Drew Canan - Football Coach

Drew Canan

Title:
Assistant Coach, Special Teams Coordinator/Tight Ends
Alma Mater:
Johnson & Wales, '05 / Endicott, '10
Year at UCLA:
1st in 2026

Drew Canan begins his first season as special teams coordinator and tight ends coach for the UCLA football program in 2026. He arrived in Westwood after spending the previous two seasons in the same role at James Madison University. The 2026 campaign marks Canan’s 18th year of coaching, including his ninth at the NCAA Division I level.

Canan has served on head coach Bob Chesney’s staff since 2014, with two seasons at James Madison (2024-25), six at FCS Holy Cross (2018-23) and four at NCAA Division II Assumption College (2014-17). Canan has been Chesney’s special teams coordinator in each of the last 13 seasons in addition to serving as tight ends coach at Holy Cross and wide receivers coach at Assumption. Together, they have posted a 103-37 record (.735), won seven conference championships and made eight Playoff appearances.

Most recently, Canan and Chesney helped James Madison reach new heights in their two years together in Harrisonburg, Va. In 2025, the Dukes recorded just the 10th unbeaten conference record in Sun Belt history, going 8-0, and captured the program’s first Sun Belt Championship. James Madison secured a spot in the College Football Playoff (CFP) for the first time in school history with the No. 12 seed and earned its highest AP ranking in program history at No. 19. The Dukes finished the season with a 12-2 record following their CFP First Round appearance.

Canan’s special teams unit at James Madison was top-15 in the nation and led the Sun Belt in blocked kicks in each of his two seasons. During the 2025 campaign, the Dukes ranked third in the country with four blocked kicks via three punts and one field goal. In Canan’s first season, James Madison was 11th in the country with three blocked kicks; that included a blocked punt returned for a touchdown, a defensive PAT on an extra point attempt and a blocked field goal.

The Dukes took a kick return to the house once in each of 2024 and 2025. In 2024, the team ranked 16th in the FBS with a 24.67 kickoff return average.

Offensively, Canan coached a pair of JMU tight ends to All-Sun Belt Honorable Mention status in Taylor Thompson in 2024 and Lacota Dippre in 2025. Thompson made 33 catches for 448 yards and co-led the Dukes in touchdowns, including the game-winning score in the 2024 Boca Raton Bowl. Dippre led his position group with 15 catches for 187 yards and three touchdowns in 2025.

Canan helped guide Holy Cross to five consecutive Patriot League championships and four FCS Playoff appearances during his time in Worcester, Mass.

In 2023, Canan’s special teams unit ranked 20th nationally in kick return defense at 17.06 yards per attempt. On the offensive side of the ball, he coached tight end Sean Morris to All-Patriot League Second Team honors, as the Holy Cross offense was fourth nationally in total offense with 466.6 yards per game and seventh in scoring with 36.9 points per game.

Special teams played a large role in the Crusaders’ historic 2022 campaign in which they went 11-0 during the regular season for the third time ever and finished with a program-record 12-1 record and a FCS Quarterfinal appearance. Canan’s group led the nation with eight blocked punts, paced by Devin Haskins' Patriot League-record of four blocked punts. Haskins earned All-America honors from the American Football Coaches Association and Walter Camp Foundation and was one of four Crusader specialists to earn All-Patriot League honors, joined by kicker Derek Ng, punter Patrick Haughney and returner Justin Shorter. Canan’s tight end Morris was also an All-Patriot League Second Team recipient, and long snapper Adam Guillemette was also selected in the 2023 Canadian Football League draft.

In 2021, Holy Cross won its third straight Patriot League title and first FCS Playoff game in program history with a 10-3 record, including an undefeated 6-0 conference mark. Three Crusader specialists and tight end Morris earned All-Patriot League honors, and the team finished the season ranked No. 19 in the final Stats Perform FCS Top 25. Holy Cross also defeated an FBS opponent for the first time since 2002 with a season-opening victory over UConn.

During the Spring 2021 season, delayed from the fall of 2020 due to COVID-19, four Crusaders on special teams earned All-Patriot League honors as Holy Cross won the inaugural Patriot League Championship game.

In 2019, Canan helped the Crusaders to their first Patriot League title in a decade and just the third NCAA FCS Playoff berth in program history. In addition, tight end Derek Mountain earned All-Patriot League honors with 29 receptions, 413 yards and three touchdowns. Following the season, Canan was named the New England Assistant Coach of the Year by the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston.

In his first season at Holy Cross in 2018, Canan led a special teams unit that set then-school single-season records with seven blocked kicks, six blocked punts and four blocked punts returned for touchdowns.

Canan came to Holy Cross from Assumption College where he served as the special teams coordinator and wide receivers coach under Chesney from 2014-17. He helped the Greyhounds to an overall record of 38-11 during that time, with three trips to the NCAA Division II postseason.

During his time at Assumption, Canan coached five wide receivers and four return specialists to All-Northeast-10 Conference honors, including 2016 Offensive Player of the Year Ashton Grant and 2017 Most Valuable Player Deonte Harris. His special teams unit also ranked in the top-10 in nationally in blocked kicks in each of his four seasons, posting 12 in 2015 to lead the nation.

Prior to his time at Assumption, Canan served as the wide receivers coach and special teams coordinator at Endicott College from 2011-13. He coached five All-New England Football Conference (NEFC) receivers during that time while helping the team to the 2013 NEFC Championship. Canan was previously a graduate assistant at Endicott from 2008-10. The Gulls posted an overall record of 36-9, including a 25-3 mark in conference play, during his final four years on the staff.

The North Reading, Mass. native earned his bachelor’s degree from Johnson & Wales University in North Miami, Fla., in 2005. He later received a master’s degree from Endicott in 2010.

Canan and his wife, Kerri, have one daughter, Kaia.

Canan’s Coaching Experience
2008-10 – Graduate Assistant, Endicott (NCAA DIII)
2011-13 – Special Teams Coordinator/Wide Receivers, Endicott (NCAA DIII)
2014-17 – Special Teams Coordinator/Wide Receivers, Assumption (NCAA DII)
2018-23 – Special Teams Coordinator/Tight Ends, Holy Cross (FCS)
2024, 2025 – Special Teams Coordinator/Tight Ends, James Madison
2026 – Special Teams Coordinator/Tight Ends, UCLA