pajic
Mathew Kirby

Football Brendan Bittner

Pajic Accepts Position at Temple, Resigns Post at QU

QUINCY, Ill. – Quincy University head football coach Tom Pajic announced Wednesday (May 3) that he will resign his post in order to become the director of player personnel in the football program at Temple University.
 
Pajic was the head coach of the Hawks for five seasons, beginning in 2012. He led the Hawks through the transition from the NAIA ranks to NCAA Division II and playing in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Hawks went 20-34 with Pajic at the helm, including their first winning season in six years when they went 6-5 in 2014. QU also won five of its first seven games last season, including a win at FCS program Drake on opening night and the program's first-ever win over four-time defending GLVC champion Indianapolis.
 
"I want to thank Tom for his dedicated service to Quincy University and the athletic department," said QU vice president for intercollegiate athletics Marty Bell. "Under his leadership, the football program has made great strides and has established itself as a well-respected program in the region. I wish him the very best in his new endeavor as this will allow him to advance his career in football."
 
The University will have an announcement regarding the leadership of the program in the coming days.
 
Pajic's teams have established 26 school records and four GLVC records, many of which coming on the offensive side of the ball. Pajic coached 50 All-GLVC players, including running back Chris Harris's GLVC Freshman of the Year nod in 2014. He has guided 11 USA College Football Preseason All-Americans and had two Don Hansen All-America honorable mentions in 2016.
 
The Hawks also excelled in the classroom under Pajic with 70 players earning at least a 2.75 grade point average last year, including 52 hitting the 3.0 mark. Four players had perfect 4.0 GPAs. Four others have earned GLVC Council of Presidents Academic Excellence Awards under Pajic.
 
The Hawks won the Ortwerth Team Community Service Award after Pajic's first season, given to the QU team that best represents the University in the community. The Hawks are also responsible for the Big Hawk Little Hawk reading program in local elementary schools and host their own annual Red Cross Blood Drive each February. The football team has also been involved with the Salvation Army, Special Olympics and the Horizons Soup Kitchen & Food Pantry.
 
Pajic is a member of the American Football Coaches Association Division II Top 25 Board of Coaches, the voting body for the national rankings.
 
Pajic and his wife, Julie, have two children, Grace and Tommy.
 
Statement from Tom Pajic:
 
"After 18 years being away from our families, we have decided to move back home to be closer to our families and to be able to spend more time with all of them. Temple University affords us this opportunity. It is a great pairing to be a part of a Top 25 program while enjoying the journey with our entire family.
 
"I would like to thank the Board of Trustees and President Dr. Robert Gervasi for allowing me to lead QU Football and represent Quincy University as the head football coach for the past five years. It is certainly something I am proud of and thankful I was entrusted with this honor.
 
"I would like to thank Coach Bell for bringing me aboard in 2012 and for giving me my first head coaching job. I am truly thankful and indebted to him for believing in me to lead the program. His vision and work ethic over the past five years are evident when looking at the QU football program today. I am grateful that I was able to work with him in making QU Football a strong program in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. To all the coaches I have had the fortune to work alongside and all the young men I have had the blessing to coach, I am proud to say we have left QU Football in a better place.
 
"My family and I have had a great experience in Quincy. We have been blessed to have met so many great people in our time here, people we now call friends and family. We will miss the Quincy community and all the great friends we have made. Our family has been truly blessed."
 
QU
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Players Mentioned

Chris Harris

#28 Chris Harris

RB
6' 0"
Redshirt Junior

Players Mentioned

Chris Harris

#28 Chris Harris

6' 0"
Redshirt Junior
RB