Chris Messina

Chris Messina

"Coaching at the college level has allowed me to follow my passion and competitive drive for the game of football. More than continuing to be involved with the game I love, coaching college players creates the opportunity to build relationships and help them grow from high school seniors coming onto campus into young men prepared to succeed after crossing the stage at graduation."
- Assistant Football Coach Chris Messina


The 2015 season will be Chris Messina’s third with the Foresters and fourth as a collegiate coach. This year he also adds the title of passing game coordinator.

The Foresters are 12-8 in Messina’s two years at the college, despite having a first-year starter at quarterback each season. In 2014, two quarterbacks ranked among the top three on the team in rushing and, in 2013, signal-callers threw for at least one touchdown pass in all but one contest. Mike Lewis set a single-game program record for passing efficiency in the 2013 season finale, passing for 299 yards and three scores, and he finished his career ranked sixth in team history in passing efficiency. 

Messina spent the 2012 season as the wide receivers coach at Robert Morris University in Chicago, Illinois. The Eagles posted an 8-3 overall record and were ranked as high as #22 in the NAIA poll. The team’s top two receivers combined for 91 receptions, 1,174 yards, and 13 touchdowns.

Messina is a 2010 graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University, where he was a three-year letter winner. He helped lead the Titans to a pair of College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin championships and the 2009 team advance to the second round of the NCAA Division III Playoffs. He was named Second Team All-CCIW at wide receiver as a senior after earning Illinois Wesleyan’s Special Teams Player of the Year award in 2008. Messina finished his career among the top 20 in program history in receiving touchdowns and fourth in punt return touchdowns. 

The Chicago native graduated from Nazareth Academy in LaGrange, Illinois, in 2006 and earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in finance from Illinois Wesleyan in 2010. He added a master’s degree in business administration from the Robert Morris University School of Management in July of 2014.