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Post by purple1 on Dec 22, 2023 18:00:00 GMT -5
Mark Duffner was/is the best football head coach that Holy Cross has ever had. 60W - 5L - 1T is his record. He was vastly under paid, but really bleed purple.... To this day it was his most enjoyable coaching experience with true student athletes. He left for the Maryland position with a 5 year contract and being paid 10 times his Holy Cross salary, plus huge pay grade raises for his assistants. He still hesitated to leave, but the family came first, which it should have. Non-scholarship days ahead for the football program also was a factor, not playing in the 1-AA playoffs, and turning down overtures to play in a bowl game for two years in a row added to the decision. Holy Cross was ranked as the 33rd best team in 1-A & 1-AA.
Bob Chesney was the next best head coach to Duffner. He recaptured the football program at Holy Cross and built a solid foundation. The cupboard is not bare with good student athletes waiting their chance to perform and hopefully he does not take all of the assistant coaches who can help Dan Curran grow the football legacy and point to a national championship in FCS. I hope Bob is successful in his career pursuit to be at the top of his profession - thanks Bob for your input to the football program at Holy Cross !
Now let's all get behind Dan Curran and his staff to enhance the Holy Cross program and experience to new heights.... it is a great day to be a Crusader !
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Post by efg72 on Dec 22, 2023 18:55:00 GMT -5
Chesney is a top 4 coach in the history of Holy Cross football. But probably #3 or #4
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Post by cmo on Dec 22, 2023 19:52:44 GMT -5
It’s Duff
Then a HUGE gap
Then whoever #2 is
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Post by td128 on Dec 22, 2023 20:16:21 GMT -5
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Post by 78purple on Dec 22, 2023 20:22:32 GMT -5
Mark Duffner was/is the best football head coach that Holy Cross has ever had. 60W - 5L - 1T is his record. He was vastly under paid, but really bleed purple.... To this day it was his most enjoyable coaching experience with true student athletes. He left for the Maryland position with a 5 year contract and being paid 10 times his Holy Cross salary, plus huge pay grade raises for his assistants. He still hesitated to leave, but the family came first, which it should have. Non-scholarship days ahead for the football program also was a factor, not playing in the 1-AA playoffs, and turning down overtures to play in a bowl game for two years in a row added to the decision. Holy Cross was ranked as the 33rd best team in 1-A & 1-AA. Bob Chesney was the next best head coach to Duffner. He recaptured the football program at Holy Cross and built a solid foundation. The cupboard is not bare with good student athletes waiting their chance to perform and hopefully he does not take all of the assistant coaches who can help Dan Curran grow the football legacy and point to a national championship in FCS. I hope Bob is successful in his career pursuit to be at the top of his profession - thanks Bob for your input to the football program at Holy Cross ! Now let's all get behind Dan Curran and his staff to enhance the Holy Cross program and experience to new heights.... it is a great day to be a Crusader ! Perfectly said.......there is no comparison.....and I love ches........Duffner had to leave, Chesney chose to leave....Duffner, when scholarships were taken away ( to say nothing of the post season restrictions ), was faced with the decision in his late 30's of essentially become a ridiculously underpaid NESCAC coach, or a real Div 1 coach......not a difficult decision, as outlined above......But, he still gets emotional when talking about his HC years, and regrets he ever left.......I've seen it many times personally. Ches chose to leave, and nothing wrong with that....he left Mt. Saint James much better than he found it, and more power to him...again, not a difficult decision, and one that may not have been present 12 months from now......I get it, and thank you, Ches One of the great " what-ifs " of HC football history is what if those Duffner dynastic teams were allowed to play in the post season.......How our history could have potentially changed......At the same level as the Big East decision
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Post by longsuffering on Dec 22, 2023 20:43:11 GMT -5
Mark Duffner was/is the best football head coach that Holy Cross has ever had. 60W - 5L - 1T is his record. He was vastly under paid, but really bleed purple.... To this day it was his most enjoyable coaching experience with true student athletes. He left for the Maryland position with a 5 year contract and being paid 10 times his Holy Cross salary, plus huge pay grade raises for his assistants. He still hesitated to leave, but the family came first, which it should have. Non-scholarship days ahead for the football program also was a factor, not playing in the 1-AA playoffs, and turning down overtures to play in a bowl game for two years in a row added to the decision. Holy Cross was ranked as the 33rd best team in 1-A & 1-AA. Bob Chesney was the next best head coach to Duffner. He recaptured the football program at Holy Cross and built a solid foundation. The cupboard is not bare with good student athletes waiting their chance to perform and hopefully he does not take all of the assistant coaches who can help Dan Curran grow the football legacy and point to a national championship in FCS. I hope Bob is successful in his career pursuit to be at the top of his profession - thanks Bob for your input to the football program at Holy Cross ! Now let's all get behind Dan Curran and his staff to enhance the Holy Cross program and experience to new heights.... it is a great day to be a Crusader ! Perfectly said.......there is no comparison.....and I love ches........Duffner had to leave, Chesney chose to leave....Duffner, when scholarships were taken away ( to say nothing of the post season restrictions ), was faced with the decision in his late 30's of essentially become a ridiculously underpaid NESCAC coach, or a real Div 1 coach......not a difficult decision, as outlined above......But, he still gets emotional when talking about his HC years, and regrets he ever left.......I've seen it many times personally. Ches chose to leave, and nothing wrong with that....he left Mt. Saint James much better than he found it, and more power to him...again, not a difficult decision, and one that may not have been present 12 months from now......I get it, and thank you, Ches One of the great " what-ifs " of HC football history is what if those Duffner dynastic teams were allowed to play in the post season.......How our history could have potentially changed......At the same level as the Big East decision I remember hoping and even expecting to read an announcement in the T&G or Globe (very undeveloped internet then if there was one) as the undefeated 1987 season played out that Father Brooks had unilaterally decided to accept a post season bid with the explanation of "the league rule sounded good in the conference room, but not when you look these kids in the eye" or something like that. But the announcement never came.
