Coach Mitch Ross was named Head Coach of The Ludlowe Falcons football team in 2017, as the team was mired in a 25-game losing streak. The program quickly was turned around as the Ludlowe Falcons finished the 2018 season with a 7-3 record, the best record in team history since the recent split of Fairfield high school. Coach Ross came to Fairfield Ludlowe High School via Darien High School, where he had coached 13 years leaving in the midst of a 35-game winning streak and 3 state championships.

In 2024 the team set records for most wins in a season (8) leading to their first playoff game, along with finishing with the most passing yards in the state and limiting opponents in 7 games to 2 or fewer touchdowns. The team’s outstanding performance led to Coach Ross being named FCIAC Coach of the Year for the second time in his Ludlowe tenure.

Over the last 8 years, the Ludlowe Falcons football team has developed the number one passing team in the state while the roster has grown from 24 players in 2016 to over 100 players. 16 of those players have gone on to play college football.

Coach Ross has a varied background, having graduated from Harvard University and Tufts Medical School while completing his dermatology residency at Columbia University. He is currently a practicing dermatologist, and also owns 10 retail stores stretching from Florida to Connecticut. He is the father of 5, with all three of his boys having college careers in football and/or lacrosse. He has been married to his wife, Kerry for 38 years and has 3 grandchildren.

Coach Kevin Avery is the Offensive Coordinator for the Fairfield Ludlowe Falcons working alongside Coach Tom O’Neill. Coach Avery mentors all of the Falcons skill position players including Wide Receivers, Quarterbacks and Running Backs.

Coach Avery comes to Fairfield Ludlowe from Greenwich Country Day School in Greenwich, CT where he spent the past 3 years building the Upper School’s first-ever varsity program. GCDS competed in the NEPSAC Evergreen League against top boarding and day school programs across New England. Along with his head coaching duties, Coach Avery coordinated the offense while mentoring the QB’s and all offensive skill positions. In just 3 years of existence, the program became incredibly competitive under his staff’s direction!

Prior to GCDS, Coach Avery served as an assistant coach at Greenwich High School from 2016 to 2020. While at Greenwich, Coach Avery mentored the Wide Receivers, Tight Ends and Quarterbacks. He was the Associate Strength & Conditioning Coordinator for the Cardinals while also serving as the Pass Game Coordinator and the Offensive Coordinator. During Coach Avery’s tenure as a member of the GHS varsity football coaching staff, the team won two FCIAC Championships, was a state finalist in 2017, and won the State Championship in 2018 finishing with the #1 rank in the state of Connecticut!

Prior to Greenwich High School, Avery worked two separate stints as an assistant Varsity Coach at White Plains High School with a two-year stay at the Harvey School in Katonah, NY, in between. Both at White Plains and Harvey, Avery mentored the Quarterbacks, Wide Receivers and Defensive Backs, while also serving as a Strength and Conditioning Coordinator.

Coach Avery was fortunate to work closely in the student-athlete outplacement/ recruiting process at each of his previous stops and is incredibly proud to have former student-athletes successfully competing collegiately in multiple sports at the D1, D2 & D3 levels. Coach Avery strongly believes in the multi-sport student-athlete experience and has coached both middle school and varsity high school basketball in both NY and CT.

A Westchester County native, Avery attended White Plains High School, where he was a three-sport varsity athlete in football, basketball, and track. He then attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY, where he played wide receiver and tight end earning All-Liberty League Academic Honors as well as the National Football Foundation’s Hampshire Scholar Athlete Award. In 2009, Avery graduated cum laude from RPI and began his teaching and coaching career. Avery earned his Masters of Arts in Middle Grades Mathematics Instruction in 2016. He currently works at Roger Ludlowe Middle School in the math department. Avery lives in Fairfield with his wife Amanda, who is also a Fairfield County teacher and their two children Austin and Brynn.

Coach Nick Bartoli is in his first-year coaching with the Fairfield Ludlowe Falcons coaching staff. Coach Bartoli will work primarily with the linebackers and running backs. Prior to joining the Fairfield Ludlowe staff, he was a member of the Sacred Heart University Club Football Staff where he was the assistant head coach and offensive coordinator. He has also coached the offensive line at Derby High School. Coach Bartoli played football at Division 1 FCS Sacred Heart University, where he started 42 consecutive games at offensive guard over his four seasons where he helped lead the Pioneers to back-to-back NEC conference championships and two straight division 1 FCS playoff berths.

