Bronx, N.Y. (April 1, 2014) – Fordham University head football coach Joe Moorhead announced the addition of two coaches to his staff with the hiring of Jon Wholley and Darin Edwards. Wholley will serve at the assistant defensive coordinator and linebackers coach while Edwards will be in charge of the Rams' defensive line. Additionally, defensive backs coach Tim Cary will be promoted to assistant defensive coordinator.
 
Wholley replaces former defensive coordinator David Blackwell, who took the same position at Jacksonville State, while Edwards replaced Peter McCarthy, who took a position as defensive line coach at New Hampshire.

Wholley, a 2004 graduate of the University of Connecticut who earned a master's degree from UConn in 2008, arrives at Fordham after spending four years his alma mater. He worked with the linebackers for the past three seasons after coaching the tight ends in 2010.
 
A pair of linebackers earned First Team All-BIG EAST honors in 2012 in Sio Moore and Yawin Smallwood. Moore was a third round pick of the Oakland Raiders in the 2013 NFL Draft and played in the Senior Bowl and East-West Shrine Game and also took part in the NFL Combine.
 
This will be Wholley's second stint at Fordham as he also served as assistant for the Rams in 2009, working with the running backs and serving as the recruiting coordinator duties. The Rams led the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in total offense that year at 488.82 yards per game.
 
A Southington, Conn., native, Wholley was a member of the UConn football team from 2001-04 as a running back and joined the team as a walk-on. He later earned a scholarship and was a member of the 2004 Motor City Bowl championship team.
 
He earned his undergraduate degree in political science from UConn in December of 2004.
 
Following graduation, he was an assistant coach at Central Connecticut for the 2005 season and worked with the tight ends. The Blue Devils had a 7-4 record and were Northeast Conference co-champions.
 
Wholley then returned to UConn as a graduate assistant coach for the 2006-08 seasons working on the offensive side of the bowl. He was part of the coaching staff that led the Huskies to a share of the 2007 BIG EAST Championship and an appearance in the 2007 Meineke Car Care Bowl.
 
He earned his master's degree in kinesiology from UConn in December of 2008. Wholley and his wife, the former Carly Venditto, were married in July 2012.
 
Edwards, a Miles College graduate, comes to Fordham after seven years with the Sacred Heart football program. He was responsible for the Pioneer tight ends and special teams coordinator in 2013 after also serving as the outside linebackers coach in 2012, defensive line coach from 2009-2011 and running back coach in 2008.
 
Last year, Edwards help Sacred Heart to the 2013 Northeast Conference title and an automatic berth in the NCAA FCS championships where the Pioneers fell to Fordham in the first round. Sacred Heart led the NEC in rushing and scoring defense and was second in the NCAA FCS in team tackles for loss and turnovers gained and eighth in team sacks.
 
Edwards arrived at Sacred Heart after a coaching stint at Iona College where he worked as the defensive line coach and helped the Gaels finish third in the country in total defense.  The defensive unit also finished fifth in the nation in sacks and seventh in pass defense. 
 
Before his stop at Iona, Edwards spent a season at NEC foe Central Connecticut were he coached the team's offensive line before shifting his responsibilities to wide receivers. Edwards was responsible for all aspects of offensive line play in 2006 as the Blue Devils set nine team records on offense.  During the 2005 campaign, Edwards coached the offensive line at Western Connecticut in Danbury as the team led the NJAC in scoring offense and passing offense. His offensive line featured a pair of All-Conference performers.

A 2000 graduate of Miles College in Fairfield, Alabama, with a bachelor's degree in social studies education, Edwards got his coaching start as an assistant at Bristol Central High School in Bristol, CT.  Edwards played four seasons for his alma mater and also had stints in the North American Football League, National Indoor Football League as well as the Arena 2 League before joining the coaching ranks.