Dick Farley: A legend takes a final bow

By Ross AckleyPrint Story | Email Story
WILLIAMSTOWN — The numbers Dick Farley compiled in his 17-year tenure as head coach of the Williams College football team — staggering as they may be — are fairly useless in serving as a measuring stick for the amount of success he has enjoyed here. The numbers mean little to Farley, who announced his retirement from football shortly after the 2003 season, a 6-2 campaign for the Ephs, capped off by a victory over archrival Amherst College at Weston Field on Nov. 8. The parting victory sealed an era of dominance over Amherst, as Farley’s Ephs went 14-2-1 against the Lord Jeffs, never having lost to them in Williamstown. Farley, whose record was 114-19-3 as head coach, is indeed irreplaceable, but those closest to him know that his records are secondary to his commitment to the student athletes he took under his wing year after year. Farley, a 1968 graduate of Boston University, arrived at Williams in 1972 and was an assistant football coach for years before taking over at the helm in 1987. In his time at Williams, he has also served as the head coach for the track and field team and is still an assistant coach for the women’s team. Farley has made it clear that he is still a coach — “That’s not something that just goes away” — and will remain at Williams to work with the women’s track team, as well as teach some physical education courses and use his 30-plus years of coaching experience to offer his assistance in special projects for the college. He will not have a direct influence on the hiring of his replacement, as it is the college’s policy to form a multi-departmental team of individuals to execute such tasks, but Farley said his staff will be involved with the decision. During his time at Williams, Farley has been consistent in giving his staff credit for making the program what it is. His 2003 staff was anchored by longtime partners Mike Whalen (offensive coordinator), Walter Cueman (defensive line) and Joe Doyle (running backs,) and it was bolstered by assistants Dave Barnard, George McCormack, Dave Polen, James Perry, Tim Case, Adam Pascal and longtime Mount Greylock Regional High School Head Coach John T. Allen. Farley’s peers have consistently given him accolades — and not just for his coaching achievements. “Dick is a teacher, first and foremost,” Williams College Athletic Director Harry Sheehy said. “His impact on the program has been very strong. He always understood how football played into the education of the student. Athletic endeavors are educational — these are teaching moments. Dick had a lot of teaching moments and he utilized them well.” Sheehy recalled the 2000 meeting of Williams and Colby, a contest in which the Ephs suffered their first-ever loss to a Maine school. Sheehy, a 1975 Williams graduate, had just finished his own 17-year run as the head coach for the men’s basketball program at Williams and was in his first year as athletic director. “Right after the game, Dick had his kids in teaching groups and was talking to them about the following Monday’s practice,” Sheehy said, noting that Farley did not speak of the loss. “They were talking about exactly what they were going to do on Monday. It was a measured moment, and Dick is so teaching-oriented. He his very talented, and he’s got such a broad-based philosophy.” Farley acknowledged that remaining at Williams for 17 years in the capacity of head football coach would have seemed a long shot in the beginning. But he said the school’s tradition of academic excellence and its knack for attracting talented students with broad interests made it tough to walk away from. The beauty of Williams, he said, is that it’s not all football all the time, and that cannot be said for the Ivy League institutions or Division I schools, such as Dartmouth or Harvard — two places Farley considered working for during his Williams run. Farley said he likes to see his student athletes excel in other facets of their college experience instead of being anchored down year-round by football or track and field. Perhaps it is no coincidence that he has dedicated so much of himself to these two sports: Football, he said, is the ultimate team sport, while nothing matches track and field for testing and achieving personal goals. “The team and the individual are what have kept me here,” he said. Whatever activity Farley is involved in, those he is working with can be assured they will have his full attention and devotion to the task at hand. His guiding principles are honesty, hard work, preparation and focus; those who get a chance to play for or coach next to him absorb every “Farleyism,” as his mannerisms are commonly and affectionately referred to around campus. “He worked harder than anybody else in the league,” said Renzi Lamb, who, starting in 1968, spent 30 years as defensive assistant for the Ephs. “He sacrificed a lot. His body and his focus were in the Williams football program, in all aspects of it. If hard work equals success, then he’s the epitome of that saying. Dick’s got a heart of gold. He loves his players very much, he cares about them very much, and he’s able to maintain that line between the coach and the player. He demands respect and gets it. He’s there for his players, but they know he works harder than they do. The players enjoy success, and he brings it to them — it’s a wonderful marriage.” Lamb turned in 35 years as the men’s lacrosse coach at Williams and compiled a 260-182-3 record. A good coach, he said, knows when it’s time to give it up. “I always thought of it as having an angel on either shoulder,” he said. “There’s a good angel and a bad angel. It’s heart versus ego. We’ve all seen too many coaches who’ve stayed too long.” Farley, who became the winningest coach in Williams football history following a 1998 victory over Middlebury, may have felt the same way, and he admitted it was time for the Williams community to “hear a new voice.” “The bar has been set pretty high, and there are certain expectations for this program,” Farley said. “It’s getting more difficult to do and so much has changed. But that was a great run. I’ve had great support from alumni, students, the college and my family.” Some of the biggest adjustments Farley has made during his tenure have to do with recruiting, which has intensified, he said, “by the advent of e-mail, voicemail and video” and being accessible 24 hours a day. Recruiting, according to Farley, can be a draining task. The coaches are extremely accommodating, and their commitment to getting a student to Williams often means frequent trips to Albany International Airport or the Amtrak terminal in Rensselaer. There is a lot of fine print and very few days off and it adds up, he said. Still, he said, there’s not much he would change about it, and he knows it could be worse. In 1990, USA Today ran a story about Farley, and it highlighted an anecdote in which he called the home of legendary Penn State University Coach Joe Paterno, whose son Scott was considering coming to Williams. When Coach Farley explained to Sue Paterno, Joe’s wife, that he could not come to Pennsylvania for a home visit with Scott because off-campus recruiting is prohibited in Division III, she told him he had the best job in the country. “I know,” Farley replied. Williams Sports Information Director Dick Quinn began his tenure in 1989, the year Farley recorded the first perfect season (no losses, no ties) in Williams football history — a feat Farley’s team would repeat four times, most recently in 2001. Quinn remembered when Dartmouth was trying to court Farley, and Quinn questioned the coach about giving up his job at Williams. “The biggest reason I wouldn’t go is because it would be football all the time,” Quinn recalled Farley saying. “I’d have to fly all around the country to talk to kids. I already do it five months out of the year; if I did it for 12, I’d probably be a bachelor.” But because Williams is a Division III school, the amount of student athletes who contact the football office can be overwhelming. “Every kid in America thinks he can play here,” Farley quipped. Still, he has remained a consistently strong recruiter, if not always a conventional one. “He’s an interesting recruiter,” Quinn said. “I’ve been in the office, and he’ll be on the phone: ‘Hey, so-and-so, this is Dick Farley at Williams. If you’re keeping score, put a check mark next to the Williams name. We’re still interested. I don’t want to bother you with a lot of ‘we love you, you should love us.’ Just letting you know we did call, so I’ll talk to you in a couple of months when I know more.’” Quinn said Farley and his players develop a mutual respect for each other. I’ve never met a player who’s played for him who ever felt they got anything but an honest answer from him,” Quinn said. “His players always knew where they stood with him. And he always said, ‘If you can’t play here, you can’t play anywhere; there is no Division IV.’ His players aren’t going to wow him with their talents, but he does appreciate hard work. He gives his all and expects his kids to give all, and when they do, he’s fine.” Farley has certain principles that go hand-in-hand with his thought that there is more to life than football and that his student-athletes — or anyone, for that matter — should use their talents to the fullest in whatever they do. One thing that surprises so many people is that Farley opposes any kind of playoff system for the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC). He is miffed that a team can go 8-0 or 7-1 on the season and still have the desire to play on. “You can have a great season, go 8-0, and then get beat and feel like garbage for the rest of the year,” he said. “If you win your last game, you’re a hero and if you don’t, you’re a horse’s ass.” According to Farley, playoffs serve as a significant distraction for student athletes, who already have enough on their plates come mid-November, with final exams. Farley and his Ephs have their “playoffs” in what is known as the Little Three: Williams, Amherst and Wesleyan. “Round One is against Wesleyan and Round Two against Amherst,” he said. In the Little Three competition, Williams football has dominated the field. Not only did Farley’s teams own Amherst, but they sported a 15-2-0 record against Wesleyan teams and never lost to them at Weston Field. His overall Little Three record was 29-4-1. He first lost to Wesleyan in 1997 and first lost to Amherst in 2000. The tie came in 1995 against Amherst on Weston Field. That game was nationally televised on ESPN. The final score was 0-0. The “Worldwide Leader in Sports” has not televised a regular season Divison III football game since. A look at Coach Farley could go on and on about his numbers — the fact that he lost his first three games as head coach and did not lose back-to-back games again until his final season says a lot in itself — but it is the relationships he formed that will support his legacy. “School is home away from home,” said 2003 tri-captain Mark Rosenthal, a Walpole native who graduated in fall 2003. “Coach Farley takes you under his wing, and that is taken into account as much as academics and the school. He is like a father. The motivation to earn his respect is huge, and he won’t give you the time of day until you prove you’ve got some good work ethic. Coach Farley did not have to stay at Williams. He has a lot of connections, and he is talented enough to have gone anywhere. But staying here, staying in NESCAC, he chose to surround himself with tremendous people, year after year.” Williamstown native and Berkshire County Superior Court Judge John Agostini (Williams ’76) said he got a chance to fulfill his longtime dream of playing football at Williams, and as a defensive back, worked closely with Farley, who started as an assistant when Agostini was a freshman. “As players, we quickly recognized him as a special person,” Agostini said. “He conveys principles, and the things that are important to him were very easy to see early on: commitment, hard work, respect — respect for your teammates, respect for your opponents and respect for the game. He has a wonderful ability to motivate, and everyone on the team had a sense of how important we were to him. It wasn’t simply football. That was the magic that he brought, and that really was unique. He is a genuine man. He stresses that you’re not just playing football; football becomes part of your development. That’s why it’s so important.” Four-year starting quarterback and 2003 tri-captain Joe Reardon, a senior psychology major from Arlington, Va., echoed Agostini’s thoughts. “It’s not about football with Coach Farley,” Reardon said. “It’s about life. He would stress the importance of learning from a loss and that made losses valuable. He made us appreciate how lucky we are — to be playing football, to be attending Williams and to have each other. He puts things in perspective.” And now Farley has put things into perspective for himself, as he is about to live the life he so often preaches but has yet to fully enjoy. “He’s had his routine, and now it’s time to change the routine,” Quinn said. Farley certainly has touched many people, and his legacy will extend far beyond the Purple Valley. He said he is looking forward to spending more time with family endeavors, with his wife, Suzanne, with whom he has three children, Heather, Scott, and Colleen. Farley admitted that his coaching career may have been extended by a few years when Scott transferred from Villanova and got the rare chance to play for his dad. After a stint with the New England Patriots in their camp, Scott will be heading to Europe to play some professional football. The Farleys’ oldest child, Heather, has launched her career in New York City. While Farley’s influence has been far-reaching, perhaps no one was closer to him in his professional life than Amherst alum, Williamstown resident and the Williams team physician, orthopedic surgeon Jim Parkinson. Parkinson had this to say about his experiences with the legendary Williams coach: “When Dick began as head coach in 1987, I took over as head team physician, so we grew in these jobs together. We developed a deep mutual respect for each other's position. I realized that I knew relatively little about football and coaching, and Dick knew about the same amount about medicine. Many lesser coaches often let their aspirations to have a successful program get in the way of what is right and safe for the players. I never told Dick how I thought he should coach, and he never pressured my medical decisions, even when kids were kept from playing. We made a pretty effective team on this account, and I was thrilled be allowed to contribute to the program. Some of Williams' best players got a chance to play when a "starter" was injured. “Coach Farley groomed the young kids and had confidence in them when they were called upon to move into a position. He didn't just coach; he taught and most of all led by example. No one — no one — studied harder and put in more time into his job, coach or otherwise, than Dick. I think he knew more about the week’s opponent and what they would be expected to do than most of the opponent’s staff did.” He added, “Dick was a sometimes painfully honest person and believed in effort and fairness over luck and deception. Dick would be more upset if one of his players mouthed off, swore or cheap-shotted some one than if they blew a catch or tackle or made a bad play. I remember up at Colby early on, I was harassing one of the officials who I felt was "misinterpreting" many of the calls in Colby's favor … Finally the guy got so fed up that he warned me that he would call a penalty on me if I didn't shut up. I yelled back at him that if he did it would be the only penalty he called right so far, and he tossed the flag on me and penalized Williams 10 yards. The point of the story is that I had violated one of Farley's cardinal rules, and he came busting down the sideline demanding to know what soon-to-be-dead player was responsible. Every one else shrunk back to the bench. leaving me alone and exposed. Our eyes met, mine sheepish and his raging. I think he was so caught off guard that he turned around in confusion and muttered something about me that to this day I do not know.” Parkinson described Farley as “ a man of either too few or too many words,” with one notable exception that he recalled. “We were neighbors for many years and infrequently spoke as such except about our interface in the football program. When my father died and Dick read the obituary, he spoke with me with a sincerity and understanding that I was not expecting but welcomed at that time. He said neither too much nor too little. It revealed a side of the man that few were privileged to know.”
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Senior Golf Series Returns in September

Community submission
PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- The Berkshire County Fall Senior Golf series returns in September with events on five consecutive Wednesdays starting Sept. 18.
 
It is the 22nd year of the series, which is a fund-raiser for junior golf in the county, and it is open to players aged 50 and up.
 
The series will feature two divisions for each event based on the combined ages of the playing partners.
 
Golfers play from the white tees (or equivalent) with participants 70 and over or who have a handicap of more than 9 able to play from the forward tees.
 
Gross and net prices will be available in each division.
 
The cost is $55 per event and includes a round of golf, food and prizes. Carts are available for an additional fee.
 
Golfers should call the pro shop at the course for that week's event no sooner than two weeks before the event to register.
 
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