COACH CORY BAILEY'S "ALMOST" DAILY FOOTBALL BLOG



May 4, 2010

It has been incredibly busy here over the past month or so. Things are starting to slow down a little bit now . . . Here's a quick recap of what we have been up to:

Our spring game took place on April 17. We had not such good weather but the turnout was tremendous---by far the best crowd I have seen at one of our spring games. We split the team up into blue and white squads. The blue team consisted of the first offense and the second defense. The white team was the first defense and the second offense. The blue team ended up winning the game by a score of 27-17. It was a competitive day all around! I was happy with the results.

Following the spring game we had our 2009 awards ceremony. Here are the award winners from the night:

Paul F. Cantiani '73 Team MVP (Herb Woodard, rb)

Offensive MVP (David Canney, wr)

Bernard F. Gaughan Defensive MVP (Dustin Zitzmann, lb)

Special Teams MVP (Bobby Sansoucy, db)

Kevin H. McSherry '79 Lineman-of-the-Year (Matt Sidebottom, ot)

Iron Man Award (Bernard Scott, db)

Unsung Hero (John Barker, wr)

Michael T. Reilly '79 Coaches Award (Mike Foley, dt)

Scout Team Player-of-the-Year (Tim Flood)

Freshman-of-the-Year (Jordan Teague)

As part of the awards ceremony we also honored the all-conference players from the past five years. This list included Gino Meccariello, Brian Gordon, Chris Grogan, Pat Kwedor, Jake Beers, Josh Kelly, Jared Kelly, Mike Senella, Mike Otterbein, Matt Cerins, Chris Martino, and Dustin Zitzmann. Most of the guys were in attendance!

All of our departing seniors were recognized for their leadership and commitment. Terry Stanford, John Barker, Bernard Scott, Dusting Zitzmann, Nick Cantrell and Colin Miyadi. You will all be missed!

We also introduced Dave Canney, Ethan Maxfield, Matt Sidebottom and Mike Foley as our new captains for the 2010 season.

At the conclusion of the awards ceremony we moved upstairs to Hagan Campus Center for our second annual Casino Night. It was truly a great time. We raised quite a bit of money for the program. I think Phil Previte is a poker shark! He cleaned up on that table . . . thanks to all who attended.

The Monday-after our spring game Coach Pete Leonard competed in the Boston Marathon finishing in an impressive 4:27:21. Great job! He claims that next year's time will be sub 4!

The summer strength & conditioning program is complete and ready to be printed up. Coach Matt Diniak did a nice job putting it together. This will be one heck of a workout! And, I will not be following it.

Today is the last day of classes for our guys and exams start Wednesday. It sounds as though everyone is doing well. I keep my fingers crossed this time of year.

On a personal note, I had a big yard work weekend. The yard looks great and the wife is happy. Unfortunately, I am covered with poison ivy. Thanks to Dr. Mancini for getting me the Prednisone prescription! The girls are all doing very well. Charlotte (the 5 month old) is now consistently making it through the night. Fiona is now 3 as she had her birthday on April 10. The twins will be turning 6 in June . . . I can't believe how fast the time has gone by.

I haven't been playing racquetball lately however my wife convinced me to take one of her spinning classes. If the seats weren't so small, or maybe I wasn't so big, I would definitely take the class again. I had a strange bruise pattern from the small seat for about a week after the class!

A couple important reminders:

Our department golf tournament is on June 25! Sign up and join us for what will certainly be a great day. To download the sign-up form, click here: PDF GOLF FORM

Also, we are hosting our first ever one-day skills clinic June 6. This will be a great day of football in June! To download the sign-up form, click here: PDF SKILLS CLINIC FORM

I think this is all for now! I am going to do my best to update this more frequently throughout the summer.

March 30, 2010

Spring Ball is moving along nicely. The rain has caused a few problems but we are getting the practices in. The guys have worked hard and have done a good job of keeping focused through the first five practices.

Our BLUE-GREY GAME is scheduled for April 17 at 4 p.m. On top of the spring game we have a family cook out, our 2009 awards ceremony, introduction of our incoming class, and last but not least, our Second Annual Casino Night. It will be interesting to see who the big winner is on the tables this time around!

Our department golf tournament is scheduled and set to go off on Friday, June 25. This is always a blast . . . a bit dangerous but fun none the least!

Things are going well on the home front. Baby Charlotte is sleeping through the night, Fiona is getting closer to being potty trained, and the twins can line up numbers 1-30! I am still outnumbered but we are doing OK.

Our incoming recruiting class is nearly completed and will be released soon. We have some great footage on most of the incoming guys. It is a very hard-working, committed group. We're looking forward to working with them!

Happy Easter.

