Rare is the head coach that can walk into a new position and understand not only what is expected, but the bureaucracy that supports it. Georgetown can be a challenge to coaches because, in contrast to most schools, Georgetown does things its own way. But entering his fourth decade on the Hilltop, Rob Sgarlata has seen it all first-hand.

In 1990, Rob Sgarlata arrived at Georgetown University as a running back from St. Joseph's Regional HS in Montvale, NJ, and played four seasons through 1993. By his junior season, he led the Hoyas in rushing, repeating the feat as a senior, where he was named team captain and a District II Academic All-American. Sgarlata's 313 rushing attempts ranked 10th in school history.

Upon graduation in 1994, Sgarlata took a job at a local law firm, but considered a career in coaching. In 1995 he took a part-time assistant coaching role at the school. "I think the main reason I came back was because of Coach Benson," Sgarlata told the Washington Post. "The relationship I've forged with him was built that first year out of school. And since then the relationship I've built with the players and with Bob has been great."

Sgarlata was an assistant on four different offensive and defensive units at Georgetown over the next decade. When Kevin Kelly took over for Benson in 2005, Sgarlata was the only assistant coach retained and the only coach that remained throughout Kelly's eight seasons, serving as defensive coordinator and a position coach for defensive backs, in addition to ad hoc assignments as an academic advisor, internship director and an alumni liaison.

Sgarlata was named the interim coach following Kelly's resignation in 2014 and was named head coach three weeks later, becoming only the fourth Georgetown alumnus named as head coach.

"When I was a student-athlete at Georgetown, our Athletic Director, Frank Rienzo used to say that we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us," Sgarlata said. "During my time on the Hilltop, I have witnessed this sentiment first hand. I have been fortunate to play for Scotty Glacken and work under excellent former head coaches Bob Benson and Kevin Kelly. I look forward to the challenge of guiding this program forward. I am extremely excited to work with the group of football players we currently have on the Hilltop."

Sgarlata took some of his early queues from both Benson and Kelly. In a nod to Benson's use of strategic planning, Sgarlata outlined three tenets for his program: "Four for 40" (a lifetime connection with Georgetown and its football alumni), "Men for Others" (developing the Jesuit values of civic and community service) and Sisu, a Finnish word that defines courage in the face of adversity. Aligning football with Georgetown's core ideals and contemporary direction was not only smart, but practical.

"One of the most exciting things about this place is that there's not one person on campus who I've asked for help that hasn't helped us," Sgarlata said. "The support we get is unbelievable. I haven't been refused yet. That's not because of me, it's because of our kids."

Sgarlata took over as head coach as the Patriot League moved to full scholarship football by 2014; that is, except Georgetown. In 2011, Georgetown President Jack DeGioia said that scholarship football did not fit the "ethos and culture of Georgetown", and Sgarlata has steered clear of that battle, relying on more agile recruiting to identify recruitable student-athletes.

"I knew the score when I took this job," Sgarlata told the Georgetown Voice in 2015. "I don't waste my time thinking about scholarships...If I can't do that with nine coaches recruiting nationally with Georgetown's brand and find kids of the same caliber that everybody else is getting in the Northeast, then we have a problem."

On the field, struggles in depth is a natural byproducts of a non scholarship program, which has seen Georgetown struggle to maintain consistency against more well funded opponents. Back to back 5-6 seasons in 2018 and 2019 brought renewed hope for a winning season by 2020 with 15 returning starters expected back, but Georgetown opted out of the 2020 season and a number of those starters graduated in the interim. The Hoyas did not soon recover, slumping to back to back two win seasons.

Rob Sgarlata enters the 2024 season with hope that the pieces are coming together for sustained excellence in the program, a program done Georgetown's way.