The sprint football team of late has been one of storied difficulty. It was only two seasons ago that it ended a 15-game string of phenomenal ineptitude with a win over Navy on Oct. 30, 1998 — Princeton's first in more than two years. Since then, the Tigers have won just two more games, including a 1-5 mark this year. With such a history, the most important factor in righting the struggling program could be hope.
With the hiring of new head coach Keith Wadsworth, it seems that Princeton got just what it needs.
"We see this as a pivotal year for lightweight football," captain and junior tight end Mike Piazza said. "The program's been floundering for a decade. We've suffered from a lot of guys quitting. Part of that was because the team was not well-knit as a unit. We got the guy we wanted in coach Wadsworth."
Familiarity
Wadsworth is entering a situation he has seen before. After playing linebacker at Princeton High School and the University of South Carolina, Wadsworth took the head coaching position of the Princeton High football program, which was then on the brink of failure. Not only did Wadsworth save the program from extinction, but he also took it to four consecutive league championship games.
Believing it was time for a change, Wadsworth accepted the position of defensive line coach for the Princeton sprint football team four years ago. Then-head coach Bob DiPipi's collapse in practice last season forced Wadsworth to become the interim head coach. The disorganization that followed DiPipi's departure gave Wadsworth little chance at success, and Princeton struggled through four losses under his guidance.
Togetherness
His appointment as the full-time head coach has been accompanied by an unprecedented explosion of team unity. The team has started a schedule of early morning runs and weight-lifting sessions. Team social events and other gatherings have served to create a new cohesion that had been lacking at times under coach DiPipi and his predecessor, Tom Murray.
"[Recently,] I saw a big difference in terms of how much guys were willing to work," Piazza said. "[It used to be that] at the end of lightweight season, you might not see anyone else on the team until August. Now suddenly, we feel like this team links, there's a real bond."
Renewed spirit aside, Wadsworth will still have to deal with a numbers disadvantage. While competing programs enjoy large turnouts each year, Princeton rarely has enough players try out to make cuts.
"The overall team problem has been our numbers," junior quarterback Geoff Gasperini. "We have low numbers. It's tougher when you have a small pool to draw on."
Wadsworth expects to emphasize on-campus recruiting, pointing to a number of the team's stars who only began playing football while at Princeton.
Xs and Os
While new personnel are key to the team's improvement, diagrams on the white-erase board in the sprint football office also revealed a number of new looks Wadsworth is introducing to utilize the returning players. He expects a series of planned and frequently varying formations to improve what has often been a stagnant offense.
What was even more important about the white-erase boards was that they were in use at all. Spring is ordinarily a dead time for sprint football, but Wadsworth was gathering the players for a team meeting, and the athletes arrived looking eager.
"They're all excited," Wadsworth said. "And I get excited and the other coaches get excited when we're talking to them."
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