February 14, 2010

Happy Valentines Day!

We've finally wrapped up our official visit weekends! All together we had well over 100 potential student-athletes visit. The talent pool has been tremendous and we are very excited about how our incoming class is coming together. Our plan is to release the incoming class in the next few weeks. We currently have around 25 players on board. I think this group has the potential to be one of the best the program has ever seen. I can't wait to get them on campus!

Our current players have also been working extremely hard. We started our morning running program it has been amazing to see how our players have attacked the workouts. It seems as though they are ready and willing to conquer whatever I put in front of them. I am very proud of their approach to this off-season to date.

Coach (Peter) Leonard has been ramping up towards his big Boston Marathon run. He completed a 13-mile run the other day . . . I personally think he's crazy, you would not catch me attempting something like that!

Coach (Brian) Miller, student assistant Vin Colasurdo and I have been battling it out in the racquetball courts. Vinnie hit me with a racquetball the other day, the hardest I have ever been hit---I think I will have a bruise for about a month. Also, I am still waiting on Mike Senella and Matt Cerins. They both supposedly want to begin playing regularly. I think they might be afraid!

We have some important announcements coming up including: our class of 2014 recruiting class, our 2010 spring ball schedule, our spring game festivity schedule, and last, but not least, our 2010 schedule!

Stay Tuned!

January 31, 2010

Things have been crazy around here lately. We basically hosted recruits from Thursday of last week until yesterday afternoon. Very productive. We had some very impressive kids here on campus. It was probably the best group of recruits we have ever had on campus. Needless to say, I am excited!

The pro scouts were on campus today. Dave (Canney), Sidey (Sidebottom), and Pop (Woodard) all ran well. Dave ran a 4.6, Sidey a 5.1 and Pop a 4.5. It all comes down to production next season now!

Our new phase in the weight room just started. There are some very sore guys walking around campus the last few days. I am really proud of our players as they are working extremely hard and putting pressure on each other to maintain the intensity.

I am starting to get a little more sleep. The baby is sleeping in three-hour intervals and occasionally we get a four-hour break. My wife is really doing a tremendous job. I???????????????????m not sure how she keeps everything together. I know I would be very tough for me.

Spring practice is rapidly approaching. We have preliminary plans to move our Casino Night to the same day as our spring game. Should be a great event!

January 8, 2010

Happy New Year! Things have started off interesting for me . . . Not a lot of sleep in the Bailey household lately. Little baby Charlotte appears to be a night person. Sleep all day, and play all night. Perfect for both my wife and I! I also had the opportunity to take the twins for the second round of H1N1 shots yesterday. Five year olds love shots! The positive side on shot day is that we use the dessert thing as bribery. So we had a nice oreo cake after dinner last night!

It has been somewhat lonely around campus lately as our players are still on break. However, we have been extremely busy with recruiting and planning for this upcoming semester.

I forgot to mention that Herb Woodard was named the Division II Player-of-the-Year by the Touchdown Club of Southern New Jersey. Quite the honor!

We have also started hearing from some NFL Scouts that plan on being here in late January/early February to work out David Canney, Herbert Woodard and Matt Sidebottom. I know all three are very excited and working hard to prepare for the testing.

December 30, 2009

Things are going well on the home front. Charlotte is already over her birth weight by five ounces. She is a big eater, like dad! Christmas day was insane . . . the girls were up quite early. It is amazing how companies secure toys to the packaging now a days. I spent some serious time opening up toys from the packaging. What a process!

We are plugging away at recruiting. This is an extremely exciting time of year for us. Our staff has done a great job of identifying some highly qualified student-athletes. This incoming class has a chance to be very special!

We just recently received our team's grades for this fall semester. I'm proud to announce that we had 25 of our players with a 3.0 GPA or above. We had two with a perfect 4.0! I'm very impressed by the work that our guys did in the classroom this past semester. Guys with over a 3.0 include: Keith Bates, T.J. Campion, Nick Cantrell, Matt Chalmers, Vinnie Colasurdo, Dan Conrad, Ryan Crowley, Sean Daigle, Patrick Donlin, Jon Driscoll, Mike Foley, Cody Giampa, Matt Harris, Andy Kupec, Matt Martino, Joe McManus, Dayton McPherson, Tom Pepe, Bernard Scott, Brian Shea, Zach Wheeler, Herb Woodard and Dustin Zitzmann. Our 4.0 stars were Nick DiAntonio and Bobby Sansoucy!

Happy New Year! Hopefully 2010 will be the Year-of-the-Hound!

December 16, 2009

New arrival today . . . Charlotte Juniette (that's my wife's grandmother's name) was born at 9:30 a.m. Eight-pounds, two ounces, 21 inches with red hair. Mother and daughter are doing just fine. I am now working on a private bath for only male member of the family. Happy holidays to all.

