Hokie ClubThe Shearer File
Virginia Tech XP: First season
Coaching XP: 14th season
Hometown: Shelton, Conn.
High School: Shelton High School (Conn.)
Alma Mater: Connecticut (2013)
Family: Fiancé - Catherine Zuppani
| COACHING TIMELINE | ||
| Seasons | Organization / School | Title |
| 2026-pres. | Virginia Tech | Special Teams Coordinator |
| 2022-25 | Connecticut | Special Teams Coordinator / Recruiting Coordinator / Sam Linebackers |
| 2019-21 | Miami (Ohio) | Special Teams Coordinator |
| 2014-18 | NC State | Special Teams Quality Control Assistant / Offensive Graduate Assistant |
| 2013 | Connecticut | Graduate Assistant |
| POSTSEASON GAMES (11) | ||
| Seasons | Organization / School | Game |
| 2025 | Connecticut | Fenway Bowl |
| 2024 | Connecticut | Fenway Bowl |
| 2022 | Connecticut | Myrtle Beach Bowl |
| 2021 | Miami (Ohio) | Frisco Football Classic |
| 2020 | Miami (Ohio) | Lending Tree Bowl |
| 2019 | Miami (Ohio) | MAC Championship Game |
| 2018 | NC State | Gator Bowl |
| 2017 | NC State | Sun Bowl |
| 2016 | NC State | Independence Bowl |
| 2015 | NC State | Belk Bowl |
| 2014 | NC State | St. Petersburg Bowl |
| PROMINENT NFL PUPILS | ||
| Position | Name | Accolade |
| K | Christopher Dunn | 2023 NFL Free Agent (Los Angeles [NFC]) |
| P | Trenton Gill | 2022 NFL Draft, Seventh Round (Chicago) |
| LS | Tommy Zozus | 2022 NFL Free Agent (Jacksonville) |
| K | Samuel Sloman | 2019 NFL Draft, Seventh Round (Los Angeles [NFC]) |
| P | AJ Cole | 2019 NFL Free Agent (Oakland) |
Coaching Highlights
• Shearer arrived in Blacksburg in 2026 following four seasons at UConn serving as special teams coordinator and Sam linebackers coach.
• During the 2025 season, under Shearer’s direction, UConn placekicker Chris Freeman ranked sixth in the country in total field goals (22), seventh nationally in field goals per game (1.83), and fifth in scoring (117 points) through 12 games. Freeman was a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award.
• Punter Connor Stutz averaged 45.3 yards per punt, ranking 20th in the country through the 2025 regular season.
• Shearer’s special teams units had an outstanding 2024 season. Freeman was 20 of 26 last fall with a career-long of 53 yards, done twice. He made all 49 of his point after attempts and was the leading scorer on the team (109 pts). Freeman was 17th in the nation averaging 1.54 field goals per game.
• Stutz average 43.58 yards per punt, ranking 30th nationally in 2024.
• The return game had one of the best returners in the country back in Mel Brown. Brown was second in the country in kick-off returns, averaging 29.1 yards per return. He had 17 returns on the season, and his long was a 96-yard return for a touchdown.
• Shearer returned to UConn after spending the previous three seasons in the same position at Miami (OH). In 2019, placekicker Sam Sloman was named second team All-America by The Athletic after making a school record 26 field goals (on 30 attempts), and punter Kyle Kramer earned first-team All-MAC honors while Maurice Thomas was named second team All-MAC as a punt returner. Thomas added a 97-yard kick return to help the RedHawks capture the 2019 MAC Championship as well.
• Prior to his time at Miami, Shearer was a member of the NC State football staff from 2014 to 2018. He served as the Wolfpack’s quality control assistant for special teams for four seasons, helping coach a special teams unit that finished in the top-20 nationally in both kickoff return and punt return average during the 2015 season. NC State’s placekicker, Chris Dunn, also broke the single-season school record for field goals made and points scored in 2018.
• In 2013, Shearer served as an offensive/special teams graduate assistant at UConn and earned his bachelor’s degree in coaching and sports psychology from UConn that year.
Playing Highlights
• Shearer played linebacker at Shelton High School and was later a student assistant and a grad assistant under Paul Pasqualoni at UConn.