Coach Jeff Cavagnaro is the Defensive Coordinator for the Fairfield Ludlowe Falcons. Coach Cavagnaro began his coaching journey in 2006 as a Graduate Assistant at Wagner College located in Staten Island, NY playing collegiate football at Kings College in Wilkes-Barre, PA. Shortly after his time at Wagner College, Coach Cavagnaro dove into high school coaching at Cardinal Hayes High School, where he served as the Defensive Coordinator for the next 10 years. In 2017 Coach Cavagnaro moved to Fairfield, CT with his family and seized the chance to join Coach Mitch Ross at Fairfield Ludlowe High School. Coach Cavagnaro was drawn by the opportunity to contribute to the team as the Defensive Coordinator, a role he has proudly held since then.

Coach Matt Colangelo joins the Fairfield Ludlowe Falcons football staff for the first time in the 2024 season. Coach Colangelo was a three-year starter playing Safety at Williams College after graduating from Fairfield Prep where he was captain of the football team senior year. Coach Colangelo has coached Fairfield Youth Football across all age groups as well as Girls Softball and Basketball for over 10 years. Coach Colangelo has worked in Finance for over 20 years after graduating from Fordham University with an MBA in Finance.

Coach Jeff Love enters his third year with the Fairfield Ludlowe Falcons, having been a freshman football Assistant Coach for the past two seasons. A High School Quarterback trapped in a pitcher’s body, Jeff’s favorite sport and best sports memories come from his HS Football experiences. Jeff played college baseball at St John’s University, graduating in 1996 with his Finance degree. Jeff was able to stave off “the real world” for an additional seven years, pitching in the St Louis Cardinals, Houston Astros and several Atlantic League Organizations, then “retiring” from the professional game in 2003.

Coach Love’s coaching career started with baseball in 2010, and for the past 14 years he has coached AAU Travel, American Legion and High School Baseball. He was a member of two State Championship coaching staffs at Staples High School in 2017 and 2019. Coach Love has also been active in the Fairfield Youth Football organization coaching many teams over the years. Coach Love resides in Fairfield with his wife Ronni and his three son’s Johnathan, Ryan and Jack.

Coach Ben Levy graduated from Horace Greeley High School in Westchester County and attended Siena College, where he played Div 1AA football and received a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in writing. Coach Levy then attended the University of Columbia’s teacher’s college where he earned two master’s degrees; one in Education and another in Counseling Psychology. In 2007 After finishing from Columbia Coach Levy started his career as a school counselor at Stamford High School. In his second year at Stamford High, he began his coaching career starting out as the Freshman football coach for Stamford High School, and two years later was promoted to Varsity. In 2016, Coach Levy transitioned to Fairfield Warde High School as a school counselor and was named defensive coordinator for the Warde football team. Currently, Coach Levy is the Dean at Tomlinson middle school, has two kids, 11 and 13 who attend the Fairfield public schools, and lives in Fairfield. Coach Levy continues to stay involved in the town’s youth programs coaching for Fairfield Youth Lacrosse and Fairfield Youth Football (of which he is currently a board member).

Coach Colin Mediate is the Special Teams Coordinator for the Fairfield Ludlowe Falcons. Colin was a senior Punter/Kicker on Coach Ross’s first team at Ludlowe in the 2017 season. After playing as a punter for Springfield College for four years, he stayed for two more years as a positional coach for the Specialists (kickers, punters, long snappers, and holders). Colin also coach for three years at the National Kicking Service football camps in MA, getting the opportunity to coach many D1 players. After getting the Physical Education teaching position at Riverfield Elementary, the position with the team opened up and Colin couldn’t be more excited to be back with the team.

Coach Tom O’Neill is the Offensive Coordinator for the Fairfield Ludlowe Falcons working alongside Coach Kevin Avery. In his third year at Fairfield Ludlowe, Coach O’Neill also serves as the team’s Offensive Line coach. Coach O’Neill has coached at several schools over the last 25 years having won state championships in football and lacrosse at multiple schools. Coach O’Neill is in his 13th year working with Coach Ross.

