- Broyles Award Nominee (2018)
Mario Verduzco is the veteran of Nebraska’s coaching staff. In 2021, he was in his sixth season serving as Scott Frost’s quarterbacks coach, and he coached with Frost for a total of eight seasons.
Verduzco brings a wealth of knowledge to the staff. He has coached at the high school, junior college, FCS and FBS levels and boasts 16 years of experience as a collegiate offensive coordinator in addition to a career devoted to developing quarterbacks.
A Broyles Award nominee, Verduzco helped Nebraska true freshman Adrian Martinez rank 12th nationally in total offense in 2018, one season after UCF sophomore McKenzie Milton was fourth nationally in total offense. Martinez enters his senior season in 2021 on track to break numerous Nebraska school records.
Nebraska (2018-21)
Verduzco helped Adrian Martinez put together one of the top statistical seasons by a freshman quarterback in NCAA history in 2018, earning a nomination for the Broyles Award in the process.
Under Verduzco’s tutelage, Martinez completed nearly 65 percent of his passes, throwing for 2,617 yards and 17 touchdowns, while rushing for 629 yards and eight scores. Martinez set Nebraska season records for total offensive yards per game (295.1), 400-yard total offense games (3) and 300-yard total offense games (7), in addition to setting a Husker game record with an 86.2 completion percentage against Minnesota. Martinez was just the third true freshman to ever start at quarterback for Nebraska.
Martinez ranked 12th nationally in total offense in 2018 and first among freshmen. His average of 295.1 yards per game was the ninth-highest mark by a freshman in NCAA history and the third-highest mark by a true freshman. Martinez became the first true freshman at a Power Five program to average 290 yards of total offense per game. Martinez also became just the sixth freshman in NCAA history to average 200 passing yards per game and 50 rushing yards per game, and he was just the second true freshman in NCAA history - and first at a Power Five school - to hit both marks.
Led by Martinez, a freshman All-American, Nebraska’s quarterbacks completed 63.6 percent of their passes and threw for 2,966 yards in 2018.
Verduzco dealt with injuries to his quarterback room in 2019. Martinez missed two games but accounted for more than 2,500 yards of total offense, ranking third in the Big Ten with an average of 258.2 yards of total offense per game. Despite Martinez missing time, Verduzco’s reserve quarterbacks completed better than 72 percent of their passes for 500 yards and rushed for better than 200 yards. Verduzco had a role in another record in 2019, as NU set a school record by completing 87 percent of its passes against Indiana (20-of-23).
The Nebraska passing game was efficient in 2020, completing 68.1 percent of its passes to rank ninth nationally. The completion percentage was just shy of a school record. Individually, Martinez completed 71.5 percent of his passes to shatter the single-season completion percentage mark. Martinez also led Nebraska with 521 rushing yards and seven touchdowns, while averaging 5.7 yards per carry. The junior ranked fifth in the Big Ten in total offense per game.
Before Nebraska
UCF: Verduzco helped Frost increase the Knights’ win total by 13 games in only two seasons. UCF was the nation’s most improved team in 2016, and the Knights won a conference title and put together the first perfect season in program history in 2017, which also marked the first perfect season in American Athletic Conference history. UCF improved from ranking 125th nationally in scoring offense and 127th in total offense in 2015 to first and fifth in those respective categories in 2017. The Knights’ quarterback play was a big reason for the turnaround.
Under Verduzco’s direction, McKenzie Milton developed into one of the nation’s top quarterbacks. Milton completed better than 64 percent of his passes and threw for 6,020 yards and 47 touchdowns in his two seasons with Verduzco, while adding 771 rushing yards. In Verduzco’s two seasons, the UCF quarterbacks posted a nearly 3-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio, throwing 52 touchdown passes against only 18 interceptions.
Milton made great strides under Verduzco in 2017, posting one of the nation’s best individual seasons. Milton completed more than 67 percent of his passes and threw for 4,037 yards with a school-record 37 touchdowns. He also ran for 613 yards and averaged 5.8 yards per carry while scoring eight touchdowns. Milton ranked second nationally in passing efficiency (179.3), was fourth in completion percentage (67.1), total offense (357.7 yards per game) and passing touchdowns (37), fifth in yards per completion (15.2) and seventh in passing yards (4,037).
Milton was selected as the 2016 American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year and was a finalist for the Manning Award, in addition to being a semifinalist for the Maxwell and Walter Camp national player-of-the-year awards and a semifinalist for the Davey O’Brien Quarterback Award. Milton's backup was Noah Vedral, who completed 22-of-29 passes for 276 yards and one touchdown as a true freshman in 2017 before transferring to Nebraska in January of 2018.
In 2016, Verduzco dealt with injuries to his quarterbacking corps but helped develop Milton into the starter as a true freshman. Milton set a UCF freshman record with 194 completions and threw for 1,983 yards while completing 57.7 percent of his passes.
MISSOURI STATE: Verduzco spent the 2015 season as Missouri State’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. His stint with the Bears came after he spent 14 seasons at Northern Iowa.
NORTHERN IOWA: Verduzco served as the Panthers’ co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for nine seasons from 2006 to 2014 after coaching UNI’s quarterbacks in his first five seasons on staff from 2001 to 2005. Northern Iowa won six Missouri Valley Conference titles and made eight trips to the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) playoffs in Verduzco’s 14 seasons at the school, including playing for the 2005 FCS national championship. Seven Panther quarterbacks combined for 13 all-conference awards under Verduzco, including Eric Sanders, the 2007 Missouri Valley Offensive Player of the Year who finished his career with the best completion percentage in FCS history, including an FCS-record 75.2 completion percentage in 2007.
RUTGERS: Before spending 15 seasons in the FCS ranks, Verduzco was an assistant at Rutgers for five seasons from 1996 to 2000, where he coached the Scarlet Knights quarterbacks and was the school’s recruiting coordinator.
DE ANZA COLLEGE: Verduzco went to Rutgers after totaling 19 seasons coaching at various levels in California. He was at De Anza College in Cupertino, Calif., for five seasons from 1991 to 1995, including serving as the Don’s head coach in 1994 and 1995.
SAN JOSE STATE: In his first FBS coaching role, Verduzco spent the 1990 and 1991 seasons as a graduate assistant at San Jose State. The Spartans won nine games in 1990 and were Big West champions in each of Verduzco's two seasons.
GAVILAN COLLEGE: Verduzco's first collegiate job came at Gavilan College in California, where he was the Rams' offensive coordinator for three seasons from 1987 to 1989.
HIGH SCHOOL: Before entering the collegiate ranks, Verduzco spent 10 seasons as an assistant at Soquel High School in California, including three seasons as the school’s defensive coordinator.
Personal
Verduzco graduated from San Jose State in 1988 with a bachelor's degree in human performance. He earned his master's degree in biomechanics and exercise physiology two years later. As part of his master's requirement, Verduzco authored a 268-page master's theses entitled "The biomechanics of the quarterback position: a kinematic analysis and integrative approach." Mario and his wife, Cate, have one son, Charles.
Coaching History
2018-present: Nebraska, Assistant Coach (Quarterbacks)
2016-17: UCF, Assistant Coach (Quarterbacks)
2015: Missouri State, Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
2006-14: Northern Iowa, Co-Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
2001-05: Northern Iowa, Assistant Coach (Quarterbacks)
2000: Rutgers, Assistant Coach (Quarterbacks/Recruiting Coordinator)
1996-99: Rutgers, Assistant Coach (Assistant Quarterbacks, Recruiting Coordinator)
1994-95: De Anza (Calif.) College, Head Coach
1991-93: De Anza (Calif.) College, Associate Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks/Receivers
1990-91: San Jose State, Graduate Assistant
1987-89: Gavilan (Calif.) College, Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks/Receivers
1982-86: Soquel (Calif.) High School, Assistant Coach (Pass Offense)
1979-81: Soquel (Calif.) High School, Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs/Linebackers
1977-78: Soquel (Calif.) High School, Assistant Coach (Defensive Backs)