Jean-Paul Circelli is the head coach of the Lancer Football program, and just the fifth coach in the Lancers' 58-year history.
Since taking over the program in 2019, Coach Circelli has helped return Lancer football to national relevance, including returning the team to the OUA playoffs for the first time in eight years in 2022.
The 2023 campaign marked the program's best season in recent memory: Windsor opened 5-0 for the first time since its 1975 Yates Cup championship season, finished the regular season 6-2 — their highest win total since 2006 — and captured their first home playoff win since 1975 en route to an appearance in the OUA final four.
The Lancers returned to the playoffs again in 2024 and 2025, with the 2025 squad knocking off the University of Ottawa in the OUA quarter-finals to advance to the Yates Cup semi-finals.
Prior to joining the Lancers in 2019, the London, Ontario native served as the offensive line coach of the Western Mustangs, where the team was among the national leaders in scoring, rushing and total yards. He helped 15 Mustang offensive linemen earn OUA conference all-star honours, seven of whom were also recognized as U SPORTS All-Canadians. During his time at Western, the Mustangs captured two straight Yates Cup OUA championships, made back-to-back Vanier Cup appearances, and won the Vanier Cup title in 2017.
In addition to his time at Western, Circelli was head coach of the London Jr. Mustangs varsity team in the OPFL from 2017-2018, leading the team to back-to-back Ontario Provincial Football League Varsity Championships and a perfect 21-0 record over those two seasons. Across seven years with the London Junior Mustangs program, he helped capture four provincial titles at the varsity and junior varsity levels. Circelli also coached with Team Ontario at the U18 level for three years, from 2017-2019.
As a student-athlete, Circelli enjoyed considerable success as an offensive lineman at McMaster University from 2001-05, capturing three consecutive Yates Cup championships and serving as team captain in his senior year.
A lifelong educator and learner, Coach Circelli is a certified Competition Development coach within the National Coaching Certification Program and has completed his Advanced Coaching Diploma within the Canadian Sport Institute. He spent eleven years as a high school teacher with the London District Catholic School Board.
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