Coach Derek Tallman was a one-year starter at Cornerback at Fairfield Ludlowe High School under Head Coach Mitch Ross and Defensive Backs Coach Bob Maffei in 2018. After graduating from Fairfield Ludlowe in 2019, Coach Tallman went on to play baseball at Franklin & Marshall College for two years until injury. He then joined the Fairfield Ludlowe coaching staff in 2022 coaching Defensive Backs with Coach Maffei. For the upcoming 2024 season, Coach Tallman has made the switch to Outside Linebackers coach. Coach Tallman is also currently enrolled at Arizona State University.

Coach Peter Tallman is the last of five Tallman brothers to play at Roger Ludlowe High School under Head Coach Emil Taft, then went on to play Wide Receiver at Providence College. Coach Tallman began coaching as an offensive assistant at Fairfield University under Head Coach Fran Lynch, former running back for Roger Ludlowe’s last state championship team, who went to play 9 years in the American Football League (AFL) for the Denver Broncos.

After a few stints coaching for Fairfield Pop Warner, Coach Tallman joined the Freshman offensive staff at Fairfield Ludlowe in 2016, moving to the current position as a Varsity receivers coach in 2019. Coach Tallman is the father of Ludlowe Falcons Defensive Assistant Coach Derek Tallman.

Coach Chris Pannozzo is excited to lead the Freshman this year as their Head Coach.

Coach Pannozzo’s athletic career began at a young age. He spent his youth playing multiple sports including baseball, basketball and football. A Shelton native; he attended St. Joseph’s High School where he was a star linebacker; earning both All-FCIAC and All-State honors. Coach Pannozzo also played basketball for legendary coach Vito Montelli and was a member of the 2001 State Championship Team.

After earning his degree in business, Coach Pannozzo continued his athletic career – but on the other side of sports. In 2009 Coach Pannozzo began officiating college football. Over the last 15 years he has officiated hundreds of games in the Division 2 to Division 1 level. His favorite officiating memory was being able to work a game at West Point.

Coach Pannozzo comes to Ludlowe High School after spending the last five years coaching Fairfield Youth Football. He has mentored players across all grade and skill levels, with a strong concentration in QB’s and Wide Receivers. Most recently, Coach Pannozzo was offensive coordinator for the FYF 5th grade FCFL Championship Team.

Coach Pannozzo maintains an “effort and attitude” approach to coaching.

Coach Pannozzo resides in Lordship, with Lauren and his three children Rooney, William and Linnie. He spends his days working as an insurance broker for Arthur J. Gallagher Inc. When he is not coaching you can catch him on the golf course, kayaking the sound, or playing with his Black Lab Carl.

Coach Tim O’Hagan was a three-year Varsity player at Wayne Valley High School in Wayne, New Jersey. He was a 1st Team All-Conference and 1st Team All-County player his Senior Year. He was also the defensive sack leader his Senior season in 1991 on an undefeated State Champion team that ranked #3 in the State of New Jersey that year.

Tim went on to play football after high school at Milford Academy in Milford, CT as a post-graduate and then played 4 years at Division II Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, CT. He was a four-year varsity player and a two-year starter at Monster Linebacker his Junior and Senior seasons. Tim is still connected to the game that he loves today going into his third year coaching the Freshman Offensive and Defensive Line at Fairfield Ludlowe High School.

Jack Campbell began his football career at Ludlowe during his sophomore year in 2019, playing three seasons as a quarterback. After graduating, he quickly transitioned into coaching, first taking on play-calling duties for the freshman team in the fall of 2022.

For the 2025 season, Coach Campbell serves as the JV Head Coach, where he is responsible for calling plays and assisting players across all positions throughout the program. He is also actively involved in coaching youth football at multiple age levels, helping to develop future Falcons from the ground up.

Coach Campbell’s approach emphasizes not only physical preparation but also mental and emotional toughness, preparing athletes for challenges both on and off the field. His coaching philosophy is centered on equipping players for long-term success in football and in life.

His passion for coaching began during his junior year of high school, when a season-ending injury sidelined him early in the season. Under the guidance of Coach Ross, he was given the opportunity to call plays for the JV offense, sparking the love for coaching that continues to drive him today.