Matt Guerrieri - Graduate Assistant Coach - Football Coaches

Matt Guerrieri

Title:
Graduate Assistant Coach
Email:
mguerrieri@duaa.duke.edu
Phone:
(919) 668-5712

Matt Guerrieri joined the staff in July of 2012 and serves as a Co-Defensive Coordinator, guiding Duke’s safeties. Guerrieri served as a graduate assistant coach with the Blue Devils for his first three seasons before being promoted to assistant coach in January of 2015. Following the 2017 season, he was named Duke’s Co-Defensive Coordinator. He also served as the Blue Devils defensive recruiting coordinator from 2017-20.

With Guerrieri on the staff over the past nine seasons, the Blue Devils have compiled 59 wins, captured the 2013 ACC Coastal Division championship and made six bowl appearances. Guerrieri coached Duke’s safeties over the past eight campaigns, where he aided in the development of Jeremy Cash, a three-time All-America choice, DeVon Edwards, an All-ACC selection in both 2014 and 2015, Jeremy McDuffie, an all-league choice in 2017, Dylan Singleton, who earned All-ACC accolades in 2018 and Michael Carter II, a 2020 all-league selection.

In Cash and Edwards, Guerrieri mentored two of the most decorated players in Duke gridiron history. After earning Second Team All-America honors in each of his first two seasons at Duke, Cash, the Jim Tatum Award recipient as the ACC’s top football senior student-athlete, became the program’s latest unanimous first team pick as a senior and went on to represent the Blue Devils at the Reese’s Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., as well as the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, Ind. In addition to earning All-ACC honors in the defensive backfield, Edwards was a three-time All-America choice as a return specialist, an Academic All-America selection and National Scholar-Athlete Award recipient from the National Football Foundation.

At the conclusion of the 2020 season, Guerrieri was tabbed one of three finalists for the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) FBS Assistant Coach of the Year. Each year, staff representatives from NCAA and NAIA football-playing schools are asked to nominate an assistant for consideration. From those nominations, the winners are selected by the AFCA Assistant Coach of the Year Committee. The honorees are assistant coaches who excel in community service, commitment to the student-athlete, on-field coaching success and AFCA professional organization involvement.

Last year, Guerrieri mentored Carter II to Third Team All-ACC honors. He finished his senior campaign tied for ninth in the ACC in passes defended with 10 and earned a season best eight tackles against Charlotte. Carter II accumulated three-plus tackles six times and registered two interceptions in back-to-back contests against North Carolina and Georgia Tech. Carter II, who was selected by the New York Jets in the fifth round of the 2021 NFL Draft, finished his four-year career with 135 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, four interceptions, 24 pass breakups, one caused fumble, one fumble recovery and one quarterback pressure. In 2,581 career snaps, he tallied two-plus tackles in 30 games, including a career-high nine stops against Alabama in 2019. His 24 career pass breakups placed him tied with Quinton McCracken (1988-91) for 10th all-time in program history.

Another Guerrieri product that concluded their Blue Devil career in 2020 was Mark Gilbert. He started Duke’s opening two games, making eight tackles and intercepting one pass, before needing season-ending surgery to remove a loose bone fragment in his right foot. Gilbert, who signed an NFL free agent contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers, accumulated 65 career tackles, 5.0 tackles for loss, seven interceptions, and 17 pass breakups. He graduated as Duke’s single-season record holder for total passes defended with 21 (six interceptions & 15 pass breakups) in 2017 and is the only player in Duke history to record five-plus interceptions and 15-plus pass breakups in a single campaign.

Joining Carter II and Gilbert in the backfield was Marquis Waters, who finished second on the team with 71 tackles. He also added 7.0 tackles for loss, 1.0 sacks, seven pass breakups, and two quarterback pressures. In the ACC, he ranked 21st in tackles, averaging 6.5 per game.

Guerrieri also guided Leonard Johnson and Jeremiah Lewis in the secondary that year. Johnson totaled 23 tackles, 1.0 tackle for loss, one interception, three pass breakups, one fumble recovery and one forced fumble. He carded four-plus tackles in four contests with a season-high six against Syracuse. Johnson also posted caused fumbles in back-to-back contests against Miami and Florida State, with his lone fumble recovery coming against NC State. Lewis finished his redshirt sophomore season with 46 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, two interceptions, and a team-high 10 pass breakups. He recorded 11 passes defended as well, which placed him tied for second in the ACC.

In 2019 under Guerrieri’s tutelage, the Duke secondary posted another impressive year. He guided a group, led by upperclassmen Singleton, Carter II and Waters, that ranked third in the ACC in pass defense, allowing just 199.0 passing yards per game. The Blue Devils pass defense efficiency rating was also top-five in the conference at 123.8.

Singleton, a team captain, finished second on the team and 11th in the ACC with 87 tackles on the year, while Waters and Carter II compiled 73 and 53 for third and fifth, respectively, on the Blue Devils’ squad. Carter II and Johnson, another one of Guerrieri’s mentees, tied for 18th in the conference with nine passes defended as well. Leading Duke in interceptions were Johnson, Waters and Jalen Alexander, who each finished with two. After the season, Carter II and Waters both garnered Pro Football Focus (PFF) Honorable Mention nods as a cornerback and safety, respectively, on the ACC Team of the Year.

The 2018 season saw an injury-riddled Blue Devil team repeatedly bounce back as four starters were lost to season-ending injuries. Guerrieri relied on Singleton, who was playing at a potential All-America level, before fracturing his ankle against North Carolina. Singleton earned Honorable Mention All-ACC honors after finishing with 73 tackles, 2.0 tackles for lost yardage, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and one pass breakup. The Dacula, Ga., product was tabbed the ACC Defensive Back of the Week after helping Duke to a 40-27 victory at Baylor in the third week of the season.

Guerrieri oversaw three of the team’s top five leading tacklers in 2018 in Singleton, Waters (68) and Johnson (59). Johnson, a redshirt freshman, played in all 13 games and started nine for the Blue Devils. His campaign was highlighted by a 53-yard interception return for a touchdown at Baylor as well as a pair of sacks at Georgia Tech as Duke won 28-14.

The secondary excelled in October and early November as Duke held four consecutive opponents (Miami, Pittsburgh, Virginia and Georgia Tech) to fewer than 200 passing yards, the longest streak for the Blue Devils since five consecutive from September 12-October 10, 2015. It was the first time Duke has accomplished the feat against four consecutive Power 5 programs since October 10-November 7, 2009.

In 2017, Duke’s safeties were instrumental parts of a defense that ranked among the ACC leaders in opponent pass completion percentage (2nd), scoring defense (3rd), pass defense (3rd) and total defense (4th) as the Blue Devils yielded 25 or fewer points in 11 of 13 contests. McDuffie was a Third Team All-ACC pick and Jim Thorpe Award semifinalist after posting 58 tackles, three interceptions and nine pass breakups while Alonzo Saxton II ranked second on the team with 91 total tackles. Displaying its enhanced depth, Duke’s back end also received significant contributions from Jordan Hayes (50 tackles), Singleton (42 tackles), Waters (22 tackles) and Carter II (18 tackles).

The Blue Devils allowed just 20.23 points per game, marking the program’s lowest total since 1977, and surrendered more than 24 points just twice. The Blue Devils limited their final five opponents (Virginia Tech, Army West Point, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and Northern Illinois) to 13 total points after intermission and zero in the fourth quarter. Playing in its fifth bowl game in the past six seasons, Duke set or equaled Quick Lane Bowl records for fewest points allowed (14) and fewest rushing yards surrendered (65) as the Blue Devils earned a 36-14 victory over Northern Illinois at Ford Field in Detroit, Mich., on December 26, 2017.

Guerrieri’s safety unit was led in 2016 by Deondre Singleton, Corbin McCarthy and Saxton II. The trio finished third, fourth and fifth on the team in tackles as Deondre Singleton booked 60, McCarthy 59 and Saxton II 53. Deondre Singleton topped Duke with three interceptions, picking off his final one against No. 15 North Carolina in the third quarter. At Notre Dame, Deondre Singleton intercepted a DeShone Kizer pass with 5:11 to play and the game tied, 35-35, to set up rookie AJ Reed’s game-winning 19-yard field goal. McCarthy took over at strike safety for Cash, the 2015 ACC Defensive Player of the Year, and led the Blue Devils with 12.0 tackles for lost yardage. When Edwards went down with a career-ending knee injury during the fourth game of the year at Notre Dame, Guerrieri readied Saxton II to take over the starting position and watched him recover a fumble in two of the last seven contests and seal the victory against No. 15 North Carolina with an interception with 1:02 remaining.

The 2015 ACC Defensive Player of the Year, Cash finished his Duke career with 336 tackles, 38.0 tackles for loss, 8.0 sacks and six interceptions. As a junior in 2014, he was the only defensive back in the nation to post 100-plus tackles, 10.0-plus tackles for loss and 5.0-plus quarterback sacks and, as a senior, was a finalist for both the Nagurski Trophy (national player of the year) and Thorpe Award (top defensive back in the nation).

Edwards enjoyed another banner season in 2015 by recording 101 tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, one interception and six pass breakups while establishing the school single-season record for kickoff returns for touchdowns with three.

As Duke went 9-4 and earned a berth in the 81st Hyundai Sun Bowl in 2014, the Blue Devils ranked among the nation’s leaders in third down defense (15th), pass efficiency defense (23rd) and scoring defense (24th). Both Edwards (7th; 0.38) and Cash (17th; 0.31) ranked among the nation’s top 20 in caused fumbles per game while Edwards placed 19th in the country in solo tackles per game (5.9). In the ACC, Edwards ranked third in total tackles per game (10.23) while Cash was eighth (8.54). Duke’s third starting safety, Deondre Singleton, finished the year with 70 tackles and seven pass breakups.

In 2013, the Blue Devils recorded 26 takeaways and their average points allowed in the fourth quarter (4.64) ranked second in the conference, trailing only eventual national champion Florida State. In addition, Duke won all four of its road ACC games by allowing an average of 19.5 points per contest in victories over North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.

Before joining the Blue Devils, Guerrieri served as a defensive graduate assistant coach at Lenoir-Rhyne University in 2011, helping coach the secondary and the outside linebackers. He assisted in guiding the Bears to the 2011 South Atlantic Conference championship and coached safety Michael Green to all-conference and all-region honors.

Guerrieri was a three-year letterman on the gridiron at Davidson College, where he started at safety. He served as senior captain for the Wildcats and was a three-time All-Pioneer Football League Honor Roll selection.

Guerrieri, who graduated from Davidson in 2011 with a degree in sociology, earned a master’s degree in Christian studies from Duke in 2014. He is married to the former Alex Thompson of Asheville, N.C., and the couple have one son, James.