Tom Cullen enters his sixth season as an assistant coach on the sidelines at Worcester State.

In addition to taking the reigns as the linebackers coach, he begins his fifth season as the squad’s defensive coordinator.

During the 2014 season, Coach Cullen helped the Lancers lead New England in sacks and tackles for a loss while achieving a top-10 ranking in the Division III New England Football poll with an 8-3 record.

Coach Cullen came to the Lancers after a five-year stint as the head coach of the Milford High football program. Previously, Coach Cullen served as the defensive coordinator at Milford from 2004 to 2007 which included two back-to-back trips to the Central Mass Division I Super Bowl and the Division I Super Bowl title in 2006.

From 1990 to 1996 and again from 1998 to 2003, Coach Cullen had two separate stints at Amherst Regional with his first as the head coach before he returned to become the athletic director and defensive coordinator. In 1999, Coach Cullen helped pilot the Hurricanes to the Division I Western Mass Super Bowl Championship.

Coach Cullen also has collegiate coaching experience which has included guiding the tight ends at Amherst College during the 1997 season and the defensive line at UMass Amherst from 1987-1989. His 1988 Minutemen squad earned a share of the Yankee Conference title and earned a trip to the NCAA Division IAA Tournament Quarterfinals and the Lord Jeffs in 1997 finished in a three-way tie for the NESCAC crown.

Coach Cullen is a longtime member of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA). He originally got his start at the coaching ranks as a defensive ends coach at Youngstown State in 1983 before he went on to coach the same position from 1984 to 1986 at Milford High.

After graduating from Milford High as a future Hall of Fame student-athlete, Coach Cullen had a standout career as a defensive end at Youngstown State. In 2015, Cullen was inducted into the Youngstown State Hall of Fame, where he ranks among the leaders in school history in career tackles for loss (62), fumble recoveries (seven) and sacks in a single season (10).

In his freshman season, he started on a Penguins team that went 11-2 and competed in the Division II National Championship game. In addition to earning All-Ohio Valley honors in his junior and senior campaigns, and earning the honor of serving as a co-captain in 1982, Coach Cullen was distinguished as a Third-team AP All-American in 1981.

Coach Cullen helped his high school team win the 1975 Super Bowl while playing for Milford.