Bio
Paul Federici is in his 21st year working with the University of Iowa football program. Federici is in his 16th year as director of football operations after serving as director of athletic training services for five years.
Federici coordinates many of the off the field logistics, as well as practice schedules and other football related items, for head coach Kirk Ferentz and the Hawkeye football program.
In 2023, the Hawkeyes won 10 games, including their final four, to capture the Big Ten West Division for the second time in three years. Iowa advanced to another January bowl game (Citrus Bowl) and finished the season ranked No. 24. The Hawkeyes have been ranked in the final AP Top 25 five of the last six seasons.
Iowa won eight contests in 2022, concluding the season with a 21-0 win over Kentucky in the Music City Bowl and wins in five of its final six games.
Iowa’s streak of 11 straight bowl invitations is the longest in school history and its streak of 11 straight winning seasons ranks seventh best among power conferences. The Hawkeyes have earned 25 conference victories between 2020-23, matching its highest four-year conference win total in program history (1982-85 and 2002-05).
The Hawkeyes won 10 games in 2021, winning the Big Ten West Division title and advancing to the conference championship game. Iowa concluded the season with an appearance in the Citrus Bowl and was ranked 23rd in the final national rankings.
Following back-to-back narrow losses to open the 2020 season, Iowa won its final six games, all in Big Ten play. The Hawkeyes were ranked 15th in the final CFP rankings and Coaches Poll and 16th by the AP.
Iowa won 47 games from 2015-19, the highest total in school history over any five-year period, and a total that ranked ninth nationally. Iowa won its final four games in 2019 and ranked 15th in the final Associated Press and coaches polls.
The Hawkeyes concluded the 2019 campaign with a 10-3 record following a 49-24 rout over No. 22 USC in the Holiday Bowl. The three losses were all to ranked opponents by a combined 14 points. Iowa was 4-1 in trophy games for the third straight season.
Iowa completed 2018 with nine wins and a final AP ranking of No. 25. The Hawkeyes earned a 27-22 Outback Bowl win over No. 18 Mississippi State to close the season with three straight wins. The four losses came by a total of 23 points and all were decided in the final minutes of play. Iowa tied for second in the Big Ten West Division.
The Hawkeyes posted a perfect 12-0 regular season record in 2015, winning the Big Ten West Division. Iowa participated in the 2016 Rose Bowl Game and the 2015 Big Ten Championship and ended the season in the top 10 in the final national rankings.
Iowa’s most recent bowl game invitations include the 2024 Citrus Bowl, 2022 Music City Bowl, 2022 Citrus Bowl, 2020 Music City Bowl, 2019 Holiday Bowl, 2019 Outback Bowl, 2017 Outback Bowl, 2017 Pinstripe Bowl, 2016 Rose Bowl Game, 2015 TaxSlayer Bowl and 2014 Outback Bowl.
Iowa has appeared in 13 January bowl games since 2001 and has recorded January bowl wins over Florida (2004 Outback), Louisiana State (2005 Capital One), South Carolina (2009 Outback), Georgia Tech (2010 Orange) and Mississippi State (2019 Outback).
Iowa has won 185 games over the past 22 seasons, including 115 Big Ten games. Along with the 2023, 2021 and 2015 division titles, the Hawkeyes earned a share of the Big Ten title in both 2002 and 2004 and tied for second in 2009. Iowa has finished in the Big Ten’s first division in 21 of the past 23 years.
In his first season as director of football operations, Federici assisted with the planning, coordination and implementation of Iowa’s daily operation and travel plans as the Hawkeyes concluded the 2009 season with a 24-14 win in the 2010 FedEx Orange Bowl and a national ranking of seventh in the nation.
Federici has assisted in 19 bowl games during his career, including the 2001 Senior Bowl, 2005, 2022 and 2024 Citrus bowls, 2006, 2009, 2014, 2017 and 2019 Outback bowls, 2006 Alamo Bowl, 2010 Orange Bowl, both the 2010 and 2011 Insight bowls, the 2015 TaxSlayer Bowl, 2016 Rose Bowl, 2017 Pinstripe Bowl, 2019 Holiday Bowl, 2020 Music City Bowl — before its cancelation — and the 2022 Music City Bowl.
Federici also served as a championship team operations liaison at the college football playoff national championship games from 2015-19. He currently serves on the Rose Bowl Game Advisory Committee and is the Big Ten representative on the National Football Operations Committee.
Federici joined the Iowa Athletic Department staff in 2004 after serving as the head athletic trainer for the Seattle Seahawks for five seasons. Prior to joining the Seahawks in January, 1999, Federici was the head athletic trainer at Vanderbilt University from 1994-99.
As an assistant athletic trainer at Vanderbilt from 1987-93, Federici worked with football, baseball, men’s basketball and men’s and women’s golf teams. He was named head athletic trainer for the Commodores in 1994 and was recognized as the College Athletic Trainer of the Year by the Tennessee Athletic Trainers Society that year.
Certified by the National Athletic Trainers Association in 1985, Federici served as a test site administrator and host athletic trainer for the N.A.T.A. Board of Certification examinations from 1991-95. He has volunteered for the Tennessee State Amateur Games, the LPGA Sara Lee Tournament at Hermitage Golf Club, and the Senior PGA Bell South Tournament at Springhouse Golf Club. Federici was a case study presenter at the 2001 A.O.S.S.M. meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, as well as the 2002 N.A.T.A. June Symposium in Dallas, Texas.
While at Vanderbilt, Federici served on several athletic department committees, including the Mission/Vision planning team, the External Communications Committee, the Management Team of Department Heads, and the Sports Nutrition Planning Team.
Federici earned his bachelor’s degree in health education from Penn State University in 1985 and his master’s in health promotion/education from Vanderbilt in 1991.
Federici was born in Findlay, Ohio, and grew up in Oakmont, Pennsylvania. He and his wife, Teddie, have a son, Noah.