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Post by longsuffering on Dec 22, 2023 20:55:05 GMT -5
It’s Duff Then a HUGE gap Then whoever #2 is If you factor in the state of the cupboard after Carter and Gilmore, Ches looks a little better. He didn't have Duff's record but the degree of difficulty was higher for his dive. I love Coach Duffner but he had a six year window of scholarships when much of the PL didn't have them, the Ivies had not yet gone to free for almost everyone and State University scholarships were for much less actual dollars than the equivalent schollie to HC. To Duff's credit, he maximized his advantages superbly.
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Post by hcpride on Dec 23, 2023 6:55:47 GMT -5
It’s Duff Then a HUGE gap Then whoever #2 is If you factor in the state of the cupboard after Carter and Gilmore, Ches looks a little better. He didn't have Duff's record but the degree of difficulty was higher for his dive. I love Coach Duffner but he had a six year window of scholarships when much of the PL didn't have them, the Ivies had not yet gone to free for almost everyone and State University scholarships were for much less actual dollars than the equivalent schollie to HC. To Duff's credit, he maximized his advantages superbly. Two interesting differences (by no means the only ones) between the Chesney and Duffner circumstances that might partially explain the wide win percentage differences between these two great HC coaches. Duffner had a relatively strong roster (including incoming Carter recruits) when he took over following Coach Carter’s February 1986 death. That first Duff season (1986) was the first of Holy Cross’ CL/PL era ... and Duff led the team to a 10-1 record…and 11-0 the following year. Chesney had a relatively weak roster when he took over when TG was fired. Additionally, he faced the same level of competition (or greater) than his predecessor. Of course, if one goes by the highest national rankings the order may be Duffner, Carter, Chesney.
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Post by hcpride on Dec 23, 2023 8:32:35 GMT -5
I’m sure this has already been posted but this could be a very good game.
TODAY
Armed Forces Bowl Air Force vs. James Madison Fort Worth, Texas 3:30 p.m. | ABC
Edit: I just remembered JMU has a few missing players from this year (QB, etc.). Could be an opportunity for some JMU kids to impress the incoming coach 😎
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Post by purplehaze on Dec 23, 2023 9:22:23 GMT -5
Actually the JMU QB has decided to play even though he’s in the portal - I think the only case among all bowl games
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Post by timholycross on Dec 23, 2023 9:24:42 GMT -5
Mark Duffner was/is the best football head coach that Holy Cross has ever had. 60W - 5L - 1T is his record. He was vastly under paid, but really bleed purple.... To this day it was his most enjoyable coaching experience with true student athletes. He left for the Maryland position with a 5 year contract and being paid 10 times his Holy Cross salary, plus huge pay grade raises for his assistants. He still hesitated to leave, but the family came first, which it should have. Non-scholarship days ahead for the football program also was a factor, not playing in the 1-AA playoffs, and turning down overtures to play in a bowl game for two years in a row added to the decision. Holy Cross was ranked as the 33rd best team in 1-A & 1-AA. Bob Chesney was the next best head coach to Duffner. He recaptured the football program at Holy Cross and built a solid foundation. The cupboard is not bare with good student athletes waiting their chance to perform and hopefully he does not take all of the assistant coaches who can help Dan Curran grow the football legacy and point to a national championship in FCS. I hope Bob is successful in his career pursuit to be at the top of his profession - thanks Bob for your input to the football program at Holy Cross ! Now let's all get behind Dan Curran and his staff to enhance the Holy Cross program and experience to new heights.... it is a great day to be a Crusader ! Perfectly said.......there is no comparison.....and I love ches........Duffner had to leave, Chesney chose to leave....Duffner, when scholarships were taken away ( to say nothing of the post season restrictions ), was faced with the decision in his late 30's of essentially become a ridiculously underpaid NESCAC coach, or a real Div 1 coach......not a difficult decision, as outlined above......But, he still gets emotional when talking about his HC years, and regrets he ever left.......I've seen it many times personally. Ches chose to leave, and nothing wrong with that....he left Mt. Saint James much better than he found it, and more power to him...again, not a difficult decision, and one that may not have been present 12 months from now......I get it, and thank you, Ches One of the great " what-ifs " of HC football history is what if those Duffner dynastic teams were allowed to play in the post season.......How our history could have potentially changed......At the same level as the Big East decision This would never have happened, but in terms of the ramifications; I'd rather have not gone 5-6 years and had scholarships going forward from that than been in the playoffs as scholarships were being phased out and dropped. Took the program over 20 years to recover from that decision.
