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Teams: Football: Team
Overview
 Tufts Football Recruiting Information:
After challenging for the New England Small College Athletic
Conference (NESCAC) title in 2007, the Tufts University football
team enters a new season with great hope and excitement. Many of the
leading lettermen from last year's squad return to Head Coach Bill
Samko's team.
The 2008 Jumbos were one of the most prolific passing teams in Tufts
history, breaking or tying seven program records for passing and
receiving. The team's 16-10 win over Trinity College was a milestone
victory for the program. The Bantams had won 37 of their previous 38
games, and Tufts became just the second NESCAC team to defeat
Trinity since November 2001. Six Jumbos earned All-NESCAC honors,
including 2008 returnees Tom Tassinari, Kevin Anderson, David Halas
and Tyson Reynoso. Returnee Andy Henke also earned the prestigious
Gold Helmet Award from the New England Football Writers Association
during the year.
The Tufts football program is one of the oldest in the country. The
2008 season is the 134th on campus, and Tufts played its 1,000th
game in 2006. The program's 1,012 games played are second- most
among New England Division III teams. Some historians point to a
Tufts versus Harvard game in 1875 as the first between two American
colleges using American football rules. Discussion of the historic
game and its place in the evolution of football was featured in the
Boston Globe and on ESPN in 2004.
 The
Tufts football staff recruits players who are focusing on their
futures with the team, in class and beyond. As members of the NESCAC,
the Tufts football team plays in the nation's most competitive
Division III conference academically and athletically. The goal of
the football program is to build a commitment towards winning
without compromising a player's academic needs. The NESCAC is a
group of highly selective liberal arts colleges and universities
that share an academics-first philosophy for intercollegiate
athletics.
Located right outside of Boston, Tufts offers a well-rounded
collegiate experience to student-athletes.
Within its picturesque small-college campus, Tufts is a major
university with "an unprecedented diversity of programs, exceptional
faculty and staff, and bright and talented students", according to
President Lawrence S. Bacow. The Athletics Department sponsors a
varsity program of 28 sports that is among the most competitive in
the NCAA's Division III. Tufts finished 15th in the 2008 U.S. Sports
Academy Directors' Cup, the award presented annually to the best
overall collegiate athletics programs in the country. The
University's proximity to a world-class city renowned for its
academic institutions is also a major draw.
Several Jumbos have won prestigious award for academics and
commitment to football over the years. Last season, linebacker Adam
Arsenault was the New England Football Writers' choice for the Jerry
Nason Award for senior achievement. He returned to the gridiron
almost two years after dislocating his ankle in 2005. Jumbos have
also frequently earned the Swede Nelson Award presented by the
Gridiron Club of Greater Boston for academic accomplishment, and
many are named to the ESPN The Magazine and NESCAC All-Academic
Teams.
Tufts University's Ellis Oval is one of the region's most historic
and attractive settings for college football. Originally built as
the Tufts Oval in 1894, it was renamed for Tufts football legend
Fred "Fish" Ellis in 1969. With the close proximity of the football
and soccer fields, Saturday afternoons in the fall at the Oval are
festive occasions.
Samko came to Tufts in 1994 after rebuilding the team at the
University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. The Tigers were 6-21
in three seasons prior to his arrival, and then posted a 35-26-1
mark during his seven years (1987-93), including 23-5-1 from
1990-92. He was Southern College Athletic Conference Coach of the
Year in 1990 and 1992, and Jostens National Coach of the Year in
1992 when Sewanee went 8-1. He and his staff succeeded in rebuilding
again at Tufts, with Samko earning Coach of the Year honors from
three different organizations after the Jumbos finished 7-1 in 1998.
Along with a large number of alumni who have achieved success in a
wide array of professional careers, Jumbos have also played in the
National Football League. Defensive lineman Mark Buben, a 1979
graduate, played for the New England Patriots and Cleveland Browns.
Daryl "Moon" Brown, who holds the New England small college record
with five kickoff returns for touchdowns in his career, was drafted
by the Browns in 1977. Recent graduate Mike Willey played a year in
the Arena League.
The 2008 Jumbo coaching staff is a mixture of old and new. Entering
his third year at Tufts, Scott Rynne switches from offensive
coordinator to defensive coordinator this fall. The 1991 Williams
College graduate has 13 years of coaching experience and was
previously the interim head football coach at Pomona-Pitzer College.
Offensive coordinator Jay Civetti is one of three new coaches. A
2001 Trinity College graduate, he coached at NC State last year
after spending four years on the staff at Boston College. Special
Teams coordinator and linebackers coach Mike Daly enters his 14th
season with the staff. The Jumbos led the nation in punt return
defense last season. A 1995 Tufts graduate, Daly is also head coach
of the successful Men's Lacrosse team. Jon Troy, the all-time
leading receiver at Tufts and a 2000 graduate, is in his fifth
season as an assistant and will coach wide receivers. Mike Browne, a
1973 Boston State College graduate who was a football and lacrosse
standout, has worked with the offensive line for 22 years during two
stints at Tufts. Eighth-year running backs coach Ashleigh Davenport
played on two NCAA playoff teams at Boston University, from where he
graduated in 1985. Veteran coach Pete Carmichael was an NFL
assistant for 10 years with the Bears, Browns and Jaguars. New to
the staff as defensive backs coach, he also has vast collegiate
experience, including head coaching tenures at Trenton State and
Merchant Marine Academy. Graduate assistant coach Rob Velasquez, who
will work with the defensive line, was a four-year captain at
Endicott College. A 2002 graduate, he played professionally in
Ireland and coached at Buckingham, Browne & Nichols in the years
since.
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