Nick Verna enters his first season as tight ends coach at Towson in 2026.
Verna comes to Towson after five seasons as the tight ends coach, recruiting coordinator and NFL Pro Liaison at Furman University. During his time at Furman, he helped the program win the SoCon title and NCAA Quarterfinal appearance in 2023 and earn playoff appearances and a first game victory in each 2022 and 2023 seasons.
At Furman coaching tight ends, Verna coached two NFL players and multiple tight ends receiving accolades for the Paladins. Verna coached Ryan Miller the first three-time All-American in school history. Miller in 2022 was a consensus All-America tight end who caught 72 passes for 762 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2022 to complete a superb career. Miller’s 28 touchdown receptions in career marked a new school record and helped him collect invitations to play in the Hula Bowl and NFLPA All-Star Game prior to signing a free agent contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a wide receiver, with whom he has seen action the last three seasons.
In 2023 Mason Pline, another Verna product, proved central to the Paladins’ 10-3, Southern Conference championship campaign that included a quarterfinal round appearance in the FCS playoffs and No. 6 ranking in the final AFCA poll. Pline, caught 32 passes and earned All-SoCon honors en route landing invitations to the Hula Bowl and East-West Shrine Bowl before signing a free agent contract with the San Francisco 49ers.
In 2024, Verna played a role in the emergence of true freshman tight end Jackson Pryor who would earn Freshman All-American and All-SoCon Freshman Team selections. During the 2025 season, Verna coached Joshua Burrell to first team All-SoCon.
Verna came to Furman following four seasons as wide receivers coach at the University of Charleston (W.Va.), where he helped guide the Golden Eagles to a championship of the Mountain East Conference South Division in 2021. During his time at Charleston Verna coached two NFL players. Michael Strachan, a seventh round selection by the Indianapolis Colts in the 2021 NFL Draft. Michael Strachan, a 2019 AFCA Division II All-American and two-time All-MEC First Team player who produced on 127 receptions, 2,332 yards, and 27 touchdowns during his career. Verna also coached Tyreik Mcallister who would go on to play in the CFL and NFL. Mcallister made the Las Vegas Raiders 53 man roster in 2024.
Verna spent four years at the University of Akron as a defensive student assistant coach and defensive graduate assistant. In 2015 he was part of a Zips team that won a school record eight games and claimed the first bowl victory in program history — a 23-21 triumph over Utah State in the Idaho Potato Bowl. Two years later he played a role Akron winning the Mid-American Conference Eastern Division and berth in the Boca Raton Cheribundi Bowl.
Verna began his collegiate career at Erie (N.Y.) Community College, where he played quarterback before earning an associate degree in liberal arts. He went on to secure his bachelor’s degree in sport management from Akron in 2015 and added a master’s degree in public administration, also from Akron, in 2017.
