![]() Juniata's Carmen Felus earned his first win as a head coach, beating Moravian 10-3 on Saturday. Juniata athletics photo |
In December 2008, coach Carmen Felus inherited a Juniata team
that had won just five games in the previous five seasons.
It’s a tall mountain to climb for any head coach, a journey
that is marked by milestones along the way.
Felus and the Eagles players reached one of the biggest milestones
of the year on Saturday, winning their first game of the season.
The 10-3 victory over conference opponent Moravian came, as Felus
notes, amid a perfect blend of offense, defensive and special teams
performances by the Eagles. Juniata put all their points on the
board in the first quarter, capitalizing on the ability to quickly
move the ball down the field and stringing together several strong
gains.
The 10-0 score for the next 32 minutes, as well as the win, fell
then on the defense’s shoulders. Moravian’s only points
came on a drive that started inside the red zone. Juniata’s
defense tightened up as the ball moved inside the 10, and the
Greyhounds had to settle for the uprights. The overall efforts on
defense were led by cornerback Kyle McKechnie, who had 13 tackles
and an interception, and linebacker Chris Stephens, who had 10
tackles and a sack.
Felus, a Pennsylvania native who has previous coaching experience
at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and the University of
Tennessee-Chattanooga, talked about the task of taking on the
Eagles team and the kinds of things he has learned.
D3football.com: I was looking through your online bio, and
it appears this past weekend was your first win as a collegiate
head coach. What was that like for you?
Felus: I was more happy for our players and
coaches than what I was for myself. I thought our guys did a great
job. There was a lot of adversity during the game. Our guys hung in
there. It was a total team effort -- all three phases: offense,
defense and special teams. Playing on the road, as you know,
it’s always tough to pick up a victory. Offensively, we
didn’t turn the ball over; we ran it effectively. That was
great to see. We took advantage of some big pass plays, and then
defensively, we did a great job of playing assignment football. We
tackled well. For me, I know it was my first win as a head coach,
but I was more excited for our players and for our coaches. You
know, it’s been a long year; we started 0-7. Our guys have
done a great job of being resilient, having a lot of perseverance.
I was more excited for those guys than I was for myself.D3: You
mentioned that you started 0-7. Overall, has your team performed
and jelled like you had hoped they would back in the preseason?
CF: To be honest with you, we finally put it all together in Week
8 against Moravian. What we’re trying to do is we’re
trying to instill that process here of what it takes to be
successful. We don’t necessarily talk about winning or losing
football games. We’re trying to teach our philosophy here and
our expectations of the program. Control what you can control; you
really don’t play an opponent. We’re doing what we do,
and we’re doing it well. And what we can control, we’re
going to control. We talk to our guys about competing every play
and not worrying about any outside distractions and not worrying
about things we can’t control. And on Saturday, our guys did
that. Our guys went out and played every play, and we did it in all
three phases of the game. That was very good to see. I’m
hoping what we’re teaching them, what we’re trying to
do, they’re starting to see that now. And hopefully,
they’ll believe now.
D3: When you came to Juniata after being an assistant at
Division I-FCS and Division III schools, what was the biggest
change for you entering the Division III landscape?
CF: That’s a great question, but football
is football. When I first took this job, I came in here and told
our kids in our first meeting, ‘We run this like a Division I
football program.’ I had experience doing that. Really, my
mentor was at IUP, Frank Cignetti Sr. We’re trying to do the
same things we did at IUP. We were a national powerhouse in
Division II at IUP. So we’re running it like anybody would
run an organization. We’re trying to do everything
first-class. There’s definitely a philosophy or a mission
statement within our program. The difference really isn’t the
football. Other than doing it on TV or a little bit more exposure,
it’s been the same. When we were at Chattanooga, we were
covered every day by local papers or TV; at IUP, we were covered
every day. That’s the only difference, you’re not
playing in front of 30,000 people now like we were in I-AA, we
might be playing in front of three. [laughs] It’s still
football, though. In Division III, especially in our conference,
the Centennial, there’s some outstanding coaches and
there’s some good football players.
D3: One of the things that coaches have told me in the
past is that when they move from an assistant post to head coach,
as an assistant coach, your duties are very compartmentalized. And
as a head coach, you’re looking at the bigger picture, not
just on the field, but off the field in terms of tasks and
organization. Did you come across that, and was that a shock for
you?
