Illini Create New Football 'Chief of Staff' Position With Hiring of Mark Taurisani
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Bret Bielema has created a new position among the Illinois football program with the addition of long-time associate Mark Taurisani as chief of staff. Taurisani will oversee much of the administrative aspects of the football program along with the day-to-day needs of Bielema and the football program in a new title, which will also be considered an associate athletics director, never before seen among the University of Illinois athletics department but certainly unique to the ever evolving and expanding world of Power Five Conference football programs.
“Throughout my head coaching career, Mark has been able to start at an entry level position in operations and now will help manage everything within our Illini football family,” Bielema said. “He works well with a wide range of people in various different positions that all appreciate his professional approach and ability to create a winning environment."
Taurisani worked with Bielema in each of his 12 years as a head coach and comes to Illinois after three seasons as the director of operations for the University of Michigan football program. He spent five seasons at the University of Arkansas, where he worked as director of football operations, including the last four with an assistant athletics director. Prior to his stop in Fayetteville, Taurisani spent seven seasons at Wisconsin, including the final four as director of football operations. He had been football operations coordinator in 2008-09, following two seasons as an operations assistant in 2006-07.
In his statement for the university release announcing his hire, Taurisani acknowledges that Illinois director of football operations Tim Knox, who has served under the previous three Illini head football coaches (Tim Beckman, Bill Cubit and Lovie Smith) since 2012 will be retained in his current position within Bielema's new era of the football department.
“I’m excited to join Coach Bielema’s staff and help build a championship program the alumni and fan base will be proud of,” Taurisani said. “Coach Bielema’s passion for the state of Illinois and his track record of developing young men on and off the field is a perfect fit for Illini Football. I’m also looking forward to the opportunity of working alongside Tim Knox, who is highly regarded as one of the best in the business. Together, we aim to improve all aspects of the football program. My family and I are looking forward to our move to Champaign-Urbana and joining a first-class university and athletics department.”
At Wisconsin, Taurisani was part of three Big Ten Championship-winning teams and seven bowl trips, including the 2010, 2011 and 2012 Rose Bowls. He has coordinated 12 bowl trips throughout his career, and has served as a member of the Rose Bowl Advisory Committee since 2010.
A native of Utica, New York, Taurisani graduated from State University of New York at Fredonia in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a minor in sports and exercise, earning first-team all-conference honors as captain of the baseball team. He spent the summer of 2005 as a training camp assistant with the Seattle Seahawks and earned a master’s degree in sport administration from Louisville in 2005.
Taurisani and his wife, Tara, welcomed their first child, daughter Rose, in 2018.