NORTH ANDOVER — When Dan Curran was given a multi-year contract extension to remain as Merrimack College head football coach last month, he said he had turned down interviews from NFL and Power-5 college programs.
An offer from Holy Cross, however, is one he could not refuse.
On Friday morning, Curran announced that he was stepping down as the head coach at Merrimack College and immediately accepting the head coaching position at Holy Cross in Worcester.
“It’s an absolute pleasure and honor to be named the next head football coach at Holy Cross,” Curran said in a statement released by Holy Cross. “I would like to thank President Vincent Rougeau, Kit Hughes and Nick Smith for this wonderful opportunity. Holy Cross is truly a special place, one where our student-athletes can have an elite academic experience, compete for championships and be a part of an amazing community. My family and I are thrilled to now be a part of the Holy Cross community, and could not be more excited to get to work and compete for championship number 12.”
Curran — a life-long Chelmsford resident — replaces Bob Chesney, who stepped down to become the head coach at James Madison. Chesney compiled a 44-21 record with five consecutive Patriot League Championship titles during his six years as the Crusaders’ coach.
The news certainly rocked the Warriors’ program.
“Honestly, I was shell shocked when he first told us (through a zoom session on Friday morning). It was such a curveball,” said quarterback Gavin McCusker. “I don’t think any of us saw this coming at all, but I’m truly happy for Dan. I think he deserves this more than anybody.
“(Curran) told us that in his 14 years of being at Merrimack, he had never taken a sit down interview with any other school. He has turned down multiple NFL positions and multiple CAA (Coastal Athletic Association) jobs, so it meant a lot to hear that he remained committed to Merrimack and all of us.”
During the 2022 season, McCusker went from No. 6 on the depth-chart to a starter and led Merrimack to a seven-game winning streak. This year, his season was cut short due to an injury. He said that all of the success that he’s had at this level is all because of Curran.
“Dan gave me my first scholarship offer out of high school,” said McCusker. “It’s something that I will be forever grateful for. Coach Curran is one of the best leaders that I have ever been around and one of the best coaches I have ever been around. The way that he commanded our team, took the lead and truthfully cared about each and every one of us on and off the field, he was a good father figure for all of us. I believe everyone is thankful for him and everyone has good reviews about what he did for this program, the school and all of us personally as well.”
Curran spent 11 years as the head coach and compiled a 53-58 record. Three years prior to that he was the offensive coordinator. He was named the program’s fourth coach before the 2013 season, following Tom Caito (7 years, 32-35), Jim Murphy (5 years, 30-21) and John Perry (5 years, 29-21), who all coached when the Warriors were part of the Northeast-10 Conference.
Curran had immediate success in his first season with a 7-4 record. His teams competed in the NE-10 for his first six seasons compiling a 29-35 record. In 2019, Merrimack made the jump to FSC Division 1, playing in the Northeast Conference. Excluding the three-game COVID season of 2020, Curran’s teams had two winning seasons with a 6-5 record in 2019 and then an 8-3 record in 2022, while finishing 5-6 in both 2021 and 2023.
Curran led Merrimack to a number of big wins, including over Holy Cross in 2021, Delaware State in both 2019 and ‘21 as well as Presbyterian University also in ‘19. In his first season in 2013, Merrimack upset Div. 1 foe Wagner College, 42-41 and the team went on to win seven games, the most in the program since 2009.
In each of the past two seasons, Curran led the team to Conference Championship Games, but were defeated both times by St. Francis and Duquesne.
Twitter: @JamiePote