LOGAN, Utah – Kyle Cefalo, who has eight years of collegiate coaching experience, has been hired as Utah State's passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach, it was announced Tuesday by Aggie head football coach Blake Anderson. In all, Cefalo has coached in six bowl games and has been part of two conference championship teams.
 
Cefalo (pronounced Seph-uh-low) comes to Utah State after spending the past four seasons as the wide receivers coach at Arkansas State, including serving as its special teams co-coordinator the last two years. While at A-State, Cefalo helped the Red Wolves to three straight bowl games.
 
This past season, Cefalo coached the Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Year in Jonathan Adams Jr., who was also named an Associated Press Second-Team All-American and a ProFootballFocus Honorable Mention All-American. A first-team all-Sun Belt pick and Biletnikoff Award semifinalist, Adams currently ranks third in the nation in total receptions (79) and touchdown catches (12), and fifth in receiving yards (1,111) in 2020. Both his 7.9 receptions per game and 111.1 receiving yards average rank ninth in the country.
 
Adams was also named the Sun Belt's Offensive Player of the Week twice this past season, while being selected to the East-West Shrine Bowl and receiving an invitation to the Hula Bowl. He posted five 100-yard receiving games, which tied for the sixth-most in the nation and tied for the second-most in both Arkansas State and Sun Belt Conference history.
 
Cefalo also coached Brandon Bowling to honorable mention all-Sun Belt honors this past season, as Arkansas State ranked second in the nation in passing offense (364.4 yards per game), 11th in yards per completion (14.57), 14th in total offense (498.7 ypg), 17th in team passing efficiency (156.02) and 35th in scoring offense (32.9 points per game).
 
Arkansas State completed the 2019 season with an 8-5 overall record with victories in four of its last five games, including a 36-24 win against Florida International in the Camellia Bowl. The Red Wolves concluded the year ranked 10th in the country in passing offense (312.1 ypg), 14th in team passing efficiency (157.55), 26th in scoring offense (33.7 ppg) and 33rd in both total offense (439.3 ypg) and red zone offense (.889).
 
The 2018 Arkansas State squad ranked 17th in the country in total offense (466.2 ypg) and 21st in passing yards (281.5 ypg) on its way to the Arizona Bowl, where it played Nevada.
 
Cefalo coached two-time first team all-Sun Belt selection Kirk Merritt in both 2018 and 2019. Merritt was also tabbed the league's Newcomer of the Year in 2018 after recording 83 receptions for 1,005 yards and seven touchdowns. Merritt signed an NFL free agent contract with the Miami Dolphins at the end of the 2019 season.
 
Merritt was one of three Arkansas State wide receivers named all-Sun Belt in 2019, joining fellow first-team pick Omar Bayless and third-team selection Adams. The three standouts combined to post more receiving touchdowns (34) than 116 FBS teams had passing touchdowns, more receiving yards (3,310) than 87 squads had passing yards and more receptions (206) than 39 programs had completions.
 
In 2019, Bayless shattered the school records for both receiving yards (1,653) and receiving touchdowns (17), while also leading the nation in receiving yards per game (127.2). He was a Biletnikoff Award semifinalist and earned Walter Camp and Associated Press Second-Team All-America recognition before signing an NFL free agent contract with the Carolina Panthers.
 
Cefalo's first season back at Arkansas State in 2017 saw the Red Wolves play Middle Tennessee in the Camellia Bowl to cap a seven-win season in which the A-State offense ranked fifth in the nation in passing offense (342.2 ypg), 10th in total offense (494.8 ypg) and 13th in scoring offense (37.8 ppg).
 
His 2017 unit was headlined by second-team all-Sun Belt selection Chris Murray, who led the team in both receptions (50) and receiving touchdowns (9). In fact, the senior's receiving touchdown total ranked as the fourth-most in school history for a single season at the time.
 
With Cefalo also working as special teams co-coordinator, Arkansas State kicker Blake Grupe and punter Cody Grace were both named first-team all-Sun Belt in 2019. Grupe was a Lou Groza Award semifinalist, while Grace concluded his career as a three-time member of the Ray Guy Award Watch List.
 
This past season, Arkansas State ranked 12th in the nation in kickoff return defense (17.03 yards per return) and blocked one punt, while Roshauud Paul ranked 31st in the nation in kickoff returns (23.7 yards per return).
 
Cefalo returned to Arkansas State in 2017 to work on the offensive side of the ball after spending the 2016 campaign as a graduate assistant coach at Maryland, which doubled its win total over the previous season and made an appearance in the Quick Lane Bowl.
 
Cefalo worked on the offensive side of the ball, primarily with quarterbacks and wide receivers, at both Maryland and Arkansas State from 2013-16. His three seasons as a graduate assistant coach at A-State saw the Red Wolves compile three of the top five marks at the time in school history for total offense, including a school-record 6,194 yards in 2014 during Anderson's first season at the helm of the program.
 
Additionally, the Red Wolves produced a school- and Sun Belt Conference-record 520 points in 2015 with Cefalo on the sidelines. His first year as a graduate assistant at A-State saw the squad pile up 379 points, the ninth-most in program history, and the 477 points recorded by the squad in the 2014 stands as the second-most.
 
Arkansas State played in three consecutive bowl games, including the 2014 and 2015 GoDaddy Bowl, and the 2015 New Orleans Bowl, during Cefalo's first stint with the program. The Red Wolves also collected 18 all-Sun Belt Conference selections on the offensive side of the ball during Cefalo's initial three years with the program and won conference championships in 2013 and 2015.
 
Cefalo spent the first six months of 2013 as a recruiting intern at Boise State before entering the coaching profession at Arkansas State.
 
Prior to Boise State, Cefalo enjoyed a successful playing career at the University of Colorado, where he walked on in 2009 before earning a scholarship in the fall of 2011. He originally signed to play baseball at Oregon State, but suffered a season-ending arm injury and transferred to Colorado to begin his collegiate football career.
 
Cefalo caught two touchdown passes during his senior season, including the go-ahead touchdown in a victory over Colorado State. He was awarded the Gold Group Commitment award in 2009, which is given out by the Colorado coaching staff and recognizes excellence with class in a variety of areas.
 
A native of Boston, Mass., Cefalo earned his bachelor's degree in history from Colorado in the spring of 2012. He was named to the Athletics Director's Honor Roll in 2012, as well.
 
KYLE CEFALO File
Coaching History                                                                                                                          
2021-               Utah State – Passing Game Coordinator/Wide Receivers
2019-20           Arkansas State – Special Teams Co-Coordinator/Wide Receivers
2017-18           Arkansas State – Inside Wide Receivers
2016                Maryland – Graduate Assistant
2013-15           Arkansas State – Graduate Assistant
2013                Boise State – Recruiting Intern
 
Bowl Games (7)                                                                                                        
Arkansas State (6): 2019 Camellia Bowl; 2018 Arizona Bowl; 2017 Camellia Bowl; 2016 Cure Bowl; 2014 GoDaddy.com Bowl; 2013 GoDaddy.com Bowl.
Maryland (1): 2013 Quick Lane Bowl.
 
Conference Championships (2)                                                                                                              
Arkansas State (2) – Sun Belt Conference, 2015, 2013.
 
Playing Experience
2009-11           Colorado – Wide Receiver
 
Education                                                                                                                                                
2012                Colorado – History (B.S.)