Posted by: MARC THALER, UnionLeader.com
How has the economy affected recruiting for college football?
At the highest level, the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A), nothing has changed, according to this article in the Miami Herald today (Friday, Jan. 30).
For obvious reasons, this story focuses on Florida’s high school football scene. Toward the end of the article, however, you’ll find a few paragraphs that may be more relevant to college football programs in the Granite State.
Keith Jones
Posted by: MARC THALER, UnionLeader.com
New Hampshire’s football community is feverishly working to help one of its coaches. You can read about this statewide team effort in the print editions of the New Hampshire Union Leader today (Friday, Jan. 30).
Harris Jones, the 2-year-old son of Milford High head football coach Keith Jones, was severely injured in a snowmobile accident earlier this month. Fundraising efforts are under way to help Keith Jones and his wife, Kelly, contend with mounting medical expenses for their only child.
Harris Jones recently underwent multiple surgeries at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon to save his right leg. It was badly hurt in “a freak accident” on Jan. 18, Milford athletic director Marc Maurais said.
Mike Ivanoski, head coach of Division IV Hanover, is spearheading a pancake breakfast one week from Sunday. The Feb. 8 fundraiser takes place at the Black Recreation Center, across from Hanover High, from 8:30 to 11 a.m.
Ivanoski said he hopes high school coaches across the state’s six divisions, local college coaches, and officials will attend. Donations to purchase food and raffle prizes for the breakfast are also needed.
The Milford community is also attempting to finalize three fundraisers, Maurais said.
The first fundraiser is a February waffle breakfast hosted by the Milford fire department. The second is a March spaghetti supper at Milford High. The third is an April event at Hampshire Hills Sports and Fitness Club in Milford.
Maurais is also encouraging people to donate non-perishable items at Milford’s home basketball games. Donations will go to David’s House, which is providing housing and support for Keith and Kelly Jones while their son receives treatment at the hospital.
Checks can be sent to: The Harris Jones Fund, TD Banknorth, P.O. Box 783, Amherst, N.H., 03031.
For more information about the Feb. 8 fundraiser in Hanover, contact Ivanoski at 298-7495 (home), 491-9777 (cell), or at Coach_I@yahoo.com.
Posted by: MARC THALER, UnionLeader.com
Since the conclusion of the 2008 campaign, there has been talk of Amherst’s Souhegan High and Laconia High playing different “crossover” competition in 2009, effectively ending the two-year scheduling agreement one year early.
Souhegan head coach Mike Beliveau, who guided the Sabers to their second Division III championship and first perfect season (12-0) in 2008, said in the fall that he hoped to schedule a Division I or II team, or an out-of-state team, for a non-league matchup in 2009.
Those plans have changed, as he said Laconia will visit Souhegan in Week 3 of the Sabers’ Division III schedule in the fall.
“In the end, both coaches (Beliveau and Laconia’s Craig Kozens) decided to honor the two-year cycle,” Beliveau e-mailed today, Tuesday, Jan. 27.
Souhegan and Laconia, the Division IV runner-up, met in Week 3 last fall. The teams, both 2-0 at the time of their 2008 game, clashed in the Lake City. Souhegan overcame an early 10-point deficit and won, 26-17.
Steven Jellison led the Sabers. The junior tailback rushed for 131 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries.
Extending streaks was a key storyline at the time. Laconia entered the game with a 13-game win streak. Souhegan entered with a 13-gamer against teams not named Plymouth.
Posted by: MARC THALER, UnionLeader.com
BEDFORD — Plymouth State University’s star running back, Jeff Mack of Milford, was named the Robert A. “Red” Rolfe Male Athlete of the Year on Sunday, Jan. 25.
The Panthers’ senior co-captain is the first PSU athlete to win the Red Rolfe Award.
The announcement was made by Vin Sylvia, deputy managing editor for the Sunday News and Sports, during the 25th annual New Hampshire Union Leader Parade of Champions at C.R. Sparks.
Mack, the October Athlete of the Month, was one of 11 candidates — all 2008 male Athlete of the Month winners — eligible to win the award. The Union Leader’s nine-member Board of Judges, which votes for Athlete of the Month and Athlete of the Year, cast ballots for the top 2008 male athlete.
Mack won rather easily. His resume was mighty impressive.
The senior co-captain led PSU to a 10-2 overall record, first place in the New England Football Conference’s Boyd Division (7-0) and NEFC championship, which resulted in the program’s first NCAA playoff appearance since 1995.
He rushed for 1,779 yards and 20 touchdowns on 284 carries (6.3-yard average). And, he set PSU’s single-season rushing record, breaking the 1985 mark set by legendary Joe Dudek, who gained 1,615 rushing yards.
