(Photo Courtesy of Editor Var, Youtube.com)
The Bulldogs will kick off this season at Longley Athletic Complex in a non-conference matchup against the Fitchburg State University Falcons on Saturday, September 7th, at noon. Head Coach Andrae Murphy, Dean College Class of 2007, is in his third season coaching the Bulldogs and is looking to bring Dean College its first winning season since 2016. Dean College last won the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference Championship in 2019. Last season, Dean finished with a record of 2-8, going 1-3 within the ECFC.
When it comes to coaching, the biggest focus driving the team this year is accountability for teammates. “A big difference is that we have a lot more of our core values: our discipline, accountability, work ethic, grit, sacrifice. and we've been working on that more so as being better as individuals. We are being better as a group,” stated QB Nick Levine, a Sophomore.
For the offseason, the Bulldogs have had a large change in the way of coaches this offseason in comparison to last year. This includes current Offensive Coordinator Anthony Mazzola and current Defensive Backs Coach Richard Angus. Both assistant coaches are now bringing a new energy to the locker room, which goes back to the brotherhood and accountability that Coach Murphy has been establishing. “We have a great culture building in this team right now," said Nick. The offense has been getting reworked this season with a focus on running the football more effectively than in 2023. “As Coach put it we went expensive with the run game and inexpensive on the pass game,” said WR Joey Gonzalez, Junior. This offense hopes to be the difference maker in comparison to the 2023 season, where Dean failed to score into double digits in four games as well as being outscored 476-119.
New Identity: Coach Murphy has been pushing the envelope for the team to maintain consistency and focus on the present both in practice and in performance, hoping to create a better culture for the team to begin winning consistently. “We can be amazing, say at the running back position; we can be amazing offense; we can be amazing defense. But if we don't put it all together, then it's not going to work; we have to be one cohesive unit. I feel like that's something that we've done very well in working together and being a team, so that's the most important thing. That's what we've been doing well at so far,” said Nick Levine.
What are the strengths of this team? Coach Murphy has been concentrating on giving his players discipline, accountability, work ethic, grit, and sacrifice. “Whether it's staying, staying out late, helping your teammates know another playbook or working late, running extra laps on the field after practice, or running extra routes, making sure that your teammates and even yourself are ready for the season,” said Nick. Having a new coaching staff, players have been taking on new playbooks and new schemes. One issue this team will certainly face this season is depth, as the roster has shrunk significantly since last season. “Even with this disadvantage, we will be able to hold our own against each team in our division,” said RB Fontabian Donalson Jr, a Junior. Hopes are that the new coaching staff will help bring Dean to a position where they can compete within the ECFC, even with the potential hurdles this team will face.
Coach Murphy had the team write down goals for the upcoming season. “The goal that I wrote down and a lot of our teammates wrote down was to come together as a family; it was to become a family and click together,” says Nick. Currently residing in the four-team ECFC, if the Bulldogs get hot, they could make a run for the conference title. “There's a lot to talk about. Hey, we're gonna go get this championship. So I would say the number one goal to come together as a family, come together as a unit and work together to win the championship."
Week 1: One of those two wins last season came against the Falcons to start the year with a score of 33-17. This will also be the fourth matchup in school history, with the Bulldogs winning both home matches and losing one in Fitchburg. “Last year we beat them in week one; it was very exciting, but we know that they're going to come out and they're going to try to beat us; they want to get that; get back. Playing Fitchburg week one is going to be exciting for us to prove that last year wasn't a fluke,” stated Nick. The biggest challenge teams will often face in their first game is simply adjusting to playing against different competition than in practice.
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