Jeff Comissiong began his current stint at the University of Maine in February 2023.
Comissiong brings with him 20-plus years of coaching experience at six Division-I institutions including Cornell, Hampton, Old Dominion, Boston College, Harvard, and UMaine. The UMaine graduate has been a part of numerous teams that ranked atop the conference in total and rushing defense while also coaching three NFL defensive lineman, including NFL draft picks selected in the first two rounds in B.J. Raji (Green Bay) and Ron Brace (New England).
Comissiong joins the staff at UMaine after serving the 2021 and 2022 seasons as the linebackers coach at Cornell University. While at Cornell, Comissiong mentored four All-Ivy linebackers while assisting the Big Red to the 28th rush defense in the FCS in 2022.
Prior to Cornell, Comissiong served a one year stint at Hampton University as the associate head coach, run game coordinator, and defensive line coach.
Before joining Hampton, he spent 2013-19 as the assistant head coach and defensive line coach at Old Dominion University after serving a six-year stint as the defensive line coach at Boston College. In 2010, the Eagles ranked as the top ranked rush defense in the country. In 2008, Boston College checked in as the top defense in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and fifth overall in the country a year after ranking as the top rush defense and second overall defense in 2007.
In 2006, Comissiong served as the defensive line coach at Harvard where he mentored the Crimson to the top ranked defense in the Ivy League, the second ranked rush defense in the FCS, and guided the Crimson to the top tackles-for-loss sand sacks in the FCS.
From 2000-06, Comissiong served on staff for the Black Bears, helping Maine to earn back-to-back conference titles and two-straight trips to the FCS quarterfinals. He began by spending one season as the running backs coach where he helped guide the Black Bears to the 2001 Atlantic 10 conference title. He then spent the 2002-06 seasons as the defensive line coach, again guiding Maine to the A-10 crown in 2002. In 2004, Comissiong was part of a defensive game plan strategy which held Mississippi State to just seven points in Maine's 9-7 victory over the SEC program. In 2005, Comissiong mentored a unit which ranked as the third ranked defense in the conference, holding Nebraska to just 318 total yards.
Comissiong began his coaching career as the defensive line coach at Bates College from 1998-2000 after spending the 1996-97 years as a student assistant at UMaine. During that time, Comissiong worked with Maine's defensive ends in a season in which the defense set a school record with 51 sacks with Todd Williamson setting the single-season record for sacks in a season with 13.
As a player at UMaine, Comissiong walked on to the team as a freshman before spending two seasons as a starting linebacker under head coaches Kirk Ferentz and Jack Cosgrove. Comissiong, a four-year letterwinner for the Black Bears, graduated with a degree in political science.
