What a year it was around New England.
Historic changes, playoff droughts ended, award-winning performances and of course, state champions crowned. Here’s what we think were the biggest stories in what was a memorable 2024 season:
1. Bill Belichick fired and Jerod Mayo hired – This was obviously the most noteworthy thing that happened locally in 2024 and it came just a week or so into the year. Jerod Mayo began the true new era of football in Foxborough after Belichick and Robert Kraft had an awkward send off press conference a week earlier. More on the Pats later…
2. Bill O’Brien hired at BC after Jeff Hafley leaves – Stunningly, Jeff Hafley left to take the Green Bay Packers’ defensive coordinator job in late January. A few weeks later (and some sleepless nights for me trying to nail the story down), Bill O’Brien was the new head coach at BC. We forget that he was also the Ohio State OC at the time too. It was truly a whirlwind month or so with everything happening so quickly. BC of course went on to win seven games and has a bright future with a revamped QB room. More on those QB’s in a bit…
3. Drake Maye takes over as face of the franchise – It took a few weeks, but Drake Maye quickly showed he has what it takes to lead the Patriots for the next decade. Frankly, he showed it in camp but ‘the plan’ needed to be followed for a bit until Jacoby Brissett was simply too terrible to continue playing. Maye has a long way to go before he’s truly in the elite group, but it sure looks and sounds like he’s headed that way.
4. UMass fires Don Brown and hires Joe Harasymiak – This was a stunner given that it came with just a few weeks left in the season. After so much positivity and ‘good vibes’ around his return, it’s a shame the school never truly committed to him or the program with the resources needed to recruit better talent. A few weeks ago, the Minutemen named Joe Harasymiak as the new head guy. He’s been busy in the portal already and (hopefully) will bring a bit of life to the program.
5. UConn wins 9 games for first time since 2007 – Jim Mora deserves every bit of praise he gets over the next few months. After just three wins a year ago following a promising six-win campaign in his first season with the Huskies, Mora led this year’s team to nine wins for the first time in 17 years and the program’s first bowl win in over a decade. The Huskies are the best program in New England right now and are set up for more future success after extending Mora before the Fenway Bowl win on Saturday.
6. Tim Murphy retires and Andrew Aurich takes over at Harvard – The legendary head man of the Crimson for 30 years stepped down a few weeks after the program clinched a share of the Ivy League title. Murphy departed as the league’s all-time winningest coach and left big shoes to fill. Former Princeton alum Andrew Aurich quickly stepped up to the challenge and led Harvard to another share of the league championship.
7. Dan Curran leaves Merrimack for Holy Cross after Bob Chesney’s departure – After Chesney put Holy Cross on the map, he upgraded to the James Madison job. That left the door open for Merrimack’s Dan Curran, who took over in Worcester this season and led the program to a share of its sixth straight Patriot League title. After building Merrimack from the ground up, Curran landed his dream job and despite a roller coaster first season, ended it with a Gatorade shower.
8. URI ends 39-year playoff drought – For the first time since 1985, the Rams clinched a share of the CAA and a playoff berth. Jim Fleming led Rhody to its best season in school history that also included a first round playoff win over CCSU and set the bar high for all future Rams teams.
9. Belichick becomes UNC head coach – Sure, he’s no longer our problem, but when the greatest coach of all time who won six Super Bowls here takes a college job, it’s still a big deal for most fans in this region. It’ll be fascinating to see how he does in the college game, but this was one of the biggest developments late in 2024.
10. CCSU wins Northeast Conference – Needing a win on the final day of the season, Adam Lechtenberg’s Blue Devils beat Duquesne at home to clinch the NEC and the program’s first playoff berth since 2019. It was a remarkable turnaround for a Blue Devils program that was an afterthought for the last few seasons.
11. Judon puts on a show during training camp before being traded – In a bizarre scene early on in camp in the midst of a contract dispute, Judon oddly sat around and caused a ruckus at the start of one of the practices before leaving, then coming back. All this went on with agent Drew Rosenhaus, Eliot Wolf and Robyn Glaser all chatting in clear sight. It was quite an eventful day and eventually, Judon was traded, signaling the beginning of another ugly year for the Pats.
12. Tommy Castellanos leaves BC and Grayson James takes over – Behind Belichick, this might have been the biggest surprise in New England. TC was benched after an ugly performance against Syracuse and decided to quit two days later. In came Grayson James – who had outperformed Castellanos all the way back in camp – and he was able to lead BC to another bowl bid before dropping the Pinstripe Bowl in New York. James, along with newcomers Shaker Reisig and Dylan Lonergan give BC arguably the best QB room in the ACC heading into 2025.
13. More chaos in the Ivy League – Crazy finishes and another year where the title wasn’t decided until the final day of the season. Once again, we had multiple champions as Harvard, Dartmouth and Columbia all earning a share. The Ivy League continues to be the most unpredictable, competitive FCS conference in the entire country.
14. UNH continues historic playoff run – For the 16th time in 20 years, the Wildcats made the FCS playoffs. Given the amount of turnover each season and the wild, wild, West that is now the transfer porta and overall NCAA landscapel, what Rick Santos and his staff have been able to maintain up in Durham is remarkable. Sean McDonnell laid the foundation and the alumni network, donors and members of the program have found a way to keep it rolling.
15. High school state champions crowned – Congrats to all over the Super Bowl champs in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. Maine’s Class A title game was arguably the best championship tilt with Portland knocking off Thornton Academy. Pinkerton knocking off Bedford to win the NH D1 title was a massive one too. Xaverian went back-to-back in D1 for Massachusetts while Catholic Memorial got back to the mountain top in D2. Shawsheen had probably the most memorable win during the week at Gillette Stadium in a defensive struggle for the D5 title. Meanwhile in CT, Ansonia added to its historic run with a 22nd championship in the Class S title game. The St. Joe’s Hogs also had a pulse-pounding win in the Class M championship that came down to a two-point stand. Greenwich continued to roll in Class LL.
16. Maine’s resurgence in the CAA – Jordan Stevens’ Black Bears have officially turned the corner. Maine won five games in a 5-7 campaign that included upsets over Delaware and Villanova. Maine is on its way back to true contention in the CAA and it’s only a matter of time until there’s playoff football again in Orono.
17. Ivy League announces teams can participate in FCS postseason – This one came down just a few weeks ago, but it’s huge. After decades of not allowing football teams to compete in the FCS playoffs, the Ivy League will now have teams competing for a national championship starting in 2025. You can easily make the argument that any of the league champs in the last decade or so could have made a serious run in the postseason, now, we’ll see it happen. This should do wonders for recruiting in the league as well, as kids now have a chance to play for something more than just the league championship.
18. New Cannan (CT) and Northbridge (MA) head coaches Lou Marinelli and Ken LaChapelle win 400th game on same night – Two of the most legendary coaches in New England both earned historic wins on November 8th. Marinelli and New Cannan took down Brien McMahon while the Rams beat Oxford. Marinelli has been the head coach at New Cannan since 1981 while LaChapelle has been at Northbridge since 1976.
19. Needham’s Kopcso wins Patriots Coach of the Year after historic run for the Rockets – Needham had another unbelievable year, going 12-1 before ultimately falling to Xaverian in the D1 Super Bowl at Gillette Stadium. Just a handful of years ago, the Rockets were no longer a proud program, but a laughing stock. Kopcso has restored the pride in Needham and was rightfully named the Patriots High School Coach of the Year a few days after the season.
20. Ezeiruaku earns consensus All-American and wins ACC Defensive Player of the Year – Ezeiruaku became just the 13th Boston College player ever to earn a consensus All-American nod while racking up 16.5 sacks to lead the country. Ezeiruaku was also named the ACC’s DPOTY and very well could be a late first round or second round NFL Draft pick in April.
21. Dartmouth’s Ejike Adele wins Bushnell Cup as Ivy League’s Defensive Player of the Year – Adele had 6.0 sacks and 12 tackles for loss in 2024, helping lead Dartmouth to its second straight share of an Ivy League title. Adele’s 54 tackles were tied for second on the team and he became the fourth Ivy Defensive Player of the Year in program history and 10th player of the year of any kind.
22. Jeff Marcone steps down at LaSalle (RI) – Since 2004, Marcone was a staple on the LaSalle sideline. Marcone won Super Bowl titles with the program in 2008, 2017 and 2022. He’s one of just three football coaches at the school to win at least one championship, Marcone was hired in 2004 and finished unbeaten in six different regular seasons, including the first title run. It’s a true end of an era for those that have followed Rhode Island high school football.
23. Bryant joins the CAA – Results aside, it was another historic year for the nomadic Bulldogs as Chris Merritt’s program joined the CAA. It shouldn’t take long for Bryant to catch up to a lot of its competition with new facilities being built and a clear commitment from the school to a successful football team. The rivalry with URI should gain more steam as well as these games mean more and more with conference standing implications.
24. Another terrible season in Foxborough – I only put this at the very bottom because it’s how we all feel about it at this point. Whether it’s Mayo walking things back in press conferences, players getting arrested, the roster being well-below average or the overall horrendous product on the field each week, it’s been a historically bad season in Foxborough. Hopefully, brighter days are ahead starting after the season finale on Sunday.
Thanks to everyone that’s continued to support us and what we do. We feel like we bring something completely different to the table that no other publication in New England does and we look forward to growing even more in 2025!