Chris Palmer

Football
Head Coach
(1986-87)

Inducted 1997

Every successful program must have a start, a place where one can trace back to find a point in time when it joined the elite. If one looked back to find the point when New Haven football began its rise into national prominence, one would only have to examine the tenure of Chris Palmer. Palmer spent two seasons at the University of New Haven, leading the team to a 16-4 record. He helped the football program gain its first-ever national ranking when the Chargers finished the 1986 campaign with an 8-2 record and a No. 18 placement in the final national poll. Palmer watched the Blue and Gold improve on that ranking by concluding the 1987 season with an 8-2 slate and a No. 16 national placement. Palmer left the University of New Haven following the 1987 campaign to accept the head coaching position at Boston University. Palmer, who coached in the United States Football League before coming to New Haven, returned to the professional ranks as a coach with the Houston Oilers and New England Patriots. He was a member of the 1997 New England Patriots which captured the American Football Conference title and advanced to the Super Bowl.