December 11, 2009

Congrats to Coach Brian Kelly on his appointment to the head coaching position at Notre Dame! We are all extremely excited for him. It's great to see a Greyhound football alum (1979-82) doing so well. I wish him the best of luck and I look forward to watching his team take the field next fall!

December 7, 2009

We just had a great recruiting weekend. As a staff we are extremely excited about the group we just had in. The student-athletes were more impressive in person than expected! Our players have already committed themselves to the weight room and appear to be working harder than ever. It has been great to see the upperclassmen take charge and truly push the younger guys and, at the same time, the younger guys are not backing down. The competition and intensity has been great. I just hope that they keep it up when they go home for the winter break!

I personally had a fun weekend. My family and I went out and picked up a Christmas tree. This is always an interesting adventure. Olivia, Stella and Fiona have a hard time agreeing on much of anything. The selection of the perfect Christmas tree is no exception! We eventually found and agreed upon the 'right one.' On the way home we almost lost the tree, I guess I didn't do a good job of tying it down to roof of the van, oops! Fortunately, the tree held on and we made it home. I am happy to report that the tree is decorated and standing. The countdown is on for the arrival of Santa!

The other countdown that is on is the due date of my wife . . . December 16 will be here fast! 9 days away from me being completely outnumbered in my house . . . five girls and me . . . that should be fun in about 10-15 years!

The spring game date has been set---April 17. I am already looking forward to seeing our guys get after it.

December 2, 2009

Just got some great news . . . Coach Peter Leonard just got his acceptance to officially run in the Boston Marathon! Mark your calendars now, April 19th! We have some ideas around how we can make this an exciting day for the Assumption College football program!

November 23, 2009

Believe it or not . . . here is a blog entry!

First of all, I apologize for not staying up-to-date on my almost daily blog. I developed a superstition with the blog. It seemed whenever I entered something on the blog, the team played poorly. So as many other superstitious people would do, I eliminated its use. The good news is that I am back on board. We don't have any games until next September!

We had a solid season. I really have to thank my players, coaching staff and support staff. They did a great job of bringing everything together and allowing us to take the next step as a program and get over the hump with a winning season.

We will certainly miss our seniors. Included in that group are Dustin Zitzmann, John Barker, Terry Stanford, Bernard Scott, Nick Cantrell and Collin Miyadi. All of these guys should be extremely proud of their accomplishments. There is no doubt that they will be successful in life and will always be a part of our program!

The other group that I would like to thank is our alumni. It was amazing to see how many guys came out to support the team this year. Thanks for getting behind the program that you have worked so hard to build!

I will do my best to continue to update the blog. My wife is due on December 16. So I'm sure things will get a little hit-or-miss around that time.

Things are well here and the staff is hard at work recruiting. We have our first big recruiting weekend on December 4-5-6. We have what might be our most talented group of recruits coming in to visit. So needless to say, we are excited.

The players are heavy into the offseason strength-and-conditioning program already. It was funny watching our players limp around campus after the first few days of workouts. The "preseason all-American team" is off to an early lead in competition!

We have some big plans for this upcoming spring. So stay tuned!

Have a great Thanksgiving


The Big Slide, Fun at Coach's Pool, Click Here to Watch

The O-Line Shows Off at Coach's Pool, Click Here to Watch

September 15, 2009

It's been a busy few weeks for us and very productive. First, we have added two permanent captains for the remainder of the season. Special teams phenom Bobby Sansoucy and defensive tackle Mike Foley join David Canney as our tri captains. We're also going to have a game captain each week, Herb Woodard (Worcester State) and Andrew Kupec (New Haven) have already earned the honor. Herb will get another shot against Southern Connecticut!

Millersville: lost a tough one in home opener 31-28 . . . Herb (Pop) Woodard was superb with 120 yards and two touchdowns and went over the 2,000-yard mark for all-purpose offense (he's only the sixth Hound to reach that figure!) Bad thing, junior quarterback Josh Ratacik, who was 14-for-17 for 178 in the first half, injured his hand in the game and is out for the season. Dustin Zitzmann had 12 tackles (getting closer to the Hounds all-time career record!) and Michael Foley added a pair of sacks.

Millersville "Coaches" Awards: Herb Woodard (offense), Jon Cohen (offensive scout team), Mike Foley (defense), Dylan Theleman and Colin Halloran (defensive scout team) and Bobby Sansoucy (special teams)

Worcester State: we played for first time in 25 years and won, 51-16 . . . Pop was sensational again rushing for 118 yards and two TDs, while David Canney went over 100 receptions (101) in his incredible career---just the fourth behind Jake Beers '08 (158), Eric Mauer '01 (140) and Joey Fabiano '09 (123)---for 1,303 yards.

