record in 2000 for Colby's only NESCAC title in football. His defenses were consistently ranked among the best in New England for Division III, and even ranked second nationally after the 2005 regular season. With nearly 30 different players on the defensive side recognized with All-NESCAC honors since 2000, Dexter himself was honored when the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston named him Assistant Coach of the Year in 2009.
A 1987 graduate of SUNY-Cortland, Dexter played quarterback and defensive back while in college. In 1988, he earned his Master's Degree from Cortland while serving as a defensive line coach there. Dexter then went to Cornell University for one year where he was the defensive secondary coach and defensive coordinator of the freshman football team.
