Tony Papley, who completed his playing career at Slippery Rock in 2013, enters his sixth season on the Duquesne coaching staff. After two seasons as a graduate assistant defensive line coach, he was promoted to director of football operations in 2016 while maintaining his defensive line coach status. He also coordinates video operations for the program.
Papley has coached five All-Northeast Conference (NEC) lineman in Zach Zidian (2014 & 2015), Jake Radziukinas (2016), Andy Struttmann (2017) in addition to Jalen Booker and Kam Carter during the historic 2018 season which saw the Dukes win their fifth NEC title, earn their second berth in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Playoffs before capturing their first-ever FCS Playoff victory with a 31-10 victory at No. 16 Towson in the first round of the postseason.