Worcester State "Coaches" Awards: Andrew Kupec (offense), Pat Jordan (offensive scout team), Dustin Zitzmann (defense), Evan Wallace (defensive scout team), Bobby Sansoucy (special teams)

New Haven: another Friday night in Houndsville and, of course, it was pouring but we prevailed 31-10 . . . Pop was super with 30 rushes, 175 yards and four touchdowns and was named the POW in the NE-10 . . . kudos also to linebacker Ethan Maxfield with his finest performance (5-5--10 tackles) and to junior QB Andrew Kupec, who looks real comfortable out there.

New Haven "Coaches" Awards: Herb Woodard (offense), Michael Foley (defense), Cory Kemps (special teams), Tim Flood (offensive scout team), Pat Donlin (defensive scout team).

And, now we're off this week with more time to prepare for Fall Homecoming and a date with Southern Connecticut on September 26 . . . we're hoping to see a whole bunch of alums that day . . . and I promise it won't rain this time . . .

Also wanted to thank all those that made the Casino Night a big success . . . we hope to make it an annual event . . .

Got a nice e-mail from Mike Hoban '71 who played on the very first Greyhound football team back in 1967. He was all excited about the win over New Haven---the Greyhounds first-ever win came against New Haven!

August 18, 2009

Camp is rolling along and it has certainly been a bit on the warm and humid side! We just finished our last day of double sessions. We also recently finished making our trips to "the hill" for the season. As always "the hill" did not disappoint. It was a great adventure.

The guys are all hanging in there. We've had two great guest speakers so far including Bob Boudreau (CEO at Winter, Wyman, Inc.) and Greg Comella (former NFL player, and teammate of mine at Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood). They were tremendous. Much thanks to both of them for spending time with us.

We have also had quite a few former players stopping by including Mike Senella, Jared Kelly, Ross DuBuc and Dan Sawicki. It's always great seeing my former players!

Casino Night is just about here (Saturday, August 22). It's going to be a great night. We have a great mix of alumni, parents of current players and friends of the program planning to be with us. It's not too late to sign up! This is a very important fund raiser for us. If you can make it please come! We will be introducing our team and announcing our captains for the upcoming season. So it is a big night.

And, finally Hounds football Hall of Famer center JIM GREALIS '83 has found success in another sport---golf! He had a rare double-eagle last week while playing at Wachusett C.C. When I play I get a lot of the other kind of doubles!

August 8, 2009

Camp is off to a good start. We had our first workout last night---including our conditioning test. It's pretty apparent that our team came to camp in good shape. We have weightroom testing Saturday and Sunday. I'm confident that we'll be rewriting our strength and conditioning board.

We have meetings and a practice Saturday afternoon followed by a walk-through inthe evening.

The meals in Taylor Dining Hall have been tremendous. The coaching staff has decided to use this weekend as our acclimation period before resuming our own strength and conditioning program.

"Casino Night" is really starting to pick up momentum. We had a lot of people sign up Friday! We're all very much looking forward to it. Special thanks to the McPherson family for donating Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins autographed memorabilia.

I'll update the blog as frequently as possible throughout camp. Stay tuned for our new, improved strength and conditioning test numbers. T.J. Campion also had a very interesting morning. Needless to say he has earned himself some time away from THE HILL. But, more on T.J. later!

August 4, 2009

I had a great time this past Friday at the Jeff and Stephanie Moore nuptials---a beautiful ceremony! Stephanie and Jeff both looked great. There were a lot of alumni at the wedding including: Paul Randazzo, Matt Curran, Chris Martino, Chris Grogan, Jim Wood, Greg Moore, and of course Coach Peter Leonard.

At the wedding, we learned that both Randazzo and Curran are getting married this fall. Congrats to both of them!

This Friday is the first day of official camp. We are all extremely excited! This is one of my favorite times of the year. The incoming freshman are scheduled to report at 9 a.m., sophomores at 9:30 a.m., juniors at 10 a.m. and seniors at 10:30 a.m. At 12 noon we are planning a Captains Council Meeting at the Taylor Dining Hall---free lunch will be included! I would love to see as many parents there as possible. We need to get our e-mail lists together for postgame tailgating events this fall, coordinate our casino efforts and begin plans for future events.

In regards to the Casino Night, I have heard from quite a few folks planning on attending. We are trying to put together a head count so we have a better idea for planning. If you are planning to attend, please send us an e-mail at football@assumption.edu Thanks!

