Chris Batti is in his second season on the Harvard football staff as a running backs coaching assistant in 2013.

In Batti’s first season in Cambridge, Harvard averaged 217.3 rushing yards per Ivy game, the best mark in the league by a 42-yard margin. The Crimson ranked 17th nationally in overall rushing at 214.3 yards per game. Treavor Scales ’13 earn first-team All-Ivy League selection while ranking 43rd nationally with 81.6 rushing yards per game.

Batti handles Harvard’s recruiting efforts in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Batti came to Harvard after spending four seasons at Northwestern, including the last two as a graduate assistant and wide receivers coach while earning a master’s degree in sports administration. He initially came to Northwestern in 2008 as a quality control intern while assisting with the offensive line.

In 2011, Northwestern ranked second in the Big Ten in total offense and led the 12-team league in passing offense at 254.2 yards per game. The Wildcats completed a conference-best 71.0 percent of their passes, leading the league with 289 completions. Wide receiver Jeremy Ebert became the first Wildcat since 1998 to top 1,000 yards receiving (1,060) and hauled in 11 touchdowns on 75 receptions while earning second-team All-Big Ten accolades from the media and honorable mention from the coaches.

In 2010, Northwestern ranked third in the Big Ten in passing offense with 242.6 yards per game in the regular season. Quarterback Dan Persa broke the Big Ten record for completion percentage by connecting on 73.5 percent of his throws and earned first-team All-Big Ten honors in the process.

A Glenview, Ill., native, Batti earned his bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2008. Batti played quarterback at Harper College in Palatine, Ill., in 2004-05 and was a member of Harper's 2004 NJCAA national championship club. He earned conference scholar-athlete honors while at Harper and then transferred to Illinois. There, he worked with the Fighting Illini football program in 2007-08 as a student manager.