Post by thecrossisback on May 2, 2021 8:04:00 GMT -5
From the Telegram
Where are they now: Former Holy Cross football coach Peter Vaas remains excited about game
Since coaching Holy Cross in 1990s, Peter Vaas has enjoyed all football has offered around the world, from coaching to serving as replay official
Former Holy Cross coach Peter Vaas, center, and his family sit for a photo.
Peter Vaas was up at 4 a.m. last Sunday, reading emails and sending texts, and trying to fill out the roster for the Alphas, a team in The Spring League, a professional football development league in its fifth season.
The Alphas recently named Vaas head coach.
“Young players looking for an opportunity to make a second first impression, that’s what this league is all about,” Vaas said in a phone interview from Indianapolis, where the Alphas will play their six-game season with the three other members of the league’s North Division.
Quarterbacks and receivers reported Monday, and it was a hectic first day on the new job, but Vaas, the former Holy Cross quarterback and, later, Crusaders coach from 1992-95, whose career has spanned 47 years, seemed to be enjoying the excitement.
“I still enjoy the challenges and competing,” the 69-year-old Vaas said. “It’s just another adventure. I haven’t stopped, and I don’t intend to.”
Vaas, who grew up in Westwood, and his wife, Rosann, make their home in Tampa, Florida, and their daughters, Katelyn and Kelly, and their families, live nearby.
They spend the summer months at their cottage on Lake Massasecum in Bradford, N.H. Vaas’ three grandchildren are the fifth generation in his family to spend time on the lake. His grandmother started the tradition by purchasing an old farmhouse there in 1926.
“Any new challenges I take on have to allow me to function or travel from Tampa and/or New Hampshire,” Vaas said.
In addition to coaching around the country, in Canada, and in Europe, Vaas, through the years, has been a private quarterbacks instructor, camp director and scout. He has evaluated players and spoken to businesses about the benefits of teamwork, announced for ESPN, and helped parents and their children navigate recruiting. Since 2014, Vaas has worked as an instant replay official. In 2013, Vaas established his limited liability company (LLC), Everything Football. That really sums it up.
Peter Vaas has had a lengthty, varied career in football since serving as Holy Cross head coach.
“I’ve done everything under the sun in football that you can imagine,” Vaas said.
Vaas made the Holy Cross roster as a walk-on and became a three-year starting QB for the Crusaders. As a senior, he set nine individual school passing records, and finished his career with 2,642 passing yards and 21 touchdowns.
A few months after graduating from HC and earning his degree in history, Vaas got his start in coaching -- as a janitor in the gym at Allegheny College. He was also an assistant football and basketball coach there, director of intramurals and became a full-time faculty member.
From Allegheny, he went to the University of New Hampshire as an assistant, and went back to Allegheny in 1986 to become head coach. His 1987 team went 9-0-1, the program’s first unbeaten season in 70 years, and advanced to the NCAA Division 3 playoffs.
Vaas is a member of the Westwood High and Allegheny halls of fame.
Before returning to Holy Cross as coach in 1992, Vaas spent two seasons as an assistant under Lou Holtz at the University of Notre Dame.
Vaas succeeded Mark Duffner at HC, and took over the first year the school discontinued scholarships. At the time, Vaas acknowledged, “There can’t be a more challenging position to accept in college football today. I’ll look this challenge squarely in the eye.”
The ’92 Holy Cross team finished 6-5, followed by three straight sub-.500 seasons. In 1995, HC fired Vaas after his teams compiled a 14-30 record in four seasons.
“Needless to say,” Vaas said, “the years there, I felt they were frustrating. At that point in time, I went into it with my eyes wide open, knowing they were transitioning from a scholarship program to a non-scholarship program, and it was just frustrating because I didn’t feel as though they really knew what they were doing or how they were going to do it.
"The idea they have now gone back to scholarship I find ironic, the way the philosophies of the institutions can change over the course of time. I wish we had more success because of the players that were there. I know the coaches we had there and the effort that we put in was all done with positive intentions.
“In the time period I was there,” Vaas said, “I’m not sure (Holy Cross) knew what it wanted to be. That part of it was frustrating, disappointing certainly, but that’s all washed away if we win. We didn’t win. Bottom line. This is a production business, and obviously we didn’t produce.”
From Worcester, Vaas went on to become the Montreal Alouettes offensive coordinator for one season, then embarked on an eight-year run in NFL Europe. Vaas guided the Berlin Thunder to back-to-back World Bowl championships in 2001 and 2002 and was the league’s 2002 Coach of the Year. He also coached the Cologne Centurions, and was an assistant for the Barcelona Dragons.
