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December 11th, 2013, 02:55 PM
http://www.nhregister.com/sports/20131120/scsu-coach-rich-cavanaugh-announces-retirement
SCSU coach Rich Cavanaugh announces retirementhttp://www.nhregister.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/storyimage/NH/20131120/SPORTS/131129941/AR/0/AR-131129941.jpg&maxh=400&maxw=667Southern Connecticut State football coach Rich Cavanaugh announced his retirement Wednesday after 29 years in charge of the Owls. Photo courtesy of SCSU Athletics
By Chip Malafronte (http://www.nhregister.com/sports/20131120/scsu-coach-rich-cavanaugh-announces-retirement#author1), New Haven Register
POSTED: 11/20/13, 2:14 PM EST | UPDATED: 2 WEEKS, 6 DAYS AGO
http://www.nhregister.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/storyimage/NH/20131120/SPORTS/131129941/EP/1/1/EP-131129941.jpg&maxh=400&maxw=667Southern Connecticut State football coach Rich Cavanaugh announced his retirement Wednesday after 29 years in charge of the Owls.Photo courtesy of SCSU Athletics
NEW HAVEN >> The first few years of his career were filled with sleepless nights. Rich Cavanaugh often lay awake wondering if he’d done enough to prepare for an opponent.
In time, when he came to fully understand the complexities of the job, he slept like a baby the night before a game.
On Wednesday, Cavanaugh came to another realization. Twenty-nine years is enough. His tenure as football coach at Southern Connecticut State will end with a program-best 170 wins, 18 winning seasons in the last 20 years and four NCAA Division II playoff appearances.
There were 17 All-Americans, three Northeast-10 Conference players of the year, and a handful of alums that moved on to the NFL, including Joe Andruzzi, Scott Mercereau and Jacques Cesaire.
Cavanaugh will miss the people. He’ll miss the competition. He’ll miss the life. But, in following the advice he’s told countless players over the decades, he will walk away from the field with no regrets.
“It’s a great career,” Cavanaugh said, eyes welling. “I also consider myself lucky that I can retire. Like…I’m retiring. Which a lot of coaches can’t say. I’ve been provided with a great opportunity.”
Cavanaugh’s persona oozes cool. His hair is always perfect. When the weather gets cold, he patrols the sideline in a leather jacket. How many college coaches have personalized gold records hanging in their office? Cavanaugh does, thanks to former tight end Parrish Smith, part of best-selling early-90s rap duo EPMD.
He is also supremely confident — in himself; in his coaches; in his players. During team meetings, there’s never any doubt about who is in charge. The general belief among his players is that if their coach is this assured of their ability and potential, maybe they should be, too.
“Excuse my language,” says Cesaire, who spent eight years with the San Diego Chargers. “But in a room full of bad-asses, he’s the baddest.”
Cavanaugh learned the game as a high school star at Lyman Hall in the early 1970s, where he played linebacker and guard for Phil Ottochian. He continued at American International, where he started for two seasons on the offensive line and recognized his career goal would be to become a football coach.
His opportunity at Southern was due in part to his knowledge of the wing T. Cavanaugh was well-versed in the offense. North Haven’s Kevin Gilbride, then a career defensive coach, met Cavanaugh at AIC. Hired as Southern’s head coach in 1980, Gilbride planned to install the wing T. So he called Cavanaugh, then coaching at Branford High, to help implement it during the spring.
“He was instrumental in acquainting me with the fundamentals and basic premises of the wing T and helped me get started,” said Gilbride, now in his seventh season as offensive coordinator of the New York Giants.
Gilbride hired Cavanaugh in 1982 to replace Paul Pasqualoni as his offensive coordinator. The Owls went 24-7 over the next three seasons. When Gilbride left for a job in the Canadian Football League in 1985, Southern turned to a 31-year-old Cavanaugh.
