Bart Tanski is in his eighth season as a member of the RMU coaching staff. He is the special team coordinator as well the coach for the safeties. He also assists in recruiting duties while helping oversee RMU camps and clinics.
Tanski is coming off a successful 2024 season where he oversaw the #1 ranked special teams unit in the Northeast Conference and 17th in the country. The Colonials finished the campaign leading the league in kickoff net yards, punting average as well as net yards and were second in kickoff return and punt return average. Nationally, RMU was ninth in punt return defense, 17th in net punt, 26th in kickoff returns and 36th in kickoffs. The season wrapped up with kicker Jayson Jenkins was selected Second Team All-Conference.
The year prior, Tanski’s special teams has a pair of kickoff returners ranked nationally in the Top 25 and was 11th in the country as a kick return unit. RMU was tied for 18th in blocked punts and tied for 22nd in blocked kicks. He was part of the defensive coaching team that finished 23rd in pass defense.
In 2019, Tanski helped develop Mason Gray, who was named to the 2019 All-NEC First Team after finishing the year with 100 tackles. Gray also tied an NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) single-game record by returning a pair of interceptions for a touchdown in a 41-21 victory over Duquesne at Joe Walton Stadium. The Colonials posted an overall record of 7-5 (.583) in 2019, including a mark of 6-1 (.857) in the Northeast Conference (NEC).
“Coach Tanski came with a strong recommendation from the defensive coordinator at Syracuse University,” head coach Bernard Clark, Jr., said. “When he came on his interview, he was extremely technical and very sound in his fundamentals and I thought he would be a great addition.”
Tanski spent three seasons on the staff with at Syracuse prior to joining RMU, serving as a defensive graduate assistant (2015-16) and defensive quality control (2017). While with the Orange, Tanski worked with both the linebackers and the defensive backs in addition to lending his expertise to the special teams.
Prior to joining the Orange, Tanski worked two seasons at the University of Findlay, where he coached wide receivers (2014), outside linebackers (2014) and defensive backs (2013). While tutoring the receivers, Tanski helped develop Lloyd Henry into an All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) First Team selection and set school records for receiving yards and receptions. He also served as Findlay’s assistant special teams coordinator in 2013.
Named Ohio’s Mr. Football in 2007, Tanski was a walk-on at Bowling Green. He played quarterback and wide receiver for the Falcons, eventually earning a scholarship and serving as team co-captain in 2012.
Tanski earned a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering technology from Bowling Green in 2013 and also earned a pair of master’s degrees. He earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in business administration from Findlay in 2015 and also earned a master’s degree in instructional design, development and evaluation from Syracuse in 2017.
A native of Concord, Ohio, Tanski was named Ohio’s Mr. Football in 2007. He led Mentor High School to the state championship game at quarterback in 2006 and 2007 en route to being named the News-Herald Football Player of the Year both years. He was inducted into the News-Herald High School Sports Hall of Fame in 2017.
Tanski and his wife Taylor are the parents of their daughter Quinn.