Mack rushed for at least 100 yards in 10 of 12 games, including four contests of 200-plus yards, and scored at least two TDs in five consecutive matchups.
His efforts earned him the Joe Zabilski Award as the top New England player in Division II/III. Additionally, Mack was an All-East Region Second Team selection by D3Football.com, an All-New England Division II/III Team pick by the New England Football Writers, an All-NEFC First Team Boyd Division selection, and the NEFC championship game Most Valuable Player.
Special thanks to PSU sports information director Kent Cherrington, who provided a comprehensive packet of Mack’s 2008 achievements.
Posted by: MARC THALER, UnionLeader.com
Note: Due to space limitations, an edited version of this story appeared in the print editions of the New Hampshire Union Leader today, Wednesday, Jan. 14. Below is the story in its entirety.
Boston College offensive lineman Rich Lapham wasn’t consulted in his school’s search for a new head football coach. But the BC sophomore and Amherst resident offered his analysis of the athletic department’s selection, nonetheless.
“With an internal hire, people, I think, are more pleased because (BC) will try to keep as many (assistant coaches) on staff as they can,” Lapham said yesterday by phone while returning to campus from winter break.
The 6-foot 8-inch, 322-pound tackle was referring to the promotion of 12-year assistant Frank Spaziani. BC’s defensive coordinator for the last 10 years, Spaziani was officially named as the new head coach during a 3 p.m. press conference yesterday at Chestnut Hill, Mass.
Just last week, BC athletic director Gene DeFilippo fired head coach Jeff Jagodzinski for interviewing to fill the head coaching vacancy with the NFL’s New York Jets.
Spaziani was chosen from a pool of four current BC assistants and two candidates from outside the program, according to the Boston Globe. The group included BC assistant head coach/offensive line coach Jack Bicknell Jr., formerly an assistant at the University of New Hampshire in the late 1980s and 1990s.
Lapham, driving down Route 3, said he hopes Spaziani’s appointment to the top post concludes a turbulent stretch for the football program.
The former Souhegan High of Amherst standout said during the recent period of uncertainty, communication with coaches was brief, and limited to discussions with BC director of football operations Barry Gallup. Lapham’s primary means of correspondence with teammates was via text messaging.
“I think (players) were more concerned about whether it was going to be an internal promotion-and-hire or external,” Lapham said. “I think we were a bit worried that if they hired externally, we’d wonder (which assistants) would be staying and who would be leaving.”
Lapham had reason to express concern.
As a true freshman, Lapham watched then-head coach Tom O’Brien bolt from BC for North Carolina State University in early December 2006. Several assistants followed O’Brien, Lapham said.
Spaziani served as interim head coach during the 2006-07 bowl season, Lapham said. After the Eagles beat Navy in the Mieneke Car Care Bowl, 25-24, the external coaching search began. Jagodzinski was chosen.
BC recruit Ian White from Kennett High of Conway expressed zero concern yesterday when informed of the coaching change.
“I know a lot of recruits were wondering if they’d go outside of BC to get a coach. If that happened, they were going to start looking at other schools,” White said. “But if they’re going with coach Spaziani, that’s a good thing.”
The 6-foot-5, 265-pound senior, recruited as an offensive lineman, said he briefly spoke with Bicknell the day after Jagodzinski was fired. White said he was told a massive overhaul of the coaching staff was unlikely. Furthermore, BC’s scholarship offer stood.
White, however, isn’t the only Granite State recruit impacted by a coaching transition.
Laconia High’s Christian Birt verbally committed to play for the University of Massachusetts, a Football Championship Subdivision contender, last month. But Don Brown resigned as UMass head coach last Friday to become defensive coordinator at the University of Maryland.
How the change impacts Birt’s decision – if at all – is unknown. A phone call to the Sachems’ star was not returned last night.
In the meantime, Lapham said he was looking forward to a closed-door team meeting last night at BC. He said Spaziani planned to speak with the team and answer any questions.
“I think people are eager to get back into the flow of things, have some certainty,” Lapham said. “This whole week, no one really knew much of anything. I think people are ready to get some final answers, begin winter workouts, and prepare for spring ball.”
Posted by: MARC THALER, UnionLeader.com
Plymouth Regional’s Rich Manzi, who played quarterback on the Bobcats’ 2008 Division IV championship football team, is heading to St. Anselm College.
The 6-foot 2-inch, 180-pound high school senior committed to play baseball for the Hawks, St. Anselm announced on Monday, Jan. 12.
Manzi, a four-year QB for Plymouth, is part of the senior class that posted a perfect 44-0 record in four years of NHIAA football (Division III from 2005-07; Division IV in 2008).