“We had great success because of the players, but I was blessed with a terrific staff led by Rich,” Gilbride said. “Right from the beginning, he was instrumental in our success. To see him go from struggling initially to consistent success was very satisfying and well-deserved. He’s a terrific coach and even better person. I couldn’t be happier Southern turned to him to take over for me and I think he did an outstanding job.”
Success didn’t come easily as a head coach. Southern lost 22 straight games under Cavanaugh in the late 1980s. That was a time when sleep was rare. Pressure and anxiety were getting the best of him. As it turned out, he simply needed a little time to learn the nuances of being a college head coach.
“As you progress in the profession, you realize there’s only so much you can do,” Cavanaugh said. “I always wanted to have my teams prepared and I never wanted to be outcoached. As you get older, and are in those situations a lot more, you learn what the job entails. The plan is laid, you knew what you had to do, coach and make some decisions, but ultimately it came down to your kids executing.”
By the early 1990s, Cavanaugh was producing consistent winners. A decade later, the Owls were contending in the NCAA tournament. In 2005, they made the first of four straight appearances.
He endeared himself by taking genuine interest in the lives and goals of the young men who came through his program. Most of those relationships continue to this day. Each fall, after the homecoming game, dozens of former players from the 80s through the latest class wait for Cavanaugh to join them in the parking lot. Then, the reunion really begins.
Cesaire recalls first meeting Cavanaugh during his official recruiting visit to Southern.
“Sitting in his office, he asked me what I want to do,” Cesaire said. “I said, ‘Play football.’ He said, ‘No. What do you want to do in life?’ I said I didn’t know. And he said, ‘Well, we better find that out.’ He cares about his guys. He cares about their future. He wants to see all of them do good. He made me believe in myself. And that’s why I’ll always go back to Southern Connecticut and help out as much as I can.”
Cavanaugh, just 59, doesn’t quite know what his retirement will entail. Perhaps a permanent move to his second home in Newport, R.I.; maybe a trip to the Pacific Northwest to see his younger brother, Mike, the offensive line coach at Oregon State.
But he’s sure of one thing. He’s ready to leave this life of football. And he’ll sleep just fine.
SCSU coach Rich Cavanaugh announces retirementhttp://www.nhregister.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/storyimage/NH/20131120/SPORTS/131129941/AR/0/AR-131129941.jpg&maxh=400&maxw=667Southern Connecticut State football coach Rich Cavanaugh announced his retirement Wednesday after 29 years in charge of the Owls. Photo courtesy of SCSU Athletics
By Chip Malafronte (http://www.nhregister.com/sports/20131120/scsu-coach-rich-cavanaugh-announces-retirement#author1), New Haven Register
POSTED: 11/20/13, 2:14 PM EST | UPDATED: 2 WEEKS, 6 DAYS AGO
http://www.nhregister.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/storyimage/NH/20131120/SPORTS/131129941/EP/1/1/EP-131129941.jpg&maxh=400&maxw=667Southern Connecticut State football coach Rich Cavanaugh announced his retirement Wednesday after 29 years in charge of the Owls.Photo courtesy of SCSU Athletics
NEW HAVEN >> The first few years of his career were filled with sleepless nights. Rich Cavanaugh often lay awake wondering if he’d done enough to prepare for an opponent.
In time, when he came to fully understand the complexities of the job, he slept like a baby the night before a game.
On Wednesday, Cavanaugh came to another realization. Twenty-nine years is enough. His tenure as football coach at Southern Connecticut State will end with a program-best 170 wins, 18 winning seasons in the last 20 years and four NCAA Division II playoff appearances.
There were 17 All-Americans, three Northeast-10 Conference players of the year, and a handful of alums that moved on to the NFL, including Joe Andruzzi, Scott Mercereau and Jacques Cesaire.
Cavanaugh will miss the people. He’ll miss the competition. He’ll miss the life. But, in following the advice he’s told countless players over the decades, he will walk away from the field with no regrets.