The staff is still on top of the workout program although Coach Brian Miller slacked off a little bit yesterday---we really need to keep an eye on him! We have two weeks left on this current program until we switch it up again.

And, Jon Driscoll and Vini Colasurdo are back in the office! Now, the place will be organized again!

I would like to encourage all of the alumni to stop by practice during camp. I'm sure we would like to have some of you guys still suit up!

July 30, 2009

Camp is just over one week away . . . the heat is getting here just in time! I think we have everything lined up and ready.

Tomorrow night I am at Jeff Moore's wedding and it should be a good time. He is having his wedding and reception at Lake Pearl Luciano's in Wrentham---the same place that I had my wedding! Jeff played for me and later coached with us for a few years. He is marrying Stephanie Prastine--a very attractive, smart girl . . . Jeff got lucky on this one! I wish them the best of luck.

I heard from Rob Lavin recently. Both Rob and Brian Gordon (a.k.a. Fish) are planning on making it to the casino night August 22. We are starting to get more people signed up for that event---it should be a great night! The prizes are going to be tremendous---we just had four box seats to a New York Mets game donated!

Staff workouts are going well. Coach Leonard, Coach Miller, Coach Tucker and I have been very consistent. Hopefully the rest of the staff gets on board soon! Any football alumni out there interested in trying the workout send me an e-mail and I will get it to you! Jared Kelly is on the program right now and he said "I haven't sweat this much in awhile?"

July 24, 2009

Camp is almost here. Exactly two weeks from today we will be kicking off our first day of practice! The summer has gone by fast. The guys that I have seen so far this summer look great. The hard work will pay off.

On Friday, August 7 the freshmen will be reporting at 9 a.m., the sophomores at 9:30 a.m., the juniors at 10 a.m., and the seniors at 10:30 a.m. We will have lunch in Taylor at 12 noon and our first team meeting at 1 p.m. in the La Maison (first building on campus) Auditorium. Our practice and conditioning test will be that evening.

I have had a busy last few weeks. I spent three (3) days in Indianapolis where I had the chance to work with a couple of great kicking/punting coaches as well as some of the Colts guys. Special thanks to the Kemp family, who hosted me while I was there. They certainly kept me busy. I was also able to squeeze a round of golf in at Wolf Run Country Club in Zionsville, Indiana. What an amazing and difficult course. I was able to shoot a 49 on the front nine. The back nine was a complete disaster! I stopped keeping score when I got into the 60s. Thanks to the Kemps for a great few days. It was well worth the trip.

Coach Miller, Coach Tucker, Coach Leonard and I have recently committed to a new workout program. So there hasn't been any racquetball lately. The new program is tough. We are following the metabolic workout that our players did earlier in the summer. After that lifting routine we are doing the core circuit and then 10 half gassers out on the field. I definitely feel too old for this stuff! Coach Diniak has opted not to take part in the "optional" workouts.

On that note, congratulations to Coach Diniak and his wife Angela as they are expecting a new member to the family!

Lisa and I are also expecting in December. We just found out that it will be another girl. We are very excited and are officially done with the new child thing!!

The plans for the casino night are officially in place. It will be a great night! Sign up and join us for what we hope will be an annual event!

July 8, 2009

I'm back in action after my vacation. It was a good week. The weather wasn't exactly ideal but my family and I only had one day in which we couldn't get on the beach. With the aid of my daughters I was able to catch what felt like thousands of hermit crabs. We also got in a solid round of miniature golf. Stella was definitely the ringer in the family with three holes-in-ones!

Camp is getting closer . . . August 7 is just around-the-corner. I can't wait. It seems like our players have really been working hard. Our camp roster is almost complete and we will be ready to go.

We are beginning to get some responses to the Casino Night scheduled for August 22nd. This is going to be a great event. We already have quite a few prizes collected including an autographed Randy Moss rookie card, autographed authentic Jason Bay jersey, and an autographed authentic Kevin Youkilis jersey. On top of that we will be bringing back the season sideline pass, the night on-the-beat with Coach/Officer Bussey, and the ever popular President's Box for a game.

Former professor James McCarthy passed this week. He was an avid supporter of the football program and his son Michael '78 (1974-77) was a captain/President/o-line man with the 1977 club team. Our condolences to the McCarthy Family.

And a quick reminder . . . all players should make sure that the forms for sports medicine and athletics media relations are done, hopefully this week! Those folks need to get everything in order for our season. So if you have not taken care of this chore, please do!

June 27, 2009

The department golf tournament was a blast! I really enjoyed seeing all of the guys and I can't wait for next year's event. The great part is that basically everyone that attended the tournament yesterday has made plans to be at our First-Annual Casino Night!

