The senior class sets this year’s football roster apart from previous seasons. What sets this year’s football roster apart from previous seasons is the senior class. This season features the most seniors on the roster--25 since 2010.
With the number of seniors, it's a good sign that they are focused,” Director of Athletic Communication Bill Wagner said. “They've stuck it out for four years, for a reason probably, and building towards something can be really fun.”
The coaches understand how much effort the seniors have put into preparing for their last season. “There’s no question the seniors are committed to making this season a success,”
said Assistant Coach Brett Dietz.
Up to this point, many of the seniors were able to gain experience by playing as sophomores and juniors. However, in one case, senior wide receiver Andy Hunt has started for the Tigers since his freshman season. Experience has created emerging leaders for the football team.
According to Dietz, quarterback Matt Labus, and middle linebackers, Matt Crupi and Zach Williams remind him of a group of seniors two seasons ago that led DePauw to eight wins and a Monon Bell victory. “There was a really similar group of seniors [in 2017],” Dietz said.“We had a big class that played in the 2016 season. A senior quarterback who was a good leader, two middle linebackers, they were good leaders, and it’s funny that now, two years later, we’re talking about the same three positions.”
The importance of the team is a core part of football and football culture. According to Crupi, the sense of dependence on one another is what pushes and motivates them on a daily basis.“I don’t want to let him down,” Labus said. “I just don’t want to let [anyone] down, you know? I think that’s how just about everybody would look at it too. It’s a team sport in the end. We’re playing for each other.”
This senior class has stood by one important trait: commitment. “By the time you become a senior, as challenging as DePauw is, academically and those things, you are really committed to it,” said Head Football Coach Bill Lynch. “When you have enough committed people towards anything, you’ve got a chance to be successful.”
This commitment results in setting an example of initiative and leadership for the entire team. “[Coaches] can’t necessarily be micromanaging 100 percent,” Dietz said. “When you talk about commitment,and buying in and being committed as a team, it has to come from the culture. Because for football, we have 115 people on the team; it just can’t come from one or two guys. It’s gotta be throughout.”
The coaches play a major role in cultivating the culture of the team, especially Coach Lynch. Since taking over the program five years ago, Coach Lynch delivers a clear message of what is expected from every athlete: commitment and accountability. These are essential for the team to succeed without constant micromanagement from coaches. “He basically sets the culture that we live and breathe as a team,” Williams said.
Coach Lynch highlights the necessity that his players take a leadership role not only on the field, but off. Several members of the team are involved in Student Government, Management Fellows, and the Posse Program. Williams and Labus, mentioned above, are both Management Fellows. Being a DIII program, Lynch stressed the importance of a dimension beyond football. Likewise, Lynch encourages juniors to pursue study abroad opportunities and off-campus internships.
“You come to DePauw to get a DePauw education, and you get to play football while you're here, it’s not the other way around,” Lynch said. “We want students first that want to get involved in what DePauw has to offer. That’s what we want, students who want to do different things, we want to encourage our guys to.”
When all is said and done, the coaches firmly believe the players have vast potentials beyond the locker room and classroom doors. “It’s a good group of seniors, they’re good football players, and they’re good guys.” Dietz said. “I think they’re going to be very successful off the field as well. I mean I think there are some guys that are just good guys that are gonna be successful no matter what they do.”