“It’s a great career,” Cavanaugh said, eyes welling. “I also consider myself lucky that I can retire. Like…I’m retiring. Which a lot of coaches can’t say. I’ve been provided with a great opportunity.”
Cavanaugh’s persona oozes cool. His hair is always perfect. When the weather gets cold, he patrols the sideline in a leather jacket. How many college coaches have personalized gold records hanging in their office? Cavanaugh does, thanks to former tight end Parrish Smith, part of best-selling early-90s rap duo EPMD.
He is also supremely confident — in himself; in his coaches; in his players. During team meetings, there’s never any doubt about who is in charge. The general belief among his players is that if their coach is this assured of their ability and potential, maybe they should be, too.
“Excuse my language,” says Cesaire, who spent eight years with the San Diego Chargers. “But in a room full of bad-asses, he’s the baddest.”
Cavanaugh learned the game as a high school star at Lyman Hall in the early 1970s, where he played linebacker and guard for Phil Ottochian. He continued at American International, where he started for two seasons on the offensive line and recognized his career goal would be to become a football coach.
His opportunity at Southern was due in part to his knowledge of the wing T. Cavanaugh was well-versed in the offense. North Haven’s Kevin Gilbride, then a career defensive coach, met Cavanaugh at AIC. Hired as Southern’s head coach in 1980, Gilbride planned to install the wing T. So he called Cavanaugh, then coaching at Branford High, to help implement it during the spring.
“He was instrumental in acquainting me with the fundamentals and basic premises of the wing T and helped me get started,” said Gilbride, now in his seventh season as offensive coordinator of the New York Giants.
Gilbride hired Cavanaugh in 1982 to replace Paul Pasqualoni as his offensive coordinator. The Owls went 24-7 over the next three seasons. When Gilbride left for a job in the Canadian Football League in 1985, Southern turned to a 31-year-old Cavanaugh.
“We had great success because of the players, but I was blessed with a terrific staff led by Rich,” Gilbride said. “Right from the beginning, he was instrumental in our success. To see him go from struggling initially to consistent success was very satisfying and well-deserved. He’s a terrific coach and even better person. I couldn’t be happier Southern turned to him to take over for me and I think he did an outstanding job.”
Success didn’t come easily as a head coach. Southern lost 22 straight games under Cavanaugh in the late 1980s. That was a time when sleep was rare. Pressure and anxiety were getting the best of him. As it turned out, he simply needed a little time to learn the nuances of being a college head coach.
“As you progress in the profession, you realize there’s only so much you can do,” Cavanaugh said. “I always wanted to have my teams prepared and I never wanted to be outcoached. As you get older, and are in those situations a lot more, you learn what the job entails. The plan is laid, you knew what you had to do, coach and make some decisions, but ultimately it came down to your kids executing.”
By the early 1990s, Cavanaugh was producing consistent winners. A decade later, the Owls were contending in the NCAA tournament. In 2005, they made the first of four straight appearances.
He endeared himself by taking genuine interest in the lives and goals of the young men who came through his program. Most of those relationships continue to this day. Each fall, after the homecoming game, dozens of former players from the 80s through the latest class wait for Cavanaugh to join them in the parking lot. Then, the reunion really begins.
Cesaire recalls first meeting Cavanaugh during his official recruiting visit to Southern.
“Sitting in his office, he asked me what I want to do,” Cesaire said. “I said, ‘Play football.’ He said, ‘No. What do you want to do in life?’ I said I didn’t know. And he said, ‘Well, we better find that out.’ He cares about his guys. He cares about their future. He wants to see all of them do good. He made me believe in myself. And that’s why I’ll always go back to Southern Connecticut and help out as much as I can.”
Cavanaugh, just 59, doesn’t quite know what his retirement will entail. Perhaps a permanent move to his second home in Newport, R.I.; maybe a trip to the Pacific Northwest to see his younger brother, Mike, the offensive line coach at Oregon State.
But he’s sure of one thing. He’s ready to leave this life of football. And he’ll sleep just fine.