Vaas returned to Notre Dame as quarterbacks coach in 2005, and later was an assistant at Duke, Miami (Ohio) and South Florida.
“All of (the experiences) have had their special moments,” Vaas said, “every single one of them. That doesn’t mean you always won championships, but you were always involved with great people.”
In 2013, Vaas went to work as an analyst for ESPN.
“As a rookie, you don’t get a full schedule,” Vaas said, “so I got restless – ‘I need something else I can do during the fall.’”
Vaas sent an email to former college and NFL official Terry McAulay, who got Vaas involved with instant replay. For six years, Vaas worked for the American Athletic Conference, the first two as a communicator and the last two as the replay official. In 2020, he was promoted to the Atlantic Coast Conference as a replay official, and a little more than a year ago, Vaas also became assistant supervisor in charge of replay for the Colonial, Ivy and Patriot leagues. In that role, he instructs replay officials and evaluates their performances.
“During instant replay you put on a different set of glasses and watch through a different set of eyes,” Vaas said. “Most of the calls you have in replay are black and white — ‘Did he step on the line? Did the ball hit the ground? Did he make the catch?’ You have to have indisputable evidence to change a call on the field. ‘I think’ doesn’t count.
“It’s a fascinating mind game on how you train yourself to think,” Vaas said, “and needless to say for the people who watched me on the sidelines, I was far from one of those cerebral, calm individuals. I was much more emotional and vociferous, and many, many of the people who are involved in replay remember me from the sidelines, so I had to overcome some obstacles, let’s put it that way.”
Vaas will be back on the sideline Thursday night when the Alphas open against the Aviators.
“Obviously I’ve been involved with replay the last eight years,” Vaas said, “so my wife has asked me, ‘Are you going to be different on the sideline now? Are you going to embarrass yourself like before?’ My answer to her is, ‘Honey, I don’t know until I get there. I’ll probably be fine until a call goes against me, then I’m going to be me.’
“In dealing with people, I’d like to think I’ve always been straightforward and honest,” Vaas said. “I’d like to think I’ve always had an intensity about me. I hope I still have it. If I don’t, it’s time to go home. Has (my coaching style) changed? Probably. I think I’ve adapted to a lot of different things. It changes based on situations and circumstances and positions; I’m different as an assistant than a head coach. Bottom line is I certainly hope I still have an intensity about me and I hope I convey that intensity in a positive way.”
—Contact Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @jentandg.
Where are they now: Former Holy Cross football coach Peter Vaas remains excited about game
Since coaching Holy Cross in 1990s, Peter Vaas has enjoyed all football has offered around the world, from coaching to serving as replay official
Former Holy Cross coach Peter Vaas, center, and his family sit for a photo.
Peter Vaas was up at 4 a.m. last Sunday, reading emails and sending texts, and trying to fill out the roster for the Alphas, a team in The Spring League, a professional football development league in its fifth season.
The Alphas recently named Vaas head coach.
“Young players looking for an opportunity to make a second first impression, that’s what this league is all about,” Vaas said in a phone interview from Indianapolis, where the Alphas will play their six-game season with the three other members of the league’s North Division.
Quarterbacks and receivers reported Monday, and it was a hectic first day on the new job, but Vaas, the former Holy Cross quarterback and, later, Crusaders coach from 1992-95, whose career has spanned 47 years, seemed to be enjoying the excitement.
“I still enjoy the challenges and competing,” the 69-year-old Vaas said. “It’s just another adventure. I haven’t stopped, and I don’t intend to.”
Vaas, who grew up in Westwood, and his wife, Rosann, make their home in Tampa, Florida, and their daughters, Katelyn and Kelly, and their families, live nearby.
They spend the summer months at their cottage on Lake Massasecum in Bradford, N.H. Vaas’ three grandchildren are the fifth generation in his family to spend time on the lake. His grandmother started the tradition by purchasing an old farmhouse there in 1926.
“Any new challenges I take on have to allow me to function or travel from Tampa and/or New Hampshire,” Vaas said.
In addition to coaching around the country, in Canada, and in Europe, Vaas, through the years, has been a private quarterbacks instructor, camp director and scout. He has evaluated players and spoken to businesses about the benefits of teamwork, announced for ESPN, and helped parents and their children navigate recruiting. Since 2014, Vaas has worked as an instant replay official. In 2013, Vaas established his limited liability company (LLC), Everything Football. That really sums it up.
Peter Vaas has had a lengthty, varied career in football since serving as Holy Cross head coach.
“I’ve done everything under the sun in football that you can imagine,” Vaas said.
Vaas made the Holy Cross roster as a walk-on and became a three-year starting QB for the Crusaders. As a senior, he set nine individual school passing records, and finished his career with 2,642 passing yards and 21 touchdowns.
