Football | 11/17/2020 9:58:30 AM
Blaise Faggiano enters his 13th season as head coach of the Utica College football team in 2020-21. In addition, Faggiano serves as an Assistant Athletic Director. During his tenure, Faggiano has coached over 90 Utica student-athletes to Empire 8 All-Conference status, 14 players to All-Region recognition, 11 consecutive National Football Foundation Scholar-Athletes, two Empire 8 Conference Player of the Year honorees, an E8 Rookie of the Year, two E8 Special Teams Player of the Year and four Pioneers have earned the highest honor of being named All-American (Jeremy Meier ’12, Zach Hunnewell ’14, Thomas Woodburn ’15, Nick Woodman ‘15).
Prior to his arrival at Utica, Faggiano spent nine seasons as defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator at fellow Empire 8 institution St. John Fisher College. He helped lead the the Cardinals to the NCAA Division III Tournament National Quarterfinals in each of the his final two seasons (2006 and 2007).
Faggiano, a 1993 graduate of Ithaca College, helped guide the Bombers to a NCAA Division III National Championship in 1991. He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at the University at Albany (1993-95) before returning to Ithaca in 1995, and was part of a coaching staff that led the Bombers to three postseason appearances in four seasons.
Blaise Faggiano - Today's Leaders
Coach/Administrator Name: Blaise Faggiano
School: Utica College
Title: Head Football Coach/Assistant Athletic Director
Year at Current Institution: 13th season
College Attended/Class Year: Ithaca College '93 (undergraduate), SUNY Albany '95 (graduate), St. John Fisher College '06 (graduate)
Playing Career: Ithaca College (two-year letterwinner). Member of the 1991 NCAA Division III National Championship team. Named Ithaca's Senior Leadership/Hustle Award winner in 1992.
Favorite Pro Team: Cleveland Browns
Favorite Movie: Star Wars Episode IV "A New Hope"
Favorite TV Show: This Is Us
Last TV Show You Binge Watched: Game Of Thrones
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Vanilla Peanut Butter
Recent Community Service Projects Your Teams or Departments Have Worked On:
Real Men Wear Pink Campaign – 2019 and 2020 – American Cancer Society (Solo Activity)
Believe Bowl Game and Week – Believe 271, Thea Bowman House
America’s Greatest Heart Run and Walk – As a program and individually walked with “TEAM LASKER”
Get Into the Game – Be the Match Bone Marrow Registry
How Does The Empire 8 Stand Out Among Other Conferences: Our conference has found the ability to compete at the highest level well maintaining professionalism and sportsmanship. We truly have one of the most competitive conferences in the country.
Favorite Athletic Memory from Your Time as a Student-Athlete in College: Winning the 1991 NCAA Division III National Championship Game. I was fortunate enough to play on ESPN, with the game announced by Gary Danielson, and recover a fumble that led to the go ahead touchdown. I am a big New York Yankees fan and (former owner) George Steinbrenner was at the game. At halftime, he came into our locker room and told us to “Get after them in the second half, boys.”
Favorite Memory as a Coach/Administrator at Utica: Defeating my alma mater Ithaca College in the ECAC Scotty Whitelaw Bowl in 2014. We played at Historic Schoellkopf Field at Cornell University. We earned the first-ever bowl rings for our program.
Who Was Your Biggest Mentor and Why: Jim Butterfield, Head Football Coach at Ithaca College. He led with class and knew when to have fun. Coach Butterfield was a teacher and developed so many successful young men. He had such a positive impact on my life and career that I encouraged his wife Lois to write a book about his and their life. "The Book Wasn’t That Fun" will always be one of my life’s greatest accomplishments. I was fortunate enough to write the inside jacket for the book and the X’s and O’s section of 1943-1993.
Most Rewarding Aspect of Being a Coach/Administrator – My job is to develop young men, whether it be my student-athletes or coaches. We have developed quite the coaching tree during my time at Utica. I am very proud of the success of our student-athletes and how they continue to give back to Utica College.
What Type of Leader Are You: I believe in servant leadership. It is a leader's job to improve and empower the people around them. I take the time to build relationships with my players and coaches that last a lifetime. Our program priorities in order are Faith, Family, Academics and Football. We look to our foundations for success for guidance to “Competitive Greatness” and our wish to become “UnCommon” Men.
What Are Some Positive Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic You Have Experienced? The pandemic has forced our coaches and players to think creatively and teach football in a different way. It allowed us to hold weekly team meetings. These meetings have allowed us to continue to work on our “House”, which is our foundation for success and to bring in alumni to talk to our current athletes throughout the semester.
How Have You Had to Adjust as a Coach or Administrator to the Pandemic? Use more technology, whether it is video conferencing using Google Meet, Zoom or Face Time. It has become critical to use this technology to build relationships. We also collaborated with our admissions office to use the product Conduit to hold Virtual Summer Recruitment Days and Virtual Home Game Visits. At this time, we have held 90+ on campus visits and 100’s of virtual and video calls with families.
One Thing Most People Do Not Know About You: I love all things Marvel and am a big Spider Man fan.
Advice for First-Year Student-Athletes: We tell our freshmen every year that there are three keys to success, which are Be Patient, Be Coachable and Have Fun.
Advice for Graduating Student-Athletes:
- Stay in touch
- Come back and visit
- You are truly #PioneersForever
- Take risks
- Use what you have learned here at UC in your every day life
- You are ready
- You are #UnCommon
The Empire 8 Conference's “Today’s Leaders Compete Here” Series features a coach or administrator from one of its member institutions who exemplifies leadership.
ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit
www.empire8.com.
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