Mike DiCenso finished his ninth season at Merrimack in 2017-18 and, after a long tenure as offensive line coach, will shift over to the defensive side of the ball to oversee the defensive line.

Under DiCenso's guidance, Merrimack's offensive line has helped produce gaudy numbers for both the Merrimack offense in general, as well as protect some of the top quarterbacks the program has ever seen. In recent years, the offensive line has also produced a number of all-conference and all-region selections. 

With DiCenso leading the defensive line for the first time in 2017, Merrimack did not miss a beat. The Warriors ranked second in the conference with 25 sacks -- trailing only nationally ranked and eventual league champion Assumption in that category. Merrimack also ranked fourth in the league in fumbles recovered (10), while the Warrior rushing defense was phenomenal, allowing only 124.3  yards per game on average, the second-fewest allowed in the league. Merrimack would eventually produce an all-conference first team selection in Jesse Jones last fall, as four Warriors ranked in the top-10 in the league in individual sacks, each having four or more on the season.

The 2016 season saw the offensive line limit the opposition to only 24 sacks on the year while helping create opportunities for an offense that averaged over 165 rushing yards per game, its highest per-game rushing average since the 2011 season. One member of the unit also earned all-conference recognition, as well.

In the 2015 season, DiCenso saw two members of his offensive line earn all-conference recognition, as the unit helped produce 342.8 yards per game and 28.0 points per game (3rd/NE-10). The offensive line also yielded only 23 sacks on the season, including only 18 against league competition. Merrimack held two opponents without a sack and three more to just one during the 2015 campaign.

DiCenso's offensive line previously helped lead senior Joe Clancy to one of the most prolific single-season passing campaigns in school, conference and Division II history in both 2012 and 2013. That offensive lined helped Clancy compile historic number in each of those seaosns en route to being named a two-time Northeast-10 Conference Offensive Player of the Year and Harlon Hill Trophy regional finalist.

Prior to leading the offensive line, DiCenso led defensive lineman Tony Johnson to the Northeast-10 Conference Defensive Lineman of the Year Award in 2010 and was named an All-American. 

DiCenso brought in eight years of coaching experience, including four years at Arlington Catholic High School as the offensive line coach and special teams coordinator. He spent 2008 as the co-offensive coordinator at Framingham State, where he coached the first 1,000 yard rusher in program history. DiCenso also coached at Curry College in 2007, serving as the defensive backs coach for the NEFC champions.

A 2002 graduate from Bridgewater State where he played offensive line, DiCenso teaches adapted physical education for the LABBB Collaborative Program in Lexington and currently resides in North Andover, Massachusetts, with his wife, Angela, and two daughters, Ariana and Gabriella.