Artur Sitkowski (born May 16, 2000) is an American college football coach. He is the assistant quarterbacks coach for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, a position he has held since 2024. He played college football for the Illinois and Rutgers.
Early life and high school
Sitkowski attended Old Bridge High School in Old Bridge Township, New Jersey, before transferring to IMG Academy. As a junior, Sitkowski completed 104 of 209 passes for 1,216 yards with six touchdowns and nine interceptions and rushed 77 times for 215 yards and eight touchdowns.[1] Sitkowski originally committed to play college football for the Miami Hurricanes.[1] However, Sitkowski flipped his commitment to play for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.[2]
College career
Rutgers
Sitkowski opened his true freshman season in 2018 as Rutgers starting quarterback.[3] In his first start he completed 20 passes for 205 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions in a win over Texas State.[4] In week 7 of the 2018 season, Sitkowski completed just two of his 16 pass attempts for eight yards and four interceptions in a loss to Maryland.[5] He finished the 2018 season completing 134 of 273 pass attempts for 1,158 yards and four touchdowns to 18 interceptions.[6] Ahead of the 2019 season, Sitkowski lost the starting job to McLane Carter.[7] He made his first start of the 2019 season in week 4 after Carter suffered a concussion. Sitkowski completed 23 of 33 passing attempts for 304 yards and a touchdown with an interception in a 30–16 loss to Boston College.[8] However after just making one more start against Michigan, Sitkowski took a redshirt.[9] After the 2019 season, he entered the NCAA transfer portal.[10] However, Sitkowski decided to enter the NCAA transfer portal and return to play for the Scarlet Knights in 2020.[11] He made his first start of the 2020 season in week 7 versus Purdue,[12] completing 18 of 27 passes for 141 yards and two touchdowns in an upset win over Purdue.[13] Sitkowski finished the 2020 season going 52 of 82 on his passes for 44 yards and three touchdowns.[14] After the conclusion of the 2020 season, he entered the NCAA transfer portal.[15]
Illinois
Sitkowski transferred to play for Illinois.[16] He made his Illinois debut in week one after starter Brandon Peters went down with an injury and completed 12 of his 15 passes for 124 yards and two touchdowns, as he helped lead the Fighting Illini to a 30–22 win over Nebraska.[17] Sitkowski was named the team's starter for their week two matchup versus UTSA.[18] In his start he threw for 266 yards and three touchdowns in a loss to UTSA.[19] In week 9 of the 2021 season, after Sitkowski helped the Fighting Illini upset #7 Penn State in the longest game in NCAA history it was revealed, Sitkowski broke his arm and would miss the rest of the 2021 season.[20][21] Sitkowski finished the 2021 season completing 74 of his 148 pass attempts for 704 yards and six touchdowns with two interceptions, while also adding 31 yards on the ground.[22] In week 6 of the 2022 season, Sitkowski replaced injured starter Tommy DeVito. Sitkowski completed 13 of his 19 passes for 74 yards and an interception in a 9–6 win over Iowa.[23] In Sitkowski's final season he completed 18 of his 25 pass attempts for 103 yards and an interception, while adding 18 yards on the ground.[24]
College statistics
Season | Games | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GP | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | ||
Rutgers Scarlet Knights | |||||||||||||||
2018 | 11 | 1–10 | 134 | 273 | 49.1 | 1,158 | 4.2 | 4 | 18 | 76.4 | 22 | −66 | −3.0 | 0 | |
2019 | 3 | 0–2 | 44 | 68 | 64.7 | 429 | 6.3 | 1 | 2 | 116.7 | 8 | −7 | −0.88 | 0 | |
2020 | 4 | 1–1 | 52 | 81 | 64.2 | 444 | 6.2 | 3 | 0 | 122.5 | 14 | 2 | 0.14 | 0 | |
Illinois Fighting Illini | |||||||||||||||
2021 | 5 | 1–2 | 74 | 148 | 50.0 | 704 | 4.8 | 6 | 0 | 100.6 | 26 | 31 | 1.19 | 0 | |
2022 | 3 | – | 18 | 25 | 72.0 | 103 | 4.1 | 0 | 1 | 98.6 | 5 | 18 | 3.6 | 0 | |
Career | 26 | 3–15 | 322 | 595 | 54.1 | 2,838 | 4.8 | 14 | 23 | 94.2 | 75 | -22 | -0.29 | 0 |
Coaching career
After the 2022 season, Sitkowski joined the Illinois football coaching staff as a graduate assistant.[25]