CF: No, not really, and I’ll tell you why.
Coach Cignetti and also my boss who I worked with at Chattanooga,
coach Rodney Allison, they’re both Bowden disciples. Coach
Cignetti was Bobby Bowden’s offensive coordinator at West
Virginia. … And I learned from both those guys, from Frank
Cignetti and from Rodney Allison, and what they did when I was an
assistant, I had a lot of the administrative head coaching duties.
And I was able during my young coaching career to get a taste of
what you have to do administratively, academically and with
fundraising. … Everything that had to do with being a head
coach, I was fortunate enough under those two guys that they had
given me some responsibilities to do all those things. If
that’s your goal to be a head coach, you’re always
constantly preparing as an assistant, so it didn’t really
feel different other than your name’s on it now. If I
don’t get it done, I’m the one getting fired.
I’ve got nobody else to blame. …
D3: You said you came in with a lot of training and you
were obviously very well prepared. When you were hired last year,
it’s now been almost a year since you worked at the school.
What’s the single biggest thing that you have learned in that
time?
CF: We tell our guys, we all make mistakes.
Football is not a game of perfect, it’s a game of people.
Really, the biggest thing that I think I have learned … when
you’re a head coach, now I’m not just an offensive
coordinator, not just worried about the guys on offense. I’ve
got to worry about offense, defense, special teams. So I think the
biggest thing that I’ve learned is how you deal with
different types of personalities. On a daily basis, I’ve got
to be able to handle my players and deal with all the problems with
those players. And you may have to meet with administrators, you
may have to go out and fundraise. Probably the biggest thing is
getting to understand people. … I’ve learned a lot
about myself, too, how I handle adversity. You always talk to your
players about going to face some adversity. Life’s not easy,
football’s not easy. Play the next play, don’t worry
about what’s happened in the past. When it’s your name
on the program, you’ve got to do those things, too, because
if not, the kids will see. …
Entrance into the Century Club
As one Bridgewater fan posted on my Facebook page: It
“used to be said that in order to win 100 at BC you would
have to coach for 200 years.”
Coach Mike Clark achieved that feat in 15 years.
To earn their 38-34 win over Emory and Henry on Saturday, the
Eagles had to fend off a big day by Wasps rusher Caleb Jennings,
who had three touchdowns and 192 yards. But Bridgewater had its own
breakout on the ground with Thomas Tate’s 185-yard,
two-touchdown performance.
On Clark’s
football blog, the coach shares the credit for the 100-win
milestone, pointing to it as a community achievement more than a
personal one. “I have tried to state all along that the wrong
pronoun is used when describing this event. It is not
‘my’ or ‘his’ but rather ‘we’
or ‘ours,’” Clark wrote. “The real value in
those games is that they are shared events that will have great
value to a lot of individuals on a lot of levels.”
The blitz package
Salisbury needed a late-game field goal to get past Union 19-16
after the Gulls saw their entire lead dissipate in the third
quarter. Defensive lineman Paul Cynewski was crucial with big
plays, including a fourth-down stop among his four and a half
tackles for loss on Saturday.
Dickinson needed a rally of its own in the second half against
Gettysburg, pulling out the 38-28 win to keep the Little Brown
Bucket for the fourth consecutive year. Red Devils quarterback Ian
Mitchell connected with three different receivers for touchdowns.
For Gettysburg, Tim Widdoes and Wes Taylor had 13 and 12 total
tackles, respectively.
Averett and N.C. Wesleyan each had no problem continuing to raise
the stakes in the USA South, as both teams won easily over their
opposition on Saturday. Christopher Newport, too, won a more narrow
14-7 game against Greensboro to remain in the hunt. A three-way tie
(each having one conference loss) is still possible if the chips
fall just right.
Contact me
I would be happy to hear from anyone who has questions or feedback regarding the Around the Mid-Atlantic column or Division III football in general. Please write to me at ryan.tipps@d3football.com. I’m sure that I missed some highlights in the region. I invite you to talk about players and performances on the message board’s Around the Mid-Atlantic thread. Additionally, if there is an idea you’d like to see me write about, post it there or email me.