A few months after graduating from HC and earning his degree in history, Vaas got his start in coaching -- as a janitor in the gym at Allegheny College. He was also an assistant football and basketball coach there, director of intramurals and became a full-time faculty member.
From Allegheny, he went to the University of New Hampshire as an assistant, and went back to Allegheny in 1986 to become head coach. His 1987 team went 9-0-1, the program’s first unbeaten season in 70 years, and advanced to the NCAA Division 3 playoffs.
Vaas is a member of the Westwood High and Allegheny halls of fame.
Before returning to Holy Cross as coach in 1992, Vaas spent two seasons as an assistant under Lou Holtz at the University of Notre Dame.
Vaas succeeded Mark Duffner at HC, and took over the first year the school discontinued scholarships. At the time, Vaas acknowledged, “There can’t be a more challenging position to accept in college football today. I’ll look this challenge squarely in the eye.”
The ’92 Holy Cross team finished 6-5, followed by three straight sub-.500 seasons. In 1995, HC fired Vaas after his teams compiled a 14-30 record in four seasons.
“Needless to say,” Vaas said, “the years there, I felt they were frustrating. At that point in time, I went into it with my eyes wide open, knowing they were transitioning from a scholarship program to a non-scholarship program, and it was just frustrating because I didn’t feel as though they really knew what they were doing or how they were going to do it.
"The idea they have now gone back to scholarship I find ironic, the way the philosophies of the institutions can change over the course of time. I wish we had more success because of the players that were there. I know the coaches we had there and the effort that we put in was all done with positive intentions.
“In the time period I was there,” Vaas said, “I’m not sure (Holy Cross) knew what it wanted to be. That part of it was frustrating, disappointing certainly, but that’s all washed away if we win. We didn’t win. Bottom line. This is a production business, and obviously we didn’t produce.”
From Worcester, Vaas went on to become the Montreal Alouettes offensive coordinator for one season, then embarked on an eight-year run in NFL Europe. Vaas guided the Berlin Thunder to back-to-back World Bowl championships in 2001 and 2002 and was the league’s 2002 Coach of the Year. He also coached the Cologne Centurions, and was an assistant for the Barcelona Dragons.
Vaas returned to Notre Dame as quarterbacks coach in 2005, and later was an assistant at Duke, Miami (Ohio) and South Florida.
“All of (the experiences) have had their special moments,” Vaas said, “every single one of them. That doesn’t mean you always won championships, but you were always involved with great people.”
In 2013, Vaas went to work as an analyst for ESPN.
“As a rookie, you don’t get a full schedule,” Vaas said, “so I got restless – ‘I need something else I can do during the fall.’”
Vaas sent an email to former college and NFL official Terry McAulay, who got Vaas involved with instant replay. For six years, Vaas worked for the American Athletic Conference, the first two as a communicator and the last two as the replay official. In 2020, he was promoted to the Atlantic Coast Conference as a replay official, and a little more than a year ago, Vaas also became assistant supervisor in charge of replay for the Colonial, Ivy and Patriot leagues. In that role, he instructs replay officials and evaluates their performances.
“During instant replay you put on a different set of glasses and watch through a different set of eyes,” Vaas said. “Most of the calls you have in replay are black and white — ‘Did he step on the line? Did the ball hit the ground? Did he make the catch?’ You have to have indisputable evidence to change a call on the field. ‘I think’ doesn’t count.
“It’s a fascinating mind game on how you train yourself to think,” Vaas said, “and needless to say for the people who watched me on the sidelines, I was far from one of those cerebral, calm individuals. I was much more emotional and vociferous, and many, many of the people who are involved in replay remember me from the sidelines, so I had to overcome some obstacles, let’s put it that way.”
Vaas will be back on the sideline Thursday night when the Alphas open against the Aviators.
“Obviously I’ve been involved with replay the last eight years,” Vaas said, “so my wife has asked me, ‘Are you going to be different on the sideline now? Are you going to embarrass yourself like before?’ My answer to her is, ‘Honey, I don’t know until I get there. I’ll probably be fine until a call goes against me, then I’m going to be me.’
“In dealing with people, I’d like to think I’ve always been straightforward and honest,” Vaas said. “I’d like to think I’ve always had an intensity about me. I hope I still have it. If I don’t, it’s time to go home. Has (my coaching style) changed? Probably. I think I’ve adapted to a lot of different things. It changes based on situations and circumstances and positions; I’m different as an assistant than a head coach. Bottom line is I certainly hope I still have an intensity about me and I hope I convey that intensity in a positive way.”
—Contact Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @jentandg.