References
- ^ a b Dunleavy, Ryan (February 26, 2017). "Artur Sitkowski, former NJ star, commits to Miami over Rutgers after transfer to IMG Academy". NJ.com. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
- ^ Hunt, Todderick (December 20, 2017). "4-star QB Artur Sitkowski still pumped to sign to Rutgers despite OC Jerry Kill's departure". NJ.com. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
- ^ Rittenberg, Adam (August 24, 2018). "True freshman Artur Sitkowski to start at QB for Rutgers". ESPN. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
- ^ Feliciano, Luke (September 2018). "Rutgers Football: Artur Sitkowski shows promise in debut". Saturday Blitz. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
- ^ Newman, Josh. "Rutgers football: As Art Sitkowski's poor play continues, so will criticisms". Asbury Park Press. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
- ^ Collins, Jesse (May 2019). "Rutgers Football Asked Too Much Of Artur Sitkowski, But Will It Pay Off?". Off Tackle Empire. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
- ^ Kratch, James (August 31, 2019). "Will Rutgers' Artur Sitkowski redshirt after being 'edged out' in QB competition?". NJ.com. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
- ^ Kratch, James (September 21, 2019). "Rutgers QB Artur Sitkowski deserves starting job back after career-best day in Boston College loss". NJ.com. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
- ^ Newman, Josh. "Rutgers football: Will Art Sitkowski take another meaningful snap at RU? Why should he?". Asbury Park Press. Retrieved January 6, 2024. [failed verification]
- ^ Kratch, James; Sargent, Keith (November 25, 2019). "Rutgers QB Artur Sitkowski, TE Daevon Robinson enter transfer portal". NJ.com. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
- ^ Tufaro, Greg. "Greg Schiano's first win: Rutgers QB Artur Sitkowski isn't transferring". Asbury Park Press. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
- ^ Kratch, James (November 28, 2020). "Rutgers QB Artur Sitkowski starts vs. Purdue in stunning switch". NJ.com. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
- ^ Patuto, Greg (November 28, 2020). "Multiple quarterback system leads Rutgers to upset victory at Purdue". On The Banks. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
- ^ "Artur Sitkowski 2020 Game Logs". Sports Reference. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
- ^ Kratch, James (April 16, 2021). "Rutgers QB Artur Sitkowski enters transfer portal". NJ.com. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
- ^ Beherns, Bret (April 29, 2021). "Rutgers transfer QB Artur Sitkowski commits to Illinois". WCIA.com. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
- ^ Fonseca, Brian (August 30, 2021). "Ex-Rutgers QB Art Sitkowski shines in Illinois debut, leads Illini to season-opening win". NJ.com. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
- ^ Boyd, James (September 3, 2021). "Watch now: Illinois' Calvin Hart Jr. out for season; Artur Sitkowski named starter". St. Louis Post Dispatch. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
- ^ Kissack, Tristan; Pasquale, Anthony (September 4, 2021). "UTSA holds off Illinois for first-ever Big Ten win". The Champaign Room. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
- ^ "Illinois QB Artur Sitkowski will miss the rest of the season with a broken arm, returning Brandon Peters to the starting lineup". Chicago Tribune. October 25, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
- ^ "Illinois loses QB Artur Sitkowski for the season with broken arm". Chicago Sun-Times. October 26, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
- ^ "Artur Sitkowski 2021 Game Logs". Sports Reference. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
- ^ Hanson, Austin. "Illinois football snaps eight-game losing streak against Iowa". The Daily Iowan. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
- ^ "Artur Sitkowski 2022 Game Logs". Sports Reference. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
- ^ Lazenby, Bryce (December 10, 2022). "Bret Bielema confirms future plans for QB Artur Sitkowski". Saturday Tradition. Retrieved January 6, 2024.