Faith, Family, Academics & Football

Just like many football coaches across the country, Utica University head football coach Blaise Faggiano is all about developing young men for life after college football and he showcases that throughout his program in several ways.  

“Our goal is to develop young men, period. That’s it. Done. And everything we do in our program keeps that in mind,” Faggiano said. “I guarantee the parents that when they (the kids) leave, they will be different than when they showed up.” 

In order to do that though, Faggiano has consistently asked himself the question, ‘Well, how do you develop young men?’  

According to him, it starts with recruiting, retaining, and developing, which is at the core of Faggiano’s program. First, he recruits by adding members to his football family each season and he doesn’t just look for anyone. He looks for “Utica guys” or players who best fit his program.  

“Criminal justice majors, physical therapy majors, blue collar, down to earth, salt of the earth people, diverse people,” Faggiano said. “We are a very diverse private institution.” 

Next, Faggiano looks to retain his players and says he does that by preparing them to overcome adversity throughout their collegiate careers. When rocky times hit for his players at school, he says he teaches them how to persevere in order to succeed in the long run.  

“They’re gonna get homesick. They will want to go home,” Faggiano said. “They are family guys and something bad is gonna happen back at home. They’re gonna want to go home to be there. We must teach them how to get through that.”  

One of the things that Faggiano puts into action in order to help his players get through those struggles is the “Utica Advantage” which is their academic and mentoring program. He says it’s a handbook that includes weekly individual meetings with a mentor coach on staff, time management skills, and a session for setting personal goals outside of football, along with other things.   

Faggiano has also created an off-season accountability program for his players that includes a competition between teammates to entice them to get involved around campus and in the community. The longtime Pioneers’ head coach even hosts a draft each spring semester to divide his entire roster into two teams.  

“Each team is going out and gaining points,” Faggiano said. “If you’re the president of the accounting club, you get points. If we have a speaker on campus and you go, you get points. If you’re a part of a community service activity, you get points. But if you are missing class, you lose points and now the captain of your accountability team is getting on you. 

“They are doing it together and it’s a selfless act and there’s so much benefit of being selfless and giving up your time. Then our guys know that’s why the place is packed on game day because we do so much in the community. The city of Utica is very supportive of Utica University.”  

Faggiano develops his players through leadership and team chemistry because that can translate to success on the field. He saw great examples of that this season, which was one of the best in Faggiano’s tenure at Utica.  

During Utica’s Week 1 matchup against the University of Rochester this past season, the Pioneers trailed 21-7 in the first quarter and came back to win 43-28. Then, during their Week 4 matchup against Union (NY), the Pioneers trailed 24-7 at halftime and came back to earn a 31-24 victory.  

“They had great team chemistry and a belief in each other that we could come back and win the game,” Faggiano said. “Week 1 we were down 21-7 in the first quarter and you’re looking at the sideline and you wouldn’t know it because there was a competence, a trust, and a belief.” 

In order to add to Utica’s culture and identity, Faggiano set Utica’s program priorities as faith, family, academics, and football. He demonstrates those priorities daily, from how he treats his players and staff to how he leads his program and brings them together as a family.  

Faggiano says he believes it’s important for young men to have faith in their life and the diversity of his team showcases that. He says he has a Fellowship of Christian Athletes huddle each week and they speak about their faith and what it means to them.  

As a family man himself, with his wife Alison, his son James and daughter Josephine, Faggiano does his best to build a family atmosphere within his program because he wants his players to know that they have a support system while they are away from home.  

“Family is so important and that’s gotta come first,” Faggiano said. “So, something bad goes down at home, you certainly need to go and be supportive and then you need to be able to get back to school and get back to football. You’re a husband or father and something goes down in your life, you got to handle it and get back to work, right? We gotta teach them how to deal with adversity.”  

Just like faith and family, academics are just as important to Faggiano and his staff and Utica promotes that program priority as well. The school has small class sizes which allow students to have a strong relationship with their professors and the Pioneers’ alumni are in the top-third earners in the country. Faggiano also believes that if a player isn’t succeeding in the classroom, he isn’t gonna succeed on the field.  

“If the academics aren’t going well, they will follow them down to the field,” Faggiano said. “They’re gonna drop a pass or drop a game-winning interception if they are getting beat up in a class. They must be doing well academically and there’s no surprise that some of the best years we’ve had in football have been some of our best team GPAs.”  

Faggiano took over the Utica program in 2008 and the Pioneers are coming off their most successful season in school history. Building his team’s culture came to complete fruition this year with a 10-2 overall record and an appearance in the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs.  

After taking down No. 11 Susquehanna University 17-10 in the first round, the Pioneers fell to Division III powerhouse Mount Union in the second round, but Faggiano has also seen success at Utica since taking over in 2008.  

He has the most victories in program history and has coached 84 All-Conference honorees, 14 D-III Classic All-Stars, 14 All-Region honorees, six Empire 8 Players of the Year, two Empire 8 Rookies of the Year and five All-Americans. He’s also led the Pioneers to four ECAC Bowl appearances.