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Teams: Football: Team
Overview
Tufts Football Recruiting Information:
►NESCAC honors
Auerbach for clutch kicks
►Tassinari
named preseason All-American
The
Tufts University football team continues to be one of the most
competitive in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC).
After challenging for the conference title in 2007, the Jumbos were
once again a force to be reckoned with last season. Tufts enters a new
year with great hope and excitement. Many of the
leading lettermen from last year's squad return to Head Coach Bill Samko's team.
Several talented members of the Tufts program were honored as the
best in the region and in the conference last season. Defensive back
Tom Tassinari was a D3Football.com All-East selection and was named
to the prestigious New England Football Writers' (NEFW) Team.
Defensive end Donnie Simmons received the Eastern College Athletic
Conference's (ECAC) Northeast Rookie of the Year. Running back Will
Forde earned the NEFW Gold Helmet Award for his role in the team's
17-7 victory over Williams on October 18. Nine Jumbos were voted
All-NESCAC, including wide receiver David Halas who broke the team's
single-season and career touchdown receptions records.
Victories over Williams last season and Trinity in 2007 have given
the program two of the biggest wins in its long history.
The Tufts football program is one of the oldest in the country. The
2009 season is the 135th on campus, and Tufts played its 1,000th
game in 2006. The program's 1,020 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 10th in the 2009 Learfield
Sports Directors' Cup, which awards points based on NCAA
performances. The
University's proximity to a world-class city renowned for its
academic institutions is also a major draw.
Several Jumbos have won prestigious awards for academics and
commitment to football over the years. Last season, linebacker Tyson
Reynoso and Halas were picked for the ESPN The Magazine's
Academic All-Region Team. In 2007, linebacker Adam
Arsenault was the NEFW's choice for the Jerry Nason Award for senior achievement.
Jumbos have also frequently earned the Swede Nelson Award
presented by the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston for academic
accomplishment.
Tufts University's Ellis Oval/Zimman Field 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. Fullback Kevin Anderson, a three-time All-NESCAC
First Team selection, earned an invitation to Boston College's Pro
Day last March.
The Jumbos are led by an outstanding coaching staff. Entering
his fourth year at Tufts, Scott Rynne coordinates a defensive unit
that is annually among the best in the league. The 1991 Williams
College graduate has 14 years of coaching experience and was
previously the interim head football coach at Pomona-Pitzer College.
Offensive coordinator Jay Civetti joined the staff last season and
guided a unit that set the single-season touchdown passes mark with
14. A
2001 Trinity College graduate, he coached at NC State in 2007
after spending four years on the staff at Boston College. Kicking teams coordinator and linebackers coach Mike Daly enters his 15th
season with the staff. The Jumbos led the nation in punt return
defense in 2007. 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 sixth
season as an assistant and will coach wide receivers. Mike Browne, a
1973 Boston State College, has worked with the offensive line for 23 years during two
stints at Tufts. The Gridiron Club of Greater Boston honored him as
its Division II-III Assistant Coach of the Year for 2008. Ninth-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. Now in
his second year 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
works 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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