WORCESTER—Bob Chesney led the Holy Cross football team to five Patriot League titles in his six seasons as head coach. He was a motivator who brought out the best in his players.
Now that Chesney has left to coach James Madison University, Holy Cross must figure out how to continue to be successful without him.
HC experienced the same situation in 1991. Mark Duffner left to coach the University of Maryland after leading the Crusaders to five Patriot League championships in his six seasons as head coach. He was also an effective motivator who brought out the best in his players.
Unfortunately for the Crusaders, they failed to continue the success they experienced under Duffner, but that would have been difficult to do. Duffner’s HC teams went 60-5-1, including 25-1 in the Patriot League. Not even Chesney won that often, compiling a record of 44-21 at HC, including the 2020 season that was shortened to four games due to Covid.
Under the coaching of Peter Vaas, Dan Allen and Tom Gilmore from 1992-2018, the Crusaders won only one Patriot League championship (in 2009) and they posted 17 losing seasons during those 27 years.
So are the Crusaders headed for another down stretch following the departure of a wildly successful coach? Gordie Lockbaum, who played for Duffner and finished fifth in the Heisman voting as a junior and third as a senior in 1987, thinks not.
“I’m not looking forward to or hoping that there’s going to be a letdown after this,” the HC Varsity Club Hall of Famer said. “These days, I think there are a lot of positives to draw upon for any coach who might want to come in here. Holy Cross has a lot to offer in terms of facilities and they have some good talent here. So my hope is we get a good hire and keep the ball rolling.”
The decision to drop athletic scholarships contributed to HC’s struggles on the field years ago, but scholarships are back now.
After playing for Duffner, Lockbaum analyzed HC games on radio for many years. This past season, he watched nearly every HC game on ESPN-plus. He became friendly with Chesney.
“I’m very sad to see him go because my selfish Gordie loves the status quo and what he’s got going and doing here,” said Lockbaum, a vice president and principal for Sullivan Insurance Group. “He’s successful, he’s well liked, he’s great in our community, people love him, the kids love him. He’s a great recruiter, he can evaluate talent and he builds vision and the kids understand what they’re doing.”
Lockbaum found aspects of Duffner’s and Chesney’s character almost too good to believe.
“Duff was the nice one where everybody would say, ‘Is he really that nice,’” Lockbaum said, “and you’re like, ‘Yeah.’ Ches is like, ‘Man, is he really that energetic and on?’ You’re like, ‘Yeah, he’s on.’”
Lockbaum would like to see HC hire someone as close to Chesney as it can.
“You have to find someone that is similar to what the previous successful coach was,” Lockbaum said. “That means somebody that can generate enthusiasm, that can get a lot out of their players, getting them to play at their max potential, recruiting in a very effective way, evaluating talent and then training it to perform. Duffner and Chesney were excellent at that. Chesney was a very good recruiter. And also somebody who is incredibly well organized and knows how to maximize their time at practice so you’re not making fundamental and simple mistakes. Somebody that has some vision and some creativity offensively and defensively, but also hounds the guys on fundamentals. That’s how you get things done. You can scheme only so much. You have to have guys that can run, block and tackle.”
Lockbaum played running back, wide receiver and strong safety while leading HC to an 11-0 record as a senior. HC chose not to compete in the NCAA Tournament back then so Duffner never coached the Crusaders in the postseason. Chesney’s teams played in the NCAA Tournament four years and earned the only two NCAA tournament football victories in school history.
Whoever replaces Chesney will enter an entirely different situation than Duffner did. Duffner became head coach at a tragic time, following the suicide of his predecessor, Rick Carter. Duffner had served as HC’s defensive coordinator during Carter’s five years as head coach. HC stumbled to a 4-6-1 record in 1985, but had gone 9-2-1 with an NCAA Tournament berth and 8-3 the previous two seasons. Duffner expanded upon that success.
Chesney didn’t come to HC at such a dire time, but he did have to undertake more of a rebuild. HC had losing records in five of its previous six seasons before he was hired.
Chesney also rebuilt the football program at Assumption University, coaching the Greyhounds to their most successful five-year stretch in program history and taking them to three NCAA Division 2 tournaments.
John Andreoli, an HC Varsity Club Hall of Famer who was a three-year starter at defensive end and an HC co-captain in 1981, also believes the Crusaders will keep on winning.
“The people who will have interest in this job will be coaches who have a very bright future ahead of them,” Andreoli said. “Holy Cross knows that there’s some great people out there who have been with Coach Chesney and they’ll be talking to people who are very familiar with him and his program. I think there’s going to be a great future for Holy Cross. It’s obviously a different environment these days with the transfer portal and all of those things, but it’s a great college experience for somebody who can come get a great education and play at a nationally recognized level. So I think there will be a lot of great coaching candidates.”
Andreoli, president and CEO of Sullivan Insurance Group, coached St. John’s High football for 19 years before stepping down after the 2022 season. He grew to know Chesney when he recruited his Pioneers for Salve Regina, Assumption and HC.
“Just watching him and the way he runs a program,” Andreoli said, “he’s been able to replicate success wherever he goes.”
HC has lost not only Chesney, but several key players. Senior quarterback Matt Sluka, a finalist for the Walter Payton Award as the top offensive player in FCS, has announced he will transfer to another college.
While Lockbaum is sorry to see Sluka leave, he liked what he saw of Junior Joe Pesansky when he filled in at quarterback for two games last season while Sluka was injured. Senior offensive lineman Eric Schon and senior cornerback Terrence Spence will also transfer. All three could end up playing for Chesney at James Madison, according to one report.
Damian Wroblewski, associate head coach for offense, will serve as acting head coach No. 24 James Madison (11-1) against Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl on Dec. 23.
Fifth-year linebacker Jacob Dobbs, a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award as the FCS national defensive player of the year, fifth-year running back Tyler Purdy and fifth-year punter Patrick Haughney will also transfer from HC.
Jason Coker, who led FCS with 15 touchdown receptions this regular season, and right guard C.J. Hanson announced they will enter the 2024 NFL Draft.
Coker set HC career records for receiving yards (2,715) and touchdown receptions (31). He will play in the Hula Bowl on Jan. 13.
On Feb. 1, Hanson will become the first Crusader to play in the East-West Shrine Bowl since Lockbaum in 1988.
Holy Cross athletic director Kit Hughes announced that defensive coordinator Scott James will serve as interim head coach until HC hires Chesney’s replacement.
Bill Doyle has been a professional journalist for 47 years, most of them as a sports writer for the Telegram & Gazette. He covered the Boston Celtics for 25 years and has written extensively about golf, boxing and local high school and college sports. He also worked for the campus newspaper when he attended UMass-Amherst. He can be reached at billdoyle1515@gmail.com
