WORCESTER – Throughout his time at Holy Cross, star linebacker Jacob Dobbs has reminded head coach Bob Chesney that he’s the best birthday gift Chesney could ever receive.
Chesney’s birthday was Thursday, which was also Media Day for the Crusaders and also happens to be the same day Dobbs agreed to become a Crusader seemingly former ago now. But, now more than ever after returning from injury that kept him off the field last season during the most historic year in program history, Dobbs is relishing every moment with his head coach and teammates.
“It’s the second time in a row we’ve done Media Day on his birthday and kind of a fun fact, five years ago, I committed on August 10th,” Dobbs explained with a grin. “I had no idea it was Coach Chesney’s birthday, so ever since then I remind him I gave him a pretty good gift on his birthday. He’s a phenomenal football coach. It’s a pleasure to play for him and I’m really blessed to be a part of this program because he’s one of the best coaches in the country. That’s indisputable, so it’s a blessing to play for him.
“It’s been a blessing, it’s so exciting to be out there,” he said. “Full go, full throttle, there’s no restrictions, none of that. Fitting inside run, doing all those things that I was having to stand behind in the spring and observe from kind of a distance and just get mental reps. Now, being back out there, physically being able to do those kinds of things I missed out on during the spring, it’s been so much fun. I’m a little bit crazy, so I was itching to get back out there. There was probably a little too much intensity on my end. I had to dial it back a little bit. I was running too fast, maybe overrunning a few plays, but I’ve settled in and had a great first week with the guys on defense. It’s been exciting to be back.”
Not only is Dobbs’ presence felt on the field, but off the field his leadership is irreplaceable. While still having him around the team last year was valuable, there’s nothing like having arguably the best linebacker in all of FCS football truly involved in everything going on.
“We’ve let him go and he’s going at a pretty high rate of speed,” said Chesney. “It’s pretty fun to watch. He needs to be out there. He hasn’t taken a meaningful rep (in spring), we didn’t let him do much. He went out there and did some pass skelly, that type of stuff, but right now he’s playing the type of football you’re used to seeing Jacob Dobbs play. We’re not going to slow him down at all. We’re going to let him go and he’s doing a really good job of it. To think back to last year and know we didn’t have him all of last year and to accomplish what we did, I think that gives our defense a lot of hope and a lot of belief in what we’re trying to accomplish.
“The information he can yell out (before or during a play) that he can relay back to the sideline certainly stands out. There’s not many players that know…he’s been in this system for five years and he spent – basically – one as a coach. He’d be in meetings with us. From the sideline, he’d be giving us what he thought. I think that now being on the field is just going to had to him. So, as much as that might have been a negative, he found a way to make it a positive and I think you’ll see that in his game this year.”
Dobbs isn’t just the leader of the defense, he’s ultimately the leader of the whole team. While there are several team captains, it’s Dobbs’ voice and then everyone else. Even superstar QB Matt Sluka made sure to stick with Dobbs throughout his career.
“It’s unbelievable,” Sluka said. “Jacob’s been a mentor for me since I’ve gotten here. Obviously, he’s been a captain since his sophomore year, which says unspeakable things about Jacob. It’s great. Defensively, he just captain’s everything, it’s like having another coach out there. Jacob is second-to-none and I’m grateful to go against him every day, honestly. We talk about it…there’s a lot of times where it’s just…I want to go against him. Iron sharpens iron and we always want to get each other better. We know what the end goal is, so we’re always working hard.”
Holy Cross pushed the eventual national champs to the limit last season without the heart and soul of their team. Now with that heart and soul back and ready to make up for lost time, the Crusaders’ defense might be one of the most elite units in the country.