July 26 - PL Media Day

Nova this low is a little shocking. Elon that high by the same token. Finally - Campbell at #12 after their recruiting classes the last few years is not a good look. Top 5 in this league should make tourney.

And now they have our Jake Reich to help on the DL! Watch out for him CAA!

Stony Brook is a train wreck and I am shocked they are not picked to be dead last in the CAA. Hampton must be terrible. Stony Brook's QB issues last year defy description. This year they brought in a portal transfer from very deep on Buffalo's depth chart. He's apparently starting (although he has yet to throw a college pass). A long season in Suffolk County.

Chuck's a good guy and a good follow on Twitter/X (this is still a dumb rebrand). Worth it for anyone whos semi active on twitter during the season

Love that Coach Chesney brings in a Navy Seal to talk to the team

Virtual media days are Mickey Mouse at best.

Lazy Patriot League.

Football Journal®
PATRIOTS
PATRIOTS DRAFT
BOSTON COLLEGE
COLLEGE
UMASS
UCONN
HARVARD
HIGH SCHOOL
NFL DRAFT
RECRUITING
PIRATES
Home / College / Holy Cross Crusaders / Crusaders ready for pursuit of 5th straight league title – Patriot League Media Day coverage
Crusaders ready for pursuit of 5th straight league title – Patriot League Media Day coverage

Posted By Kevin Stone on July 25, 2023


Image courtesy of Logos World

It was a clean sweep for the Crusaders when the Patriot League preseason awards and coaches poll came out on Tuesday.

Matt Sluka was named preseason Offensive Player of the Year and Jacob Dobbs was named Defensive Player of the Year. The Crusaders were also selected to finish in first, which would mean a ridiculous fifth straight Patriot League championship. Still, head coach Bob Chesney, Sluka and Dobbs didn’t seem all that excited when they spoke during Media Day on Tuesday.

Holy Cross is about championships. After being ranked in the Top 10 throughout the 2022 season and taking the eventual National Champions to the fourth quarter in the NCAA FCS quarterfinals a year ago, there’s a sense of unfinished business, but it’s not changing the one day at a time approach. Here’s what the three of them had to say during the Zoom call…

CHESNEY OPENING STATEMENT

“Excited to be here. Season’s just around the corner and we’re all very excited to get this started. Obviously, a new year and a new team. There’s very little that we’ll look back on and expect those things to go the exact same way. We understand that ultimately, we’ve got to just continue to grow and get better in every aspect of our program. The thing I’m out excited about is, we had our banquet in the spring and I looked around and the parents, our staff, our sports medicine staff, the janitors here at the school, our new president, new AD, everyone’s just doing their absolute best right now. Everyone that touches this program. The sports information directors…everybody. It’s just a phenomenal program right now. We all have an understanding that we have a responsibility and I think everybody’s holding up their end of the bargain here. I think we’re in a really good spot. We’re excited to get this thing going. It’s been a good summer and I thought our spring was extremely competitive and summer was just more of the same. We have a guy that’s an alum that’s a Navy Seal come in and talk and something that’s stood with a lot of us, is he said ‘it didn’t matter how great the mission was the day before, ultimately, nobody cares about the last gun fight.” That’s something we use quite a bit. Nobody cares what we did last season…this is a brand new team and we’re getting right back at it.”

CHESNEY ON FOCUSING ON THE PRESENT AND NOT THE PAST

“For us, it’s ultimately about what got us to this moment. What got us to this moment was focusing on the little things. us focusing on the day-to-day and us focusing on understanding we can only control what we can control. Whatever article someone writes or how good it might be, or bad it might be, it’s truly irrelevant to what we’re about to do that day and what we’re about to do throughout that whole season. Day-by-day is where our focus lies and the guys do a really god job of that. It is very, very competitive on this team right now in everything they do. In the weight room it’s competitive, on the field it’s competitive. Every place they go, everything they do…we played paintball last night and even that was super competitive. It’s just a competitive group and it’s fun to share that time with them and watch them grow. Here’s two great examples (Sluka and Dobbs). Two guys that came into this program and changed it very, very quickly. Jake’s first year here, we won a championship and it had a lot to do with his work ethic and his belief and the way he led this team. You start to add more and more talent to it and you get what we have here today, which is a team that’s ready to work and compete every single day. That’s kind of where we’re at right now as far as expectations. It’s day-to-day and the leading cause of failure is mismanaged success. We’re going to make sure we manage it properly…it’s about what we’re about to do, not anything to do with what we just did.”

CHESNEY ON WATCHING THE LEADERSHIP GET PASSED DOWN YEAR TO YEAR DURING THIS RUN

“I think there’s been great examples of guys that have come through here. I think about Kuz and Reichwein a year ago. They joined the team…and there’s a lot of others in there too, but those are voices you heard every single day. When they got here we weren’t very good, but they believed. They had to back that belief with a ton of hard work and did that, and then the expectations continued to rise. These guys each and every year have to learn from those guys, but also maybe learn from what those guys didn’t do as well and then find their way to insert themselves and make sure they’re leading in their own way as well. I think it takes a full group[. We break out team all winter long into five groups and these two are captains of one of the teams in there. To watch them grow as leaders and feed off each other, it’s something that we really needed to have. Very, very proud and pleased with the growth of all of the guys on our team. The guys’ names you’re going to know, Sluka, Dobbs, they’re leading at an elite level right now and a lot of other guys are doing the same.”

