A beloved career college football coach reflects back on his
coaching years in this endearing and modest autobiography. For 32
years, Cozza served as Yale's football coach: From 1965 to 1996,
his overall record was a .599 (179 wins, 119 losses, and 5 ties),
with four championships and five co-championships. But although key
games and rivalries are retold in detailed fashion, what comes out
most in True Blue, co-written with Odermatt, a former newspaper
reporter, columnist, and editor, is Coach Cozza's appreciation for
and commitment to his players. Cozza writes lovingly of his former
players, including 14 who ended up in the NFL (such as Calvin Hill,
Gary Fencik, John Spagnola, Dick Jauron), others now famous in
other endeavors (Stone Phillips, Jack Ford), but most of whom found
fame only in their college football years. Stories of young men who
played hurt, such as Kelly Ryan and Jon Reese, are retold in a
folkloric, inspiring way. Cozza, who turned down the position of
athletic director in 1976 to remain the football coach, also shares
his opinions on many issues such as the antiwar demonstrations of
the 1960s and the restriction of competition. Most significantly,
Cozza writes about the decline of Yale football, citing many
factors including: the change from NCAA Division I-A to Division
I-AA; the halving of male enrollment at the school due to
coeducation; the escalating cost of education at Yale, which offers
no athletic or full-ride merit scholarships; recruiting excesses
and abuses that were a result of the proliferation of TV money; the
dropping of Ivy League games from network telecasts; and an
unresponsive admissions office. A book that will make all Yalies
and Ivy League football lovers a little nostalgic. Coach Cozza's
story and his modest and paternal way of developing
student-athletes can also serve as a blueprint for all college
coaches. (Kirkus Reviews)
For thirty-two years there was no finer example of excellence in
college football than Coach Carm Cozza's program at Yale
University. This engaging book is Cozza's story, the reminiscences
of a caring and principled teacher whose course material was
athletic competition, whose classroom was a football field, and
whose final exam was The Game against Harvard, with tens of
thousands on hand to grade the performance.
Cozza brings us behind the scenes for the famous 29-29 "loss"
against Harvard in 1968, he recalls the antiwar protesters in the
1970s who were less than enthusiastic about a combat sport, and he
marvels over the courage of 1989 captain Jon Reese, who played a
game against Cornell with a broken jaw, enabling Cozza to win his
tenth and last Ivy League title. He tells stories about some of the
outstanding men who played for him, among them Dick Jauron, Gary
Fencik, Calvin Hill, Brian Dowling, Rich Diana, John Spagnola, Rudy
Green, John Pagliaro, Kelly Ryan, Stone Phillips, and Jack Ford. He
recounts how difficult it was to adhere to the highest standards of
academic excellence and amateur purity while major college teams
were lowering standards, abusing rules, and exploiting athletes in
the quest for victories and revenue. And he offers thoughts on how
Yale -- and similar elite schools -- can invigorate their football
programs without succumbing to the excesses of the big-time
conferences.
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