Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Football Coaches Return Home
10/12/2010 8:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 12, 2010
By Todd Merriett, Bucknell Athletic Communications
Bucknell football fans are certainly aware that first-year head coach Joe Susan returned to Bucknell this offseason after spending nearly a decade on the Bison sidelines as an assistant during the 1980s. However, two of Susan's current assistants are also proving you can go home again as they have returned to their childhood stomping grounds.
First-year defensive line coach Matt Borich grew up in nearby Winfield, went to Selinsgrove Area High School and then spent four years as a football student-athlete at Bucknell, graduating in 2001. His parents still live in Winfield, just a 10-minute drive from Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium, while his sister and her family live in Pillow, about halfway between Bucknell's Lewisburg campus and Harrisburg.
Second-year quarterbacks coach Mike O'Connor is back in his hometown after stops at Lafayette, Columbia and Rutgers. His family has plenty of history with both Bucknell and Lewisburg. His grandfather, Fred Prender, was the head football coach at Bucknell from 1969-74, helping the Bison to 23 victories over that span, after previously serving as an assistant for four years. The family connection does not end there as O'Connor's dad was an assistant coach for 14 seasons (1983-96), working under four different head coaches, and alongside another one that most Bison fans are now intimately aware of - current head coach Joe Susan. All told, a member of the O'Connor family either is or has worked for eight of Bucknell's 26 all-time head coaches.
"I was around all the time," mentions O'Connor of his experience with the Bucknell football program while growing up. "I think I missed one home game the entire time my dad was coaching here. My good friend, Todd Thompson, whose dad (Bucknell Athletics Hall of Famer Tommy Thompson) coached basketball, and I used to go to all the games and hang out together. It was a lot of fun."
While Borich and O'Connor are both living virtually next door to their childhood homes, neither had returning to Central Pennsylvania on his bucket list. Instead, connections and chance helped them land their current positions and return home.
Being a Bucknell graduate and a former Bison football player, Borich called to congratulate Susan shortly after he was hired last January. A few days later Susan returned the call, but it was not to simply say thank you, it was to offer Borich the vacant defensive line job.
"When I heard he was one of the finalists for the job, I knew he was going to be the right guy for the position, regardless of whether I was on the staff or not," recalls Borich, who spent the past six years working at Princeton with Susan's college roommate Steve Verbit. "As an alum, I was excited when they hired him and I was even more excited when he called me and offered me the position. It gave me the opportunity to work with a great coach like Joe. I knew this program was heading in the right direction, otherwise they wouldn't have hired Joe. The opportunity to build the program back up to what it was when I was playing made it a great opportunity for me."
O'Connor's arrival at Bucknell predates the hiring of Susan as he was one of three staff members to stay on board from the previous regime, along with tight ends coach R.D. Montgomery and strength and conditioning coach John Field. However, there is still a Susan connection as O'Connor was on the staff at Rutgers for four years along with Susan prior to his hiring at Bucknell.
O'Connor was finishing his graduate assistant years at Rutgers when he was talking to a friend in the coaching business, who mentioned Bucknell had an opening for a defensive line coach. O'Connor proceeded to get in touch with then-defensive coordinator Andrew Cohen and shortly thereafter was hired and out on the same field he played his high school games on for 2009 spring practice.
In his first year at Bucknell, O'Connor, a three-sport star at Lewisburg Area High School in the late 1990s, coached the defensive line despite having been a quarterback in high school and during his college playing days at Lafayette. When Susan was hired and asked O'Connor to coach the quarterbacks, the answer was an immediate and emphatic "Yes!".
"I was very excited to move back to offense, but having worked on the defensive side of the ball helped me understand their goals and how they (the defense) want to attack," mentions O'Connor, who was a quarterback with the Leopards from 2000-03. "It's nice having the defensive experience, but now I am excited to be on the offensive side of the ball. It's where my heart has always been."
O'Connor's heart is also with his family. One of the obvious advantages to taking a job at Bucknell nearly two years ago was the chance to be near family. At the time he arrived back in his hometown, O'Connor was greeted by his grandmother, mother and brother, Patrick, who was then finishing up his junior year at Bucknell. O'Connor's grandmother has since passed away, but the family remains tight, despite the unconventional hours he spends in the office and on the practice field.
"Having my family around is great," says O'Connor, whose wife, Emily, is a counselor at Lewisburg Middle School and a junior high field hockey coach. "My mom and brother have been great at helping me and my wife out, since we are often busy coaching. It was also nice to be around when my grandmother passed away, rather than being hours away."
Borich is glad to be near family too, but he has struggled with the balance between his demanding job responsibilities and family time.
"I'm 10 minutes from home and sometimes it's still like I am in New Jersey," comments the Borich, who graduated from Bucknell with a degree in economics. "It is easier for them to come see me now, though. It's nice everyone can come to the games, but it is funny because my sister built a new deck on her house and put in a playset over the summer, but I haven't even seen it yet."
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In addition to hailing from the Central Susquehanna Valley, Borich and O'Connor also have the common bond of playing football at Patriot League schools, something that is very helpful as they try to instruct the next generation.
"It's (having played at Bucknell) good from a number of aspects," explains Borich. "The guys will complain that it is hard here and I respond with `I know. Been there. Done that. I have a diploma and can bring it in and show it off.' The main thing is that we as a staff try to make the most of their time given how demanding the academics can be."
In addition to using his experience at Lafayette and growing up in Lewisburg and around Bucknell when coaching, O'Connor also uses it to his advantage on the recruiting trail. Lewisburg is one of the schools he actively recruits and the current head coach was a member of the staff when O'Connor was playing. Additionally, O'Connor finds that when he tells other area high school coaches and players that he played at Lewisburg, it gives them an instant connection.
Borich and O'Connor have both been lucky in their new roles this year to be blessed with tutoring some enormous talent. Borich's defensive line group is probably the best unit on the team with the likes of Josh Eden, Robert De La Rosa, Kyle Boline, John von Paris, Tyler Anderson and Samuel Oyekoya, while O'Connor is guiding three-time Patriot League Rookie of the Week Brandon Wesley at the quarterback position.
Hopefully that talent, as well as the promise of turning the Bucknell program into a consistent winner, will keep them around for awhile. We know their families would like that.
Note: This story appeared in the Oct. 9 Bucknell Football Gameday Program vs. Penn.
