Joe Conlin Adds Three to Fordham Football Staff

Bronx, N.Y. – Fordham University football head coach Joe Conlin has announced the addition of three assistant coaches to his staff today. Mike Burchett has been named Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach, James Lenahan has been named Outside Linebackers Coach, and Chris Batti has been appointed as the Wide Receivers Coach.
 
"We are pleased to add Mike, James and Chris to our staff," said Conlin. "They all have strong backgrounds with experience and success at all levels of college football. I'm confident that each coach will work tirelessly to help us accomplish our goal of being the best program in the Patriot League."
 
Burchett comes to Rose Hill after spending the past three years at West Virginia University, the past year as the Offensive Analyst where he was responsible for advanced scouting, preliminary game planning, and offensive self-scout.  He also assisted in developing weekly game plans, specifically the pass game plan, and scripted the defensive scout team based on the offensive game plan.
 

In his first two years in Morgantown, Burchett served as an Offensive Graduate Assistant where he was responsible for coaching the quarterbacks under the supervision of head coach Dana Holgorsen. He also conducted all position meetings and daily drills with the Mountaineer quarterbacks and assisted in developing weekly pass game plans. Burchett's in-game duties included assisting with play calling and communicating with the head coach and quarterbacks.
 
Prior to his stint at West Virginia, Burchett was an Offensive Graduate Assistant at his alma mater, the University of Kentucky in 2014 where he assisted the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach in providing detailed breakdowns of opponent's coverage tendencies, first down tendencies and opening drive tendencies. He also compiled opponent scouting reports, composed daily quarterback cut-ups for position meetings and coached the scout team, defensive secondary and linebackers.
 
A 2014 graduate of Kentucky with a degree in mathematical economics, Burchett was a preferred walk-on for the Wildcats in 2010 and 2011, being a part of the 2011 team that appeared in the BBVA Compass Bowl. He transferred to West Virginia in 2011 where he served as the backup to Geno Smith for two years as the Mountaineers won the 2011 Big East championships and the 2012 Orange Bowl.
 
Burchett returned to Kentucky in 2013 where he served as a student assistant while finishing his undergraduate degree. He also earned a master's degree in corporate and organizational communication from West Virginia in 2016.
 
Lenahan arrives at Fordham after serving as the Defensive Assistant/Assistant Defensive Line Coach at Yale in 2017 where he worked with Conlin and Fordham defensive coordinator Paul Rice.  At Yale he was responsible for weekly full opponent film breakdown, assisting the defensive line coach during individual periods, creating and editing the defensive playbook and new installations and assisting the defensive coordinator in drawing all scout cards and running the scout team during practice.
 

Prior to his stay in New Haven, Lenahan was a graduate assistant coach at Utica College in 2015 and 2016, guiding the cornerbacks in his first year with the Pioneers and the outside linebackers during his second. He handled daily positional meetings, and structured individual periods during practice and assisted the defensive coordinator with defensive pass game schematics based on weekly opponents. Lenahan also was responsible for weekly opponent breakdowns with other graduate assistants and assisting on all aspects of special teams in accordance to the head coach. He also served as the junior varsity defensive coordinator/head coach in 2016.
 
A 2015 graduate of Utica College where he received a degree in cyber security, Lenahan was a three-year starter for the Pioneers. He was named to the Empire 8 All-Conference Team in 2013 and 2014 and was voted defensive player of the year by his coaches and teammates in 2012. He holds school career records for most interception returns yards (172) and interceptions/game while his six interceptions in 2014 is the second best single season total at Utica.
 
Batti joins the Fordham staff after spending the past seven years at Harvard University as the team's running backs coach.
 
The Crimson's rushing attack ranked in the top half of the Ivy League in 2017 and was led by first team all-league selection Charlie Booker III, who rushed for 81.4 yards per game, third in the conference.
 
In 2015, Harvard finished the season with a 9-1 record and its 17th Ivy League championship. Batti helped lead senior Paul Stanton, Jr. to a unanimous All-Ivy first team selection. Stanton finished second in the Harvard record books with 38 career touchdowns and 36 career rushing scores. He ranked fourth with 2,906 career yards and third with 228 career points. During his senior campaign, Stanton led the Ancient Eight in rushing with 809 yards.  
 
With a deep running corps for the 2014 season, Batti helped the Crimson to a perfect 10-0 season and its 16th Ivy League championship. Led by Stanton, who totaled 990 yards rushing, the Crimson running backs ranked 14th in the NCAA with 230.5 yards per game. Stanton, a first-team All-Ivy League, and All-New England selection, ranked second in the Ancient Eight.
 

Batti's running backs contributed to Harvard's 15th Ivy League title in 2013 by notching 173.6 rushing yards per game in the Ancient Eight and notched 100-plus rushing yards in all but one game, while breaking over 200 yards on three occasions. Stanton, who tied the Harvard record for touchdowns in 'The Game' with four scores (two rushing, two receiving), earned a spot on the All-Ivy League team.
 
In Batti's first season in Cambridge, Harvard averaged 217.3 rushing yards per Ivy game, the best mark in the league by a 42-yard margin. The Crimson ranked 17th nationally in overall rushing at 214.3 yards per game. Treavor Scales '13 earned first-team All-Ivy League honors while ranking 43rd nationally with 81.6 rushing yards per game.
 
Batti arrived at Harvard after spending four seasons at Northwestern, including the last two as a graduate assistant and wide receivers coach while earning a master's degree in sports administration. He initially came to Northwestern in 2008 as a quality control intern while assisting with the offensive line.
 
In 2011, Northwestern ranked second in the Big Ten in total offense and led the 12-team league in passing offense at 254.2 yards per game. The Wildcats completed a conference-best 71.0 percent of their passes, leading the league with 289 completions. Wide receiver Jeremy Ebert became the first Wildcat since 1998 to top 1,000 yards receiving (1,060) and hauled in 11 touchdowns on 75 receptions while earning second-team All-Big Ten accolades from the media and honorable mention from the coaches.
 
In 2010, Northwestern ranked third in the Big Ten in passing offense with 242.6 yards per game in the regular season. Quarterback Dan Persa broke the Big Ten record for completion percentage by connecting on 73.5 percent of his throws and earned first-team All-Big Ten honors in the process.
 
A Glenview, Illinois native, Batti earned his bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2008. Batti played quarterback at Harper College in Palatine, Ill., in 2004-05 and was a member of Harper's 2004 NJCAA national championship club. He earned conference scholar-athlete honors while at Harper and then transferred to Illinois. There, he worked with the Fighting Illini football program in 2007-08 as a student manager.