Harvard football coach Andrew Aurich, who is embarking on his second season at the helm of the Veritas Footballers, is fully aware, and