Note from Coach Chesney on Team Progress
May 7, 2018 16:15:50 GMT -5
A Clock Tower Purple, WCHC Sports, and 2 more like this
Post by Chu Chu on May 7, 2018 16:15:50 GMT -5
This great email from Coach was in my in box this afternoon. I imagine that most of you have also received it, but copy it here for you incase that is not true. I found it very informative and upbeat. This guy is on fire! Go Cross!
I want to reach out to inform you of how things are going here in Worcester with YOUR team.
First, let me start by saying how proud our staff is to be coaching these young men at this prestigious institution. The history of Holy Cross speaks for itself, and the pride, honor, and belief you have in this school and our program is noticed and appreciated by our team and staff. It is our responsibility, but more so, our honor to bring your Crusaders back to a position of prominence in the FCS College Football landscape. I have had the opportunity to meet many of you in my travels to Charlotte, Chicago, Boston, Worcester, and New York. I FEEL your passion and I hope that you feel mine.
The past few months have been exciting and filled with hope for the future of our program.
Our staff quickly fell into place and familiar faces like Ari Confessor '04, Anthony DiMichele '11 and Chris Smith '09 are all on board and excited for our future. We solidified a strong recruiting class, and we feel that these thirty-one young men will help fill some of the voids left by the twenty-seven seniors who departed at the conclusion of last season.
Once our recruiting class was solidified and our current team returned from break, we began our winter conditioning and then moved into spring practices. Given that a third of our team will not arrive until June, overall roster numbers posed some issues. We strategically built a competitive, intense and efficient practice structure that prevented the numbers from being a glaring issue to our current team. (I'm not sure the two Corners who took just about every repetition this Spring would agree with that statement...but that was our intent, and for the most part we succeeded.)
Overall, Spring Ball exceeded ALL of our expectations. With the Luth Athletic Complex, inclement weather was NOT an issue. Many teams in the Northeast delayed the start of their Spring Season or had to suspend and restart with a condensed schedule due to late weather...we had no such issues. During the Spring, each of the three Saturday practices were formatted as scrimmages and we had referees present. These practices were open to the public and were coupled with Junior Visit Days, averaging just over 100 prospective student-athletes at each Saturday practice.
The Spring Game was a HUGE success. Over 190 youth football players from the Worcester area started the day with a fun, instructional clinic on Fitton Field followed by an autograph session at the conclusion of the game. Over 75 prospective student athletes from all over the country were in attendance at the game and over 350 family members, alumni, and fans joined us post-game for a barbecue on Freshman Field. We stayed healthy, learned a little more about our current team and spent some much needed time with the youth of our great city. It was a very productive day!!!
The week following our Spring Game was a successful week OFF the field. Our players spent Wednesday taking part in our Big Brother's Program, Thursday was spent at the school's theater performance, Friday was devoted to supporting the men's lacrosse student-athletes in their game against Boston University, and on Saturday we spent the entire morning involved in community service initiatives with Holy Cross Cares Day. Our team understands the importance of supporting others and I am sure that in time, the support will be returned.
This past weekend was the Luth Athletic Complex Dedication Ceremony. Many other areas within the building were dedicated during the event. The William P. Maloney '59 Football Office Suite was dedicated during this time and seeing first-hand, the impact Bill had on so many of our alumni was inspiring. We will spend every day in this suite trying to live up to the standard Bill set.
The Mark Duffner Head Football Coach Office was also dedicated this past weekend. I want to take a moment on this one.
It became VERY evident to me within the first few minutes of Coach Duffner and his team's arrival what made those teams great. Of course the wins played a large role, but the wins were merely a by-product of the brotherhood, love, commitment to excellence and TRUE, HONEST care for each and every member of that team -- 60-5-1, Heisman Trophy Candidate, #1 Rankings and future NFL players and coaches does not JUST HAPPEN!!! The entire Holy Cross Community was aligned with those teams and not because they HAD to be, but because they WANTED to be. The community wanted to be supportive because those teams gave the community something to be proud of ON and OFF the field.
At multiple points throughout the storied history of this great program, WE WERE THE BEST!!! Currently in FCS College Football our facilities can be considered the BEST. Our schedule, as demanding as it may be, can be considered one of the BEST. Our undergrad and post-graduate mentoring program can be considered the BEST and our alumni fundraising and overall support can be considered the BEST.
