Bentley University

In his first season as the head coach for Bentley football, CJ Scarpa '17 led the Falcons to the Norhteast 10 title in 2025. It was the program's first conference title since 2019, as Bentley qualified for the NCAA Championship for the fourth time in school history. Scarpa was subsequently named the Coach of the Year by New England Football Writers (NEFW)  and the Gridirion Club of Greater Boston.

During that historic 2025 season, wide receiver Isaiah Decias was named the NE10 Offensive Player of the Year, and quarterback Luke Warnock earned NE10 Rookie of the Year. What's more, linebacker Henry Schouten and tight end Pat Damon earned Don Hansen All-America Honorable Mention. The Falcons also excelled academically. Defensive lineman Jake Fredericks became the 14th player in program history to earned Academic All-America. 

Prior to becoming the Falcons' head coach, Scarpa spent two seasons on the Bentley coaching staff. He was in charge of the offense in 2023 and 2024, as the Falcons posted a 14-6 record between those two seasons. 

As an assistant coach, Scarpa demonstrated that he can effectively create dynamic and winning game plans. While the 2024 Bentley offense often aired it out (2,801 passing yards, 24 TD passes) and averaged just a shade under 30 points a game, the 2023 Falcons dominated on the ground. Bentley's 174.4 rushing yards per game ranked second in the NE10 two seasons ago, a mark that was only 0.4 yards off from the conference lead.

Since graduating from Bentley in 2017 with a Bachelor of Science degree in management and playing a fifth season at Merrimack College, Scarpa has amassed significant coaching experience at all levels. He was a football operations intern for the New England Patriots, an assistant quarterbacks coach at Harvard University, a tight ends coach at Austin Peay State University, special assistant to the head coach at Arkansas State and quarterbacks coach at Williams College before returning to Waltham in 2023.

The Andover, Mass. native began his collegiate career as a red-shirt at Elon University before playing three seasons at Bentley (2014-16).  His most productive season came as a senior when he threw for 901 yards and eight touchdowns and completed 58 percent of his passes.

As a grad student at Merrimack in 2017, Scarpa's statistics included 2,588 passing yards, 18 TD passes and a .591 completion percentage. He had four touchdown passes against both Bryant University and American International.