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Post by timholycross on Dec 23, 2023 9:29:04 GMT -5
Different football really; but no one comes close to Dr. Anderson's teams in the 1930's in terms of results vis-a-vis the competition they played.
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Post by 78purple on Dec 23, 2023 9:44:29 GMT -5
I’m sure this has already been posted but this could be a very good game. TODAY Armed Forces Bowl Air Force vs. James Madison Fort Worth, Texas 3:30 p.m. | ABC Edit: I just remembered JMU has a few missing players from this year (QB, etc.). Could be an opportunity for some JMU kids to impress the incoming coach 😎 Nathan Pine vs. Ches.......can't make it up.....what are the odds ??
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Post by sader1970 on Dec 23, 2023 10:00:49 GMT -5
Not a Chesney team . . . . . yet. Other than cheering from the sidelines.
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Post by trimster on Dec 23, 2023 10:02:19 GMT -5
It’s Duff Then a HUGE gap Then whoever #2 is If you factor in the state of the cupboard after Carter and Gilmore, Ches looks a little better. He didn't have Duff's record but the degree of difficulty was higher for his dive. I love Coach Duffner but he had a six year window of scholarships when much of the PL didn't have them, the Ivies had not yet gone to free for almost everyone and State University scholarships were for much less actual dollars than the equivalent schollie to HC. To Duff's credit, he maximized his advantages superbly. Duffner’s teams were loaded with talent. I would have loved to see those teams play a schedule from the 60’s or 70’s. I think they would have done well.
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Post by 78purple on Dec 23, 2023 10:04:02 GMT -5
Not a Chesney team . . . . . yet. Other than cheering from the sidelines. In opposing press boxes.....and shaking hands on the field pre-game........crazy
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Post by HC92 on Dec 23, 2023 10:07:13 GMT -5
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Post by 78purple on Dec 23, 2023 10:09:50 GMT -5
sometimes no response is the best response
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Post by hcpride on Dec 23, 2023 11:10:09 GMT -5
Actually the JMU QB has decided to play even though he’s in the portal - I think the only case among all bowl games Thanks for the update as that is certainly an interesting move on his part. (I read earlier rumors he might be heading to Indiana but those recently changed .)
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Post by 78purple on Dec 23, 2023 11:12:59 GMT -5
Actually the JMU QB has decided to play even though he’s in the portal - I think the only case among all bowl games Thanks for the update as that is certainly an interesting move on his part. (I read earlier rumors he might be heading to Indians but those recently changed .) It'll be interesting if he hangs around at JMU.....and the effect that might have on Sluka
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Post by cmo on Dec 23, 2023 11:23:26 GMT -5
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Post by HC92 on Dec 23, 2023 12:01:24 GMT -5
Don’t know much about him but the arrogance is a bit too much to take. If he wins at IU, the arrogance will be warranted. That ain’t going to be easy.
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Post by 78purple on Dec 23, 2023 12:02:30 GMT -5
Don’t know much about him but the arrogance is a bit too much to take. If he wins at IU, the arrogance will be warranted. That ain’t going to be easy. Don't want that guy in my living room....
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Post by longsuffering on Dec 23, 2023 12:32:34 GMT -5
Ches will be a breath of fresh air for the JMU faithful. Unless he underperforms with a hollowed out roster.
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Post by hc87 on Dec 23, 2023 12:37:43 GMT -5
If you factor in the state of the cupboard after Carter and Gilmore, Ches looks a little better. He didn't have Duff's record but the degree of difficulty was higher for his dive. I love Coach Duffner but he had a six year window of scholarships when much of the PL didn't have them, the Ivies had not yet gone to free for almost everyone and State University scholarships were for much less actual dollars than the equivalent schollie to HC. To Duff's credit, he maximized his advantages superbly. Duffner’s teams were loaded with talent. I would have loved to see those teams play a schedule from the 60’s or 70’s. I think they would have done well. The Carter/Duffner teams didn't really play much different schedules than the teams of the 60s and 70s, particularly the 70s. If you look at the schedules, we really stopped playing what would be considered a primarily week to week FBS-type schedule when Dr Anderson stepped down in 1964. The bulk of our schedules from then to the PL-era was mostly Ivy, Yankee Conference, lower FBS (like us then) like Villanova, Colgate, Buffalo etc with one or two reach type FBS games (Syracuse, BC etc) a year then. Some like to harp on Duffner for having scholarship teams playing non-scholarship then Colonial League schools but his teams also beat Army twice and many other scholarship teams then: UMass, UConn, W&M etc during his tenure.
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