Dean Schofield was promoted to defensive coordinator in the spring of 2026 and begins his second season with the Lions in the fall.
Schofield made the jump to DC following a year on staff as special teams coordinator and defensive backs coach. Under his tutelage, Justin Kurc earned first team All-NJAC and third-team all-region honors at defensive back, while Albert D’Alessandro was named to the All-NJAC first team as a returner thanks in large part to posting the longest kickoff return for a touchdown in program history against Rowan.
Schofield’s special teams schemes were highly successful in 2025. The Lions ranked 7th in all of Division III with seven blocked kicks; four of those came off the hands of Dylan Patscher, who was 2nd in the nation with four blocks. Kurc was 6th in the country with six interceptions, and TCNJ was second in the NJAC as a team with a dozen picks.
The 2025 season was Schofield’s second stint at TCNJ; he also coached outside linebackers and strong safeties in 2019 before operating as the Lions’ wide receivers coach and pass game coordinator in 2020 and 2021.
Before his time at TCNJ, Schofield spent three years at Princeton, first as defensive and special teams quality control coach (2013-14) and then as offensive and special teams quality control, video coordinator, and director of analytics in 2015. The Tigers won the Ivy League championship in 2013, finishing with an 8-2 overall record.
Schofield then went on to his first Division III post at Whittier, where he spent the 2016 and 2017 campaigns as special teams coordinator while also filling in as cornerbacks coach, wide receivers coach, and pass game coordinator. In 2018, he served as offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach, and strength and conditioning coordinator at Maranatha High School in Pasadena.
A native of Yardley, Pennsylvania, Schofield played his high school football at Pennsbury before graduating from Penn State with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology.