CHESNEY ON IF LAST YEAR’S DEEP RUN AND GAME AGAINST SDSU CHANGES ANYTHING

“Our goal is to be the best. Period. Whatever that means at the end of the year, we can’t really control. We can control what we do each and every single day to handle it. There’s not one moment of play at a practice we’re going to look past. There’s not one opponent we’re going to look past. We understand we’re not going to get to what is perceived as, or the actual best if we don’t take care of business every day.I think that’s something we understand, but it does give you some confidence to go against a team like that. I think any loss leaves a bad taste in your mouth. That was our last feeling on the football field and I think it’s one that’s certainly driven us through this offseason.”

DOBBS ON EXPECTATIONS AFTER DEEP RUN LAST YEAR

“When I first got here back in 2019, the expectation was the same it is now. Continue to be your best every single day. Perform at an elite level in practice. Off the field, in the class room, in the community, the standard has always remained the standard. I think when you talk about being the best and then you get to go up against the best and you see how close you were or how close you are, it’s an exciting feeling and gives you more hope and a lot more optimism for the future. Obviously, every time you lose a football game you still lose a football game. Whether you lose by 20 or you lose by one, a loss is a loss. You take it with a grain of salt and get better because of it. I think seeing what’s possibly on the horizon adds another fire inside you to be like, ‘holy crap, we can do something special,’ so I definitely think it’s a lot of motivation at the end of the day. We still lost a football game and have the standard to be the best every day here. I think that remains constant and that’s how you remain elite.”

SLUKA ON EXPECTATIONS AFTER DEEP RUN LAST YEAR

“For me it’s a little different. I came in here and the team was already Patriot League champions. For me, it was just making sure I came back, took the next step and win some playoff games. Lead the team, lead the guys. For me, it’s always been the goal to go for a National Championship…up until the fourth quarter (against SDSU) we were with them. It gives you a little fire and fuel. I’m ready to go.”

SLUKA ON ANY PARTICULAR GAME IN 2022 THAT SERVED AS A BIG LEARNING EXPERIENCE

“I would say the biggest step I took or bigger turnaround for me was the Lafayette game. I struggled a lot during that game. Luckily, we squeezed it out at the end on a fourth down touchdown to Justin Shorter, but after that, I knew I had Fordham the next week. Definitely just going back to my preparation because the week before it wasn’t so good. How can I make it better and everything like that? We came out against Fordham and had a much better game. Just overall, that step of understanding, you know, how to turn from a bad game to a good game was a huge step for me.”

DOBBS ON HAVING TO SIT OUT LAST YEAR

“I might have a different perspective on it. The more we won, the more at peace I was with it. I think not being able to do anything when your guys are out there struggling is probably the hardest thing in the world. We got in games where it was tough and things weren’t going our way, I think that was the hardest for me. Those sunny days where we were winning gave me a lot of peace with (the injury). Obviously, it sucks not being out there, but you can’t make it about you. It was never about me, it’s always been about the other guys next to me. So, even though in those moments I may not be on the field, but I can still affect things in a positive way with my energy on the sideline or being an extension of the coaching staff. If there’s something I see I wasn’t afraid to speak out. Like, ‘hey, listen, they’re running this play, we’re short here, we need to get a guy here,’ and then maybe I’d be correct or completely wrong, but at least there was some input on my end. Being able to positively affect our team, even though I wasn’t out there making a tackle or anything like that. It definitely wasn’t easy, but it was a good character building experience that I definitely think is one of the best experiences of my life because it made me a better man, made me a better football player because of how much I cherish the game now. Definitely appreciative of the experience I went through the last couple months, but definitely happy to be on the other end of it and excited for this year.”

DOBBS ON HOW EXCITED HE IS TO PLAY AGAIN

“I’m not sure there’s a word in the English language that can describe how excited I am to play football again. If I could fast forward to next week and start camp I would do it. I’d hit a button and be on the field practicing. I just think the injury was a good thing in a sense where, every single day, I thought I loved football, but I found a new love for it. The practices are going to be that much more fun and that much more enjoyable for me. I’m really looking forward to it.”

SLUKA ON HOW EXCITED HE IS TO PLAY AGAIN

“I’m really excited as well. We’ve got a great group of freshmen to come up and join us this summer, I’m excited to see what they bring to our team. Overall, I think the guys have been working hard. It’s been a great summer so far and we’re just ready to roll into camp and I’m excited for the first game.”

BOTH ON BEING NAMED PRESEASON OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE PLAYERS OF THE YEAR

Dobbs: “Obviously, anytime you’re recognized for an individual award it’s a big thing, but the most success you can have as an individual is when you’re on a great team. People are recognized because they’re a part of great teams. Obviously, it’s a great honor to be named that in the preseason, but the one that matters is at the end of the season. I don’t get and Matt doesn’t get any extra votes when it comes down at the end of the year for being preseason player of the year. It’s all just projections. It’s extremely flattering, but at the same time it doesn’t matter, just get better as we always say. It’s nice, but at the end of the day, the only polls that matter are the ones that come out at the end when the season’s all over.”

Sluka: “Same goes for me. Obviously, it’s team first. I’m grateful to play with such great players on offense and it makes my job real easy. It’s a great accomplishment so far I guess, although preseason doesn’t really mean much. We’ll see, we’ll see what comes. Just excited for the season and just excited to play football again honestly. Just excited for another great year.”

Posted in College, Holy Cross Crusaders