Ricky Santos Inducted Into UNH Hall of Fame
6/14/2016 11:30:00 AM | Football
UNH Release
DURHAM, N.H. - Columbia football quarterbacks coach Ricky Santos was honored by his alma mater, the university of New Hampshire, this past weekend, earning a spot in its athletics Hall of Fame.
A four-year starter (2004-07) at quarterback, Santos is the most decorated player in the storied history of the Wildcats' football program. Along with the UNH football record book, he rewrote the NCAA record book. He won the 2006 Walter Payton Award (FCS most outstanding offensive player), was a five-time All-America Team honoree and three-time conference Offensive Player of the Year. He was also feted as Rookie of the Year by both the ECAC and Atlantic 10.
The Bellingham, Massachusetts, native ranks first in Division I FCS history with 2,140 career plays, is No. 3 all-time in both passing yards (13,212) and touchdown passes (123), and ranks fourth in total offense (14,615 yards). Santos also holds the NCAA benchmarks for TD passes in a season (31) and most yards gained in a game by a freshman (544).
Santos graduated as a Wildcat with a total of 16 school records. In addition to the NCAA records, he is atop UNH's career leaderboard for completions (1,024), pass attempts (1,498) and completion percentage (68.3%). On the list of single-season superlatives, he holds the top three marks for completions, top two efforts for passing yards, and No. 2-4 in pass attempts as well as single-season records for completion percentage and total offense. Santos is the single-game record holder for passing TDs (six), passing yards (538) and completions percentage (96.2%).
Santos led the Wildcats to a 37-14 record in four seasons. Over that time, he guided New Hampshire to the NCAA I-AA/FCS playoffs all four seasons, led the squad to its first-ever D-I postseason victory, was part of the 2005 Atlantic 10 championship team and two A-10 Northern Division titles (2004, 2006).
Following his graduation, Santos went on to play football professionally for five years. He signed as an undrafted free agent with the Kansas City Chiefs for a brief stint in 2008 before moving north to play in the Canadian Football League from 2009-12. He was a member of the Montreal Alouettes from 2008-09, before a trade sent him to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Santos re-signed with the Alouettes for the 2010 and 2011 seasons, and wrapped up his pro career on the practice squad of the Toronto Argonauts in 2012.
Santos rejoined the New Hampshire football program as an assistant coach in 2013 and has served as wide receivers coach for three seasons before joining the Columbia football staff in the spring of 2016.