The administration and alumni base have done their part........Our turn now.
Let's Win!!!!!!!!!!!
Sincerely,
Bob Chesney
Head Football Coach
I want to reach out to inform you of how things are going here in Worcester with YOUR team.
First, let me start by saying how proud our staff is to be coaching these young men at this prestigious institution. The history of Holy Cross speaks for itself, and the pride, honor, and belief you have in this school and our program is noticed and appreciated by our team and staff. It is our responsibility, but more so, our honor to bring your Crusaders back to a position of prominence in the FCS College Football landscape. I have had the opportunity to meet many of you in my travels to Charlotte, Chicago, Boston, Worcester, and New York. I FEEL your passion and I hope that you feel mine.
The past few months have been exciting and filled with hope for the future of our program.
Our staff quickly fell into place and familiar faces like Ari Confessor '04, Anthony DiMichele '11 and Chris Smith '09 are all on board and excited for our future. We solidified a strong recruiting class, and we feel that these thirty-one young men will help fill some of the voids left by the twenty-seven seniors who departed at the conclusion of last season.
Once our recruiting class was solidified and our current team returned from break, we began our winter conditioning and then moved into spring practices. Given that a third of our team will not arrive until June, overall roster numbers posed some issues. We strategically built a competitive, intense and efficient practice structure that prevented the numbers from being a glaring issue to our current team. (I'm not sure the two Corners who took just about every repetition this Spring would agree with that statement...but that was our intent, and for the most part we succeeded.)
Overall, Spring Ball exceeded ALL of our expectations. With the Luth Athletic Complex, inclement weather was NOT an issue. Many teams in the Northeast delayed the start of their Spring Season or had to suspend and restart with a condensed schedule due to late weather...we had no such issues. During the Spring, each of the three Saturday practices were formatted as scrimmages and we had referees present. These practices were open to the public and were coupled with Junior Visit Days, averaging just over 100 prospective student-athletes at each Saturday practice.
The Spring Game was a HUGE success. Over 190 youth football players from the Worcester area started the day with a fun, instructional clinic on Fitton Field followed by an autograph session at the conclusion of the game. Over 75 prospective student athletes from all over the country were in attendance at the game and over 350 family members, alumni, and fans joined us post-game for a barbecue on Freshman Field. We stayed healthy, learned a little more about our current team and spent some much needed time with the youth of our great city. It was a very productive day!!!
The week following our Spring Game was a successful week OFF the field. Our players spent Wednesday taking part in our Big Brother's Program, Thursday was spent at the school's theater performance, Friday was devoted to supporting the men's lacrosse student-athletes in their game against Boston University, and on Saturday we spent the entire morning involved in community service initiatives with Holy Cross Cares Day. Our team understands the importance of supporting others and I am sure that in time, the support will be returned.
This past weekend was the Luth Athletic Complex Dedication Ceremony. Many other areas within the building were dedicated during the event. The William P. Maloney '59 Football Office Suite was dedicated during this time and seeing first-hand, the impact Bill had on so many of our alumni was inspiring. We will spend every day in this suite trying to live up to the standard Bill set.
The Mark Duffner Head Football Coach Office was also dedicated this past weekend. I want to take a moment on this one.
It became VERY evident to me within the first few minutes of Coach Duffner and his team's arrival what made those teams great. Of course the wins played a large role, but the wins were merely a by-product of the brotherhood, love, commitment to excellence and TRUE, HONEST care for each and every member of that team -- 60-5-1, Heisman Trophy Candidate, #1 Rankings and future NFL players and coaches does not JUST HAPPEN!!! The entire Holy Cross Community was aligned with those teams and not because they HAD to be, but because they WANTED to be. The community wanted to be supportive because those teams gave the community something to be proud of ON and OFF the field.
At multiple points throughout the storied history of this great program, WE WERE THE BEST!!! Currently in FCS College Football our facilities can be considered the BEST. Our schedule, as demanding as it may be, can be considered one of the BEST. Our undergrad and post-graduate mentoring program can be considered the BEST and our alumni fundraising and overall support can be considered the BEST.
The administration and alumni base have done their part........Our turn now.
Let's Win!!!!!!!!!!!
Sincerely,
Bob Chesney
Head Football Coach
) we've had a lack of depth on numerous occasions at this position and has hurt us. Ya think some of those recruited "athletes" might be placed here? 