Receivers Coach

CFL: 5th season
Stamps: 5th season

Costanza returns for his fifth season as the Stamps’ receivers coach. In 2011, Costanza coached a Stamps receiving core led by Nik Lewis, who was named a CFL All-Star and was the team’s nominee for Most Outstanding Player. Costanza also groomed Calgary’s young receivers, including Johnny Forzani, who had a breakout season in 2011, Landan Talley and Anthony Parker.

The 2010 Stampeders receiving corps featured three 1,000-yard pass-catchers in Nik Lewis, Romby Bryant and Ken-Yon Rambo under Pete Costanza’s work as receivers coach. It was the first time since 2000 that the Stamps have had a trio of 1,000-yard receivers. Lewis and Bryant were both West Division all-stars in 2010 and Lewis was a CFL all-star.

The combined 3,604 yards and 32 touchdowns of Bryant-Lewis-Rambo were the best total of any three teammates in the CFL during the 2010 season and the trio’s 240 catches were good for second place.

In 2009, the Stamps were one of the CFL’s top passing clubs despite injuries to key members of their receiving corps. Calgary produced two 1,000-yard receivers in Jeremaine Copeland and Lewis while Copeland earned league all-star honours.

In his first campaign, Costanza worked with an extremely talented group of receivers including Rambo, who broke the 1,000-yard mark for the first time in his professional career and led the CFL in receiving. Costanza was part of a Stamps offensive staff that helped Calgary finish among the CFL’s leaders in most offensive categories and boasted the league’s leading rusher, Joffrey Reynolds, and West Division MOP nominee Henry Burris.

Prior to joining the Stamps, Costanza was head coach of the Albany Conquest in Arena Football League 2. He led the Conquest for four seasons and spent a total of seven seasons in the league. In 2006, Costanza’s Conquest became the first team in af2 history to top 5,000 yards total offence. In 2003, he was a top candidate for coach-of-the-year honours.

In between af2 seasons, Costanza worked as defensive backs coach at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In 2007, RPI won the Liberty League and Costanza was part of the conference’s Coaching Staff of the Year. In 2006, RPI led the conference in scoring defence, takeaways, interceptions, rushing defence, total defence and red-zone defence.

Costanza also worked with two Arena Football League teams and got his start as receivers coach of the New Jersey Red Dogs in 1997, when John Hufnagel was head coach.

In his free time, Costanza enjoys the local landscape by snowboarding and fly-fishing.