Ray Tellier
Ray Tellier Jr. (born June 10, 1951) is an American college athletics administrator and former football player and coach. He has been an associate athletics director at Columbia University since 2005.
As a player, Tellier was a quarterback at the University of Connecticut from 1969 to 1972 and helped UConn win the Yankee Conference title in 1971. He grew up in West Haven, Connecticut, and was a high school All-American at Notre Dame High School in 1968, playing for his father.
Tellier began his coaching career in 1973 at Connecticut as a graduate assistant. He then coached at Dartmouth (freshman backs) in 1974, Wabash College in 1975, Boston University in 1977, and Brown University from 1978 to 1983 as receivers coach and later offensive coordinator and backs coach.
He became head coach at the University of Rochester from 1984 to 1988, turning the program around and leading Rochester to its first NCAA Division III playoff appearance in 1987, with a 9–2 season. His Rochester record was 21–26–1.
In 1989 he was hired by Columbia University to revive the Lions, a task that showed steady progress over time. The team improved in the mid-1990s, and in 1996 Columbia won eight games, the program’s best since 1945. After a decline, the team finished winless in the Ivy League in 2002. Tellier stepped away from coaching after that season and moved into administration. In 2005 he became associate athletics director at Columbia, where he continues to work.
Awards include the AFCA NCAA Division I-AA Coach of the Year in 1996. Tellier’s career head-coaching record totals 63–122–3, with 0–1 in NCAA Division III playoffs.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 13:36 (CET).