IC News

One of the things that I see consistently is the passion from the IC alumni network regarding the football program, and the athletic department. That level of passion is bigger than you get at many schools, even at the Division I level. When I was playing football at the University of Pittsburgh, two of my coaches were Brian Angelichio — who coached at Ithaca for a long time — and Tony Wise, who played football for the Bombers, and they talked about their time here, and how special it was.

When you add to that the commitment to excellence from the entire college, it all adds up to Ithaca College being a special place.

It's without a doubt a huge bonus. Playing a game at Yankee Stadium puts our program on a national stage, and will have a huge impact on recruiting, which is really the lifeblood for our program.

But the impact of a game like this goes well beyond the football team. Any time we can highlight Ithaca College’s national relevance, it has a positive impact on the institution. You’ll have a prospective student — not even a football player necessarily — who reads about it, or maybe they see a picture from the game, and it catches their eye. They say to themselves “What is Ithaca College all about? Let me take a deeper look at it.” And they go down the rabbit hole and start to learn about the entire Ithaca College experience and what separates us from other schools.

It’s also going to have a major positive impact on alumni relations. Because so many alumni are excited about this game, and want to be a part of it, it’s a tangible way for the college to show perspective students what our alumni are about, that they strongly support the school, and that they are eager to connect with our students in countless ways leading up to the game. It’s clear to me that not every school has an alumni base like this. And the experience of our alumni here is why they feel so strongly about the college. And that passion is passed on to the current students and student-athletes.

IC in the City is an investment from our entire college: from President La Jerne Terry Cornish, to our board of trustees, to the staff members across the college who are working hard to make this memorable, to professors who are working hard to set up opportunities for current students to connect with alumni, and the alumni, who are going to come from across the country to be a part of the weekend. It’s truly a collective effort and it takes a village to pull it off and make it special, and that level of commitment should be celebrated by the whole community. It’s an experience the players and fans won’t forget.

It also really promotes the family-centered, inclusive atmosphere that Ithaca College is truly about. Regardless of how you encounter them, people at Ithaca College always going to want to connect with you. If you’re waiting on the subway wearing an IC shirt, someone is going to say “Go Bombers!”

Since I was named head coach, one of my agenda items has been to connect with people across this campus. Not just players, but the people at Ithaca who bring this whole community together. I want to connect the dots between all the people who make a positive impact on this campus, to get to know them, and for them to get to know me, and this event can play a part in that.