My team actually played better than expected, but I don't think that we've reached our full potential. We finished at 6-under for 18. We started out on-fire and were actually four-under after five holes. Matt Cerins hit the shot of his life when he buried a 105-yard pitch. It was amazing! We should have headed into the clubhouse after that. Thanks to all of the people who came out and participated. It was a great event that I'm sure will be even better next year!

After the golf tournament most of us headed out to Mr. Milligan's wake. He was a very special man and a true supporter of our program. He was someone that I consider to be a true friend. Pete and his family seem to be doing OK. It was so nice to see so many of the guys that played with Pete and I'm proud to have coached all of those guys . . . they really became a family. We are all there for Pete and his family if they need us!

I am headed to the Cape this week for vacation. A little break before the summer really ramps up. Camp is getting closer and closer. I can't wait!

CASINO NIGHT INFO, Click to download PDF Info

June 25, 2009

RICH LENNON '98, by all accounts, was very good linebacker/defensive back for the Greyhounds (1994-97) who passed away a few years back. His friends have created this golf tournament to raise awareness for cancer and cancer research. It was a pleasure to be involved!

The tournament was a lot of fun and it was great to meet a number of former Assumption College football Greyhounds and most importantly Mr. Lennon's family and friends. Our team finished the day three-under which was rather surprising as I expected to be well-over par!

Former players in attendance included: Darren Burkett '95, Jared Maxwell '98, Shane McCutchen '98, Rob Billings '98, Andy Quinn '98, Greg Smith '98, Jeremy Basso '98, Tom Quinn '01, Tom Daly '95 and Chris Griffin '97.

And, more golf as the Friends of Assumption College Athletics Golf Tournament should be a huge success Friday (June 24). A huge thank you goes to the Kemps Family for donating the golf balls . . . they got here in time and look great!

I'm not so sure the football program was well-represented in terms of golf talent as it promises to be a dangerous day to be on the course.

Those signed up for the tournament (in no particular order) included: Matt Curran '06, Shamus Fleming '75, Patrick Hickey '99, Matt Klaskin '08, Jared Kelly '08, Anthony Savarese '08, Justin Antone '08, Mike O'Neil '08, John Richard '08, Peter Leonard '02, Ryan MacAllister '01, Tom Quinn '01, Eric Mauer '01, Joe Pannullo '03, Mike Senella '08, Matt Cerins '08, Brian Miller '06, Jeff Moore '05, Jake Beers '08, Matt Moskey '05, Will Fitzpatrick '06, Jay McLaughlin '06, Pat Callahan '07, Jamie Tucker '06, Chris Fitzpatrick '06, Mark Cinar '07, Zack McKeever '07, Nat North '99, Jason Lawson '98, Ross DuBuc '08, Mike Otterbein '08, Dan Welch '08 and Jeff Sloat '08.

And, Olivia and Stella, my twin daughters, turned five years old this past weekend. Happy birthday . . . I can't believe they are that old. I am not looking forward to the dating ages.

June 22, 2009

On a sad note, James Milligan, the father of former captain Peter Milligan '07, passed away Thursday. Visiting hours are scheduled for Friday, June 26 from 4-8 p.m. at the Robinson Funeral Home, 809 Main Street, Melrose. The funeral mass is scheduled for Saturday, June 27 at 9 a.m. at the Church of the Incarnation in Melrose. Gifts in memory of Mr. Milligan may be made to Friends of Melrose Football, c/o John Mercer, 62 East Street, Melrose, MA 02176. For online tribute and directions, please visit www.robinsonfuneralhome.com. Robinson Funeral Home Melrose (781) 665-1900.

June 15, 2009

I have seen quite a few of the incoming freshmen over the past week or so through orientation. Looks like they are all working hard and following the summer program. Keep up the good work! Camp will be here soon.

The department golf tournament is quickly approaching. I can't wait. It's going to be great to see everyone and it should be a very interesting day!

There hasn't been nearly as much racquetball being played around here recently. All of the coaches are headed in different directions for various camps. However, last week Coach Leonard did step into the courts for one day. I have not seen him back since . . . Coach Diniak really stepped his game up and might have solidified the No. 2 ranking.

The Casino Night is on! It's scheduled for August 22 on campus in La Maison. I met with the event planner today and he has some great ideas for the night. There will be black jack, poker, craps, double roulette and wheel of fortune. Sign up information will follow soon.

Huge props go out to Coach Miller. He just completed our play book. Great job!

I will be playing in the Rich Lennon Memorial Golf Tournament slated for Friday, June 19. Hopefully the rain holds off. I am looking forward to meeting Rich's family and many of the guys with whom he played. It should be a good day for a great cause! Rich played linebacker with the Greyhounds from 1994-97.

June 8, 2009

Coach Bussey was on campus this weekend . . . spending the majority of his time with chainsaw in hand. His project for the weekend was to open the trail to the hill. I think he got about half way and had to shut it down! Don't worry . . . Bus is very determined to get that trail ready to go in time for camp. I particularly liked the overalls. He always has been a man of style!

The department golf tournament on June 26 is just about full! Former players that are signed up include: Matt Curran, Pat Hickey, Matt Klaskin, Jared Kelly, Anthony Savarese, Justin Antone, Josh Kelly, Mike Tobin, Joe Correia, Pete Milligan, Mike O'Neil, John Richard, Ross DuBuc, Jeff Sloat, Dan Welch, Mike Otterbein, Mike Senella, Matt Cerins, Pete Leonard, Jamie Tucker, Will Fitzpatrick, Jay McLaughlin, Pat Callahan, Chris Fitzpatrick, Mark Cinar, Zack McKeever and Nat North!

Casino Night plans are still underway. We are still trying to finalize where the event will be held, but it is going to happen August 22 in the early evening. Stay tuned on this one. This is going to be a tremendous evening!

Coach Diniak is officially out of his slump. He had an impressive 15-0 victory over first-year player Coach Tucker last Friday. The racquet is back out . . . at least for now. Coach Barese made an appearance in the courts as well. He is very similar to the Tasmanian Devil in there!

60 days until camp!

June 5, 2009

Spring semester grades have been released and I am happy to report that we had 24 players with GPAs over 3.00. Highlighting the group were Nick DiAntonio with a 4.0, while Keith Bates, Nick Cantrell, Kevin Flanagan and Bobby Sansoucy earned Director's Citations (over 3.5 GPA). Great work!

The June 26 Department Golf Tournament is filling up fast! Football alone will have 12 foursomes (committed to date) in the tournament. Hopefully one of the 12 can pull out a victory!

We are beginning to prepare for our upcoming Senior Day July 23. It should be a great event. We already have a number of quality student-athletes registered.

Racquetball has been going well on my end. I am back on track. Coach Diniak is in a major slump. I think he is considering hanging up the racquet . . .

May 31, 2009

Things are going very well here at Assumption. A lot of guys have started showing up on campus including: Dave Canney, Keith Bates, Mike Foley, Bobby Sansoucy, Luke Kelliher, Marcus Nichols, Herbert Woodard, Terry Stanford, Corey Blackwood, R.J. Dipietri, Nick DiAntonio, Dominique Price, Eric Ageyman, Cody Giampa, and a few others I'm sure I forgot to mention.

The department golf tournament (June 26 at Pine Ridge C.C., Oxford, MA) is starting to fill up. I have heard from a whole bunch of guys recently that are planning to play. I expect football alone to have at least 10 foursomes which will be our best turnout to date. Get on board, it is going to be a great day!

I lost my second game of racquetball today to Coach (Brian) Miller. He took it to me in a lopsided victory. It's tough getting old!

We had the Blue-Grey Combine on campus yesterday. There was close to 200 upcoming seniors here testing in a number of different events. The organizers said it was very successful.

Our first-annual "Casino Night" is now confirmed for August 22. We are still searching for a suitable location. I'm excited to see Coach Bussey's alleged poker skills put to the test!

Our camp roster is almost complete. We will have 99 players in camp, which is our limit. I'm very excited about our incoming freshmen and transfers. Our complete commitment list will be posted within the next week or two. This group has quite a bit of potential!

May 19, 2009

Things are going well here in the football office. Some of our players are starting to come around already. I have seen R.J. Dipietri, Corey Blackwood, Nick DiAntonio, Mike Foley, Keith Bates, Bob Sansoucy, Dominique Price and Marcus Nichols.

Our guys are currently in Week No. 2 of the strength & conditioning program. I hope it's going well---it's very challenging!

We are still working on filling up the golf tournament scheduled for June 26 at the Pine Ridge Country Club (Oxford, MA) with a 9:30 a.m. shotgun start. I know that a bunch of the guys who graduated within the last few years are planning on playing. It's gonna be a great time and we're all looking forward to it!

And, mark your calendars: we also have a tentative date of August 22 for our first Casino Night.

Coach Diniak is spending this week in Florida and he sounds like it is going very well . . . Coach Leonard is in California getting a little rest and relaxation while Coach Miller and I have had a few battles this week in the racquetball court.

Camp is now 79 days away . . . August 7 will be here soon!

April 24, 2009

We finished our 15 practices of spring ball this morning. That 6 a.m. practice reminds me of summer camp and I'm definitely looking forward to that. I was even able to check out "the hill" today. It is in tough shape from the ice storm a few months ago, but I'm confident that with the help of Coach Jon Bussey's chain saw we will have it up-and-runable in time for August 7.

I'm definitely pleased with our progress this spring and we were able to get our basic offense and defense installed. We have a lot of work to do this summer in preparation for Millersville on August 28.

We did have a quite a few individuals that have really improved their game over the past 15 practices. Players of note include: Steve Travaglini, Ryan Crowley, Mike Foley, Mark Gately, Josh Ratacik, Kevin Flanagan, Eric Schindler and Matt Sidebottom.

Our staff is not jumping into spring recruiting. We are planning on getting on-the-road and seeing as many high school coaches as possible.

The official brochure for the Athletics Department Golf Tournament was just released. This year's tournament will be on Friday, June 26 at Pine Ridge C.C. in Oxford. I'm sure it will be a great time as always!

Also, stay tuned for the release of our plans about a casino night!

Trivia Question of the Week (winner gets an Assumption College Football t-shirt or hat): What former Greyhound Football Player was on ESPN's World Series of Poker Series? Please e-mail all answers to football@assumption.edu


April 20, 2009

We had a great day Saturday and our players really got after it on the field. The weather was nice, the food was great and the attendance was more than I had expected. It was also great to catch up with many of the parents that I haven't seen in awhile. We also had a majority of our incoming freshmen class in attendance. The most impressive part to me was the amount of alumni that showed up. It was great to see everyone!

A couple of the statistical highlights on the day included:

QB Josh Ratacik: 16-for-28, 196 yards

WR Dave Canney: 6 receptions, 98 yards

RB Herb Woodard: 10 carries, 137 yards, 2 touchdowns

DB Anthony Catenacci: 40-yard interception return for a touchdown

Mike Foley and Matt Chalmers: both had a great scrimmage as they took the majority of the reps inside

A big thank you to Mike Ward and Sodexho for their help with the food following the scrimmage. I am still eating some of the cookies from the day!

We are wrapping up our final two practices of the spring. We are going tonight at 8 p.m. and Friday morning at 6, bright and early!


April 15, 2009

Our spring game is coming up Saturday. We are expecting great weather and a solid turnout. The plans are for an offense vs. defense situational scrimmage. I am excited to see our guys step up and make some things happen!

Our coaching staff has been working very hard and is ramping up for the recruiting season. Speaking of the staff, here is our current breakdown:

Pete Leonard - Defensive Coordinator

Jon Bussey - Defensive Line

Anthony Barese - Linebackers

Matt Diniak - Secondary - Co-Special Teams Coordinator

Mike Vulcano - Tight Ends

Jim McGuire - Running Backs

Brian Miller - Wide Receivers - Co-Special Teams Coordinator

I hope to see you all at this Saturday's Spring Game!


April 13, 2009

It's great to be back!

I, certainly, have missed the people and am very excited about the support and future plans for not only the football program, but the entire athletics program here at Assumption College.

Entering into corporate America was an interesting experiment. I was at a company called Winter, Wyman in Waltham. It is a great company with tremendous leadership, but I quickly realized that I belong in athletics.

As you can plainly tell, I do plan on making the blog a regular part of our home page. I think it is a good way to keep everyone up-to-date on what we have going on here in Worcester.

We jumped right into spring ball and have practice No. 10 this evening. The guys have been working extremely hard on-the-field and in the weight room. They understand that we have a long way to go in order to be ready for our opener on August 28. And, we expect that a majority of our team will stay in the area this summer.

I have a huge announcement coming up in regards to guest visitors planned for the summer, stay tuned on that one!

The next big event we have is our SPRING GAME scheduled for SATURDAY, April 18 at 4 p.m. It is a great opportunity to come spend the entire day on campus as baseball, softball, men's lacrosse and women's tennis---all in pursuit of Northeast-10 Conference playoff spots---have home games.

Following our game we'll be having a cookout at the stadium for all friends and families of the program. I look forward to meeting the incoming freshmen.

Our schedule for the 2009 season is as follows (and keep in mind we might tweak something here and there) . . . but at least you can begin making travel plans!

Friday, August 28 MILLERSVILLE, PA 7 p.m.

Friday, September 4 at Worcester State 7 p.m.

Friday, September 11 NEW HAVEN * 7 p.m.

Saturday, September 26 SO. CONNECTICUT * 1 p.m. (Homecoming)

Saturday, October 3 at Pace * 1 p.m.

Saturday, October 10 MERRIMACK * 1 p.m.

Saturday, October 17 at Saint Anselm * 1 p.m.

Saturday, October 24 at Bentley * 1 p.m.

Saturday, October 31 STONEHILL * 1 p.m.

Saturday, November 7 at American International * 1 p.m.