Francesco Cardillo joined the WNY Flash Academy in June of 2020.
A native of Toronto, Ontario, in addition to his duties with WNY Flash Academy, Cardillo currently serves as the Head Men’s Soccer Coach at SUNY Buffalo State College.
In only two seasons as the head coach of the men’s soccer program, Cardillo has guided the Bengals to a combined 26-9-2 record, including a pair of SUNYAC playoff berths and a program-record 15 victories in 2019.
Prior to being promoted to the program’s head coach, Cardillo spent the previous three seasons as an assistant coach with both the school’s men’s and women’s soccer programs, including two years as the lead assistant on the men’s staff and one year as the top assistant on the women’s staff. As an assistant with the men’s program, Cardillo was a part of a staff with current Flash Academy Coach Ryan Louis that earned United Soccer Coaches East Region Coaching Staff of the Year honors in 2017 after pacing the Bengals to a 14-3-3 overall record and the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1984.
As a player, Cardillo was also a key part of the resurrection of the men’s soccer program at Buffalo State. A tough midfielder, he began his collegiate playing career with SUNY Canton, where he would record eight goals and three assists over two seasons before transferring to Buffalo State in 2013. With the Bengals, Cardillo would earn All-SUNYAC honors in back-to-back seasons, leading the program to a combined 15 wins over his two years, major improvement from a team that had won just one game in the season prior to Cardillo’s arrival.
As a child, Cardillo famously starred in a promotional video for the 2004 Euro Cup with Nelly Furtado. The full video can be found here.
He graduated from Buffalo State in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.
Cardillo currently resides in Tonawanda, N.Y.