Jimmy Criscione is in his third season as a member of the Navy men’s golf coaching staff. A PGA Class A Professional, Criscione arrived in Annapolis in the summer of 2023 after spending the previous two years as the head coach at Wagner College in Staten Island, N.Y.
Since his arrival in Annapolis, Criscione has seen three Mids garner postseason recognition. In 2024, Jack Tarzy and Benjamin Valdez placed among the top five in the Patriot League Tournament to garner First-Team All-Patriot League accolades. Last season, Chip Deegan garnered PING All-Northeast Region honors following a standout season that included Second-Team All-Patriot League laurels.
Meanwhile, the Mids have also flourished in the classroom. Valdez graduated in May among the top 13 percent of his class in academic order of merit, was twice named to the Patriot League Men’s Golf All-Academic Team and was selected as a 2024-25 Cobalt All-America Scholar.
The Mids made a huge leap forward from the 2023-24 to 2024-25 season, improving upon a 304.96 stroke average to a 297.7 mark. According to Scoreboard’s adjusted scoring average, Navy jumped from a 303.2 to a 295.5. Additionally, Navy’s winning percentage nearly doubled (19-91-1 / 35-79-3).
A native of Paramus, N.J., Criscione took over the reins of the Wagner men’s golf program in 2021-22. In addition to the five tournaments in which the Seahawks competed that year, Criscione led Wagner to a pair of match play victories, including a 3.5-1.5 win over Canisius on March 23, 2022, at The Legends at Orange Lake Resort in Kissimmee, Fla. A month later, the Seahawks scored a 5-1 triumph over Saint Peter’s at the Montclair Golf Club in West Orange, N.J. The Seahawks closed out the year at the Northeast Conference (NEC) Championship where Tyler Galantini posted a top-five finish with his 54-hole mark of 223.
Wagner opened up the 2022-23 campaign at the Ryan T. Lee Memorial Collegiate where the team shot a program-low 282 in the opening round. The Seahawks went on to close out the fall season with back-to-back runner-up finishes at The Seawane Classic and the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Championship, where Thomas Choi took medalist honors with his final round of 66 to win by one stroke. Under Criscione’s leadership, the Seahawks improved their stroke average to 292, breaking the program record for lowest stroke average for a fall or spring season. Wagner went on to compete in six tournaments in the spring, including the NEC Championship where Choi finished in a tie for second place (216, E) to garner All-NEC Tournament accolades. Additionally, Choi represented the Seahawks on the All-NEC Team, earning second-team honors.
Wagner earned the 2023 Mark Laesch Award for top stroke improvement among NCAA D-I teams. The Seahawks improved 16.63 shots in adjusted stroke average per round from the 2021-22 season to the 2022-23 season
Criscione made the transition to coaching after a stellar collegiate career at Monmouth. He was a four-year member of the Hawks’ golf team (2018-21) and played 32 total rounds over 19 tournaments during his collegiate career. He tallied two top-15 finishes and three top-25 finishes for the Blue and White. In April of 2020, Criscione was tabbed as Pepsi Zero MAAC Student-Athlete of the Week. A team captain as a senior, Criscione served as President of the Monmouth Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and was a three-year board member. Additionally, he was named to the MAAC All-Academic Team three times and was a three-year MAAC Academic Honor Roll member.
Criscione attended Bergen Catholic High School where he was a member of three state championship teams (2014, 2015, 2016). He was a two-time First-Team All-State selection (2016, 2017) and won the prestigious American High School Championship in St. Andrews, Scotland (2014).
Criscione was elected to membership as a PGA Class A Professional from the Professional Golfers’ Association of America. He is Level I, II and III Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) certified. Additionally, he successfully completed the SuperCoach54 Training Program under Pia Nilsson and Lynn Marriott and recently became a Golf Digest Certified Fitness Instructor. He is also a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) through the National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA).
A member of the GCAA and AJGA, Criscione previously worked in tournament operations with the New Jersey PGA and was a writer for LRT Sports, a company that helps families and student-athletes understand college athletics. He has contributed to publishing numerous articles, blog posts and interviews for the company’s social media and website. In April of 2020, Criscione released his first children’s book, Little Timmy, about a young boy who learns valuable lessons through baseball.
Criscione graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree from Monmouth in May of 2021, where he majored in business administration/management and decision sciences while minoring in health studies. Additionally, he earned his Master’s Degree in Media Management from Wagner in May of 2023.
