Southeastern announces football coaching staff changes ahead of spring practice

HAMMOND, La. – With spring practice set to open Tuesday, the Southeastern Louisiana University head football coach Frank Scelfo has announced several coaching staff changes.

On the defensive side, Scelfo has elevated Bill D’Ottavio to interim defensive coordinator, while also adding Dustin Landry as the interim linebackers coach and Tom Rinaldi as interim defensive line coach. All hires and promotions are pending approval of the University of Louisiana System’s Board of Supervisors.

Scelfo also announced that recruiting coordinator and pass game coordinator Anthony Scelfo will now coach wide receivers after coaching tight ends in 2021. Ross Jenkins will return to coaching tight ends and continue his special teams coordinator duties.

D’Ottavio, who coached the safeties in the fall in his debut season in Hammond, takes over for Raymond Monica, who was hired as the head coach at Clarion University in Pennsylvania.

D’Ottavio’s vast experience includes a stint at Samford, where he spent 13 seasons as defensive coordinator. Prior to his time with the Bulldogs, he served on the same staff with Scelfo for three seasons at Tulane. His coaching career also includes stops at Central Florida, Middle Tennessee State, Millersville University (Pa.), Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh.

“Billy’s knowledge of the game has been an asset for us since he joined our staff,” Scelfo said. “He has a wealth of experience as a defensive coordinator at the FCS level that will help our program.”

Landry comes to Hammond with defensive coordinator experience of his own, most recently at Central Oklahoma. Prior to his time at Central Oklahoma, his coaching career included stints at West Georgia, Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, Western Carolina, Holmes Community College and Navarro Community College.

Landry began his coaching career as a student assistant at his alma mater, Auburn, in 2007. He mentored in 2008 under Gene Chizik as a graduate assistant at Iowa State before returning to Auburn in 2009, and was on the defensive staff during Auburn’s 2010 national championship run.

“Dustin has a good understanding of the scheme that Coach D’Ottavio wants to run, so he’s a natural fit for our coaching staff,” Scelfo commented. “It allows Coach D’Ottavio to coordinate from the back end and gives us a quality, experienced coach mentoring our linebackers.”

Rinaldi will be in his third season in Hammond. He spent the previous two seasons as a defensive analyst and a strength and conditioning intern. A native of Waterbury, Connecticut, Rinaldi played college baseball at Central Connecticut State and the University of Bridgeport.

“Tom has a work ethic that is second to none,” Scelfo said. “We’ve been impressed with his ability to relate to our players. He’s embraced the culture of our program and it was an easy decision to make him a full time member of the staff.”

Southeastern will open spring practice Tuesday with a 3:30 p.m. workout at Strawberry Stadium. The Lions will practice Tuesdays and Thursdays at 3:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. through April 9. SLU, one of six FCS schools to finish in the top 25 national polls each of the past three seasons, will open the 2022 season at UL Lafayette on Sept. 3.

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