Kyle Cefalo enters his fourth season at Arkansas State in 2020, but his second as the wide receivers and special teams co-coordinator after spending the previous two years as the inside wide receivers coach.
A former graduate assistant coach at A-State who helped lead the program to a pair of Sun Belt Conference championships in 2013 and 2015, Cefalo rejoined the program as an assistant coach in 2017. He helped guide the Red Wolves to a combined 23 wins, as well as three consecutive bowl game appearances the last three years.
Cefalo’s first season back at A-State 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).
The 2018 A-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.
Most recently, 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 over Florida International in the Camellia Bowl. The Red Wolves ended the year ranked No. 10 in the country in passing offense (312.1 ypg), No. 14 in team passing efficiency (157.55), No. 26 in scoring offense (33.7 ppg) and No. 33 in both total offense (439.3 ypg) and red zone offense (.889).
The wide receivers coached by Cefalo were a big part of A-State’s success that led to a school record for total offense average in 2017 as well as the program’s fourth and sixth most yards per game in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
His 2017 unit was headlined by Second Team All-Sun Belt Conference selection Chris Murray, who led the team in both receptions (50) and receiving touchdowns (9). In fact, the senior’s receiving touchdown total not only ranked as the fourth most in school history for a single season at the time, they tied the 25th most in the nation.
Cefalo also tutored Christian Booker, who turned in the best season of his career in 2017 with 25 receptions for 363 yards and six touchdowns. Booker and Murray combined for 15 of the team’s 38 receiving touchdowns that broke the school record and ranked as the fifth most in the nation.
Cefalo coached two-time First Team All-Sun Belt Conference 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.
He was one of three A-State wide receivers named All-Sun Belt in 2019, joining fellow first-team pick Omar Bayless and third-team selection Jonathan Adams Jr. 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.
The Cefalo-coached Bayless put together not only the best season in school history by a wide receiver, but one of the best performances in the country 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).
Bayless was a Biletnikoff Award semifinalist and earned Associated Press, Walter Camp and Associated Press Second Team All-America recognition before signing an NFL free agent contract with the Carolina Panthers.
With Cefalo also working as special teams co-coordinator, A-State kicker Blake Grupe and punter Cody Grace were both named First Team All-Sun Belt Conference 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.
Cefalo returned to Arkansas State in 2017 to work on the offensive side of the ball after previously spending the 2016 season 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. During his six seasons as a member of the A-State (2013-15, 2017-18) and Maryland (2016) coaching staffs, Cefalo has been a part of 45 combined victories and coached in six bowl games.
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 compiled a 22-15 record during Cefalo’s first stint with the program and played in three consecutive bowl games, including the 2014 and 2015 GoDaddy Bowl and the 2015 New Orleans Bowl. 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.
Cefalo spent the first six months of 2013 as a recruiting intern at Boise State before entering the coaching profession at A-State. Prior to Boise State, he 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 the University of Colorado in the spring of 2012. He was named to the Athletics Director’s Honor Roll in 2012 as well.
