CAMBRIDGE – As the sun set over Harvard Stadium on Wednesday evening, the Crimson wrapped up one of the final practices before finally getting to kick off a new era.
The Andrew Aurich era officially starts when Stetson visits on Saturday afternoon.
After three decades under Tim Murphy, Harvard looks to continue on its Ivy legacy, but with a new twist. The former Princeton Tiger is ready to lead the way and isn’t nervous or anxious at all, mostly because he believes in the preparation his new squad has put in over the last month or so.
“I’m feeling very confident, because these guys have prepared the right way,” he said. “I know when we get out there, their reactions to things are going to be right…the work they’ve put in makes me feel confident. I’m going to sleep very well on Friday night.”
The oddity of the Ivy League schedule always starting three weeks after the rest of Division 1 creates a unique challenge for the coaches in the league too. Making sure not only they aren’t getting too hyped up waiting and also making sure their players aren’t getting ahead of themselves is key heading into the opener.
“I learned this from Coach (Greg) Schiano)…he always said ‘do not wish away time,” Aurich added. “The fact we got all those extra days before we played our first game, great. Let’s take advantage of them. It’ll make us more prepared whoever we’re playing against because we had that much more time.”
“It’s rough,” wide receiver Cooper Barkate – just one of many in a very talented group – said on having to wait to play a game. “It’s exciting to watch other teams, but we’re definitely ready to play and we’re definitely ready for our time. We’ve definitely been looking forward to it.”
When he spoke on Wednesday, Aurich wouldn’t reveal who will be starting at quarterback on Saturday – it’ll either be Jaden Craig or Charles DePrima and we could see both QB’s – but, Craig believes the relationship between both guys will make it work, whatever that decision may be.
“We’re really close friends,” Craig said. “I think we’re just taking this situation to help each other grow as people and as quarterbacks. We’re just trying to get each other better.”
Offensively, not much has changed under Aurich, at least not yet. That’s mainly because offensive coordinator Mickey Fein is still on board. There certainly is a bit more tempo (especially at practice) and a few things are different, but the offense will look familiar to Crimson fans.
“The scheme hasn’t changed a whole lot because (Coach Fein) is still here,” Barkate said. “I would say overall focus with the team and everything surrounding football and the program has definitely changed a lot…it’s been great. Having (Aurich) step in during the spring…having him come in and bring in his new ways. A lot more discipline, a lot more focus I would say all around.”
Defensively, it’s the same story. Replacing guys like Thor Griffin and Nate Leskovec is a huge challenge, but Scott Larkee stuck around and will be running the show on that side of the ball, which means the continuity is still there. Safety Delian Bradley touched on it on Wednesday.
“As we showed in the spring game, we’re going to fly around and hit hard as we always want to do,” he said. “Just focus on doing our job. There’s always been a standard at Harvard. Being here since freshman year, I’d say as a team, we’re definitely united and feel like we can make a run to go 10-0.”
There are three main things that Aurich is stressing to his guys and has been stressing since he took over in the spring:
-Be obsessed over the ball
-Execute at a high level
-Be a team that attacks
“On offense we’re going to have great ball security, on defense we’re going to disrupt the football,” he explained. “To execute at a high level you have to know your job and then you’ve got to do your job and trust your training. Attacking means striking first, straining in the middle of the play and then swarming on defense and finishing plays. That’s what I want to come across when people watch us. What we run on offense, what we run on defense, those are all going to lead to those three areas.”
When Aurich took over, he knew that this program didn’t need to be stripped down and rebuilt by any means. After all, the Crimson were technically Ivy League champs in 2023 despite losses to Yale and Princeton. The new head coach is simply looking to build upon the legacy that’s been established in Cambridge here, just with his own spin on it.
“It wasn’t like I changed everything,” Aurich added. “There’s a reason there’s been so much success here for 30 years. So, to me, it was, the things I feel very strongly about, we were going to change those. If I didn’t have a strong feeling on something, these guys are very comfortable doing things a certain way and in the interest of them and the transition, I wanted to make sure I wasn’t a guy with a big ego that said ‘we’re changing it because that’s the way they did it, we’re going to do it differently.’
“I do not have a big ego.”
The new era of Harvard football gets started in a few days and somehow, the Crimson may actually be flying under the radar just a little bit.
Still, expectations have never been higher internally.
“I personally don’t feel like we were Ivy League champs losing to Princeton and Yale,” said Barkate. “So, that definitely is a chip on our shoulder and I know a lot of the guys on the team feel the same way. I think we are flying a little bit under the radar.”
