Brien Cullen '77
Brien Cullen '77
Title: Head Coach/Defensive Backs
Phone: 508-929-8598
Email: bcullen@worcester.edu

Brien Cullen enters the 2019 season with a 181-155 (.539) overall varsity record. Coach Cullen is the only coach the Lancers have had since the he brought the program to the varsity level in the fall of 1985.

In the two years preceding their varsity status, Coach Cullen led the Lancers to a 19-3 overall record including an 11-0 season that earned Worcester State the 1984 National Club Championship.

The program was elevated to NCAA Division III varsity status in 1985 and joined the New England Football Conference. The Lancers made an immediate impact on New England football finishing 5-0 in their first year.

Cullen's 1987 and 1988 teams won the South Division of the New England Football Conference with 7-2 and 7-3 records, respectively. 1995 was also an outstanding year for the Lancers when they captured the NEFC title for the first time with an 8-0 record and earned their first ECAC post-season playoff bid. The team finished the season 9-2.

The 1996 team won the NEFC for the second consecutive year. The Lancers were 8-0 in conference play and 10-0 for the regular season. The Blue and Gold played an ECAC playoff game with national powerhouse Ithaca College and dropped a tough 27-21 decision to the Bombers. Worcester State won 19 straight regular season games before they were handed a setback in the opener in the 1997 season. 

Cullen was named the New England Football Writers Division II & III Coach of the Year in 1996 for his efforts and received the same honor from the Gridiron Club of Boston.

1997 saw the Lancers finish as co-champions of the New England Football Conference (NEFC) giving Worcester State their third straight title and a third straight ECAC post-season playoff game. They posted an overall record of 8-3, including a 7-1 conference total.

From 2001-03, the Lancers made three consecutive trips to the ECAC Northeast Bowl and capped off a tremendous 10-1 campaign with a thrilling fourth-quarter 36-35 victory over Curry to earn the 2001 crown. During all three seasons, the Blue and Gold were ranked among the top 10 in the Division III New England Football Poll.

In 2011, Worcester State secured its seventh ECAC playoff berth, participating in the ECAC Northwest Bowl against Salve Regina and wrapped up the year among the best five teams in New England.

Coach Cullen has been selected NEFC Coach of the Year in the 1987, 1993, 1995, 2000 and 2011 seasons.  In 1996, The American Football Coaches Magazine named Cullen the Division III National Defensive Coordinator of the Year. The National Football Foundation honored Coach Cullen as a contributor to football in 1997. 

In 2004, Coach Cullen was honored by the ECAC football officials with the Murray Lewis Award honoring his contributions to football in the region.  He also traveled to England and Scotland in 1998 and was an assistant coach with an All-Star team consisting of players from Division I, II and III.

Most recently, Coach Cullen was distinguished with the John Baronian Award for lifetime achievement by the Greater Boston Gridiron Club.

Coach Cullen has also been honored as the Worcester Area Coach of the Year in 13 out of the last 25 seasons by the area Sports Information Directors since the first team was compiled in 1990.

Coach Cullen is an active member of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and also is on the Board of Coaches for the Division III National Football Rankings.

As an undergraduate at Worcester State, Coach Cullen was a four-year starter for the Lancer club team and was named All-New England his junior and senior years.  In his senior semester, he was the team captain and selected the team's most valuable player.

An adjunct professor on campus, Coach Cullen is married to his wife Mary as the two live in nearby Westborough and he has two children: Casey '06 and Kelly, three grandsons: Declan, Rowan and James and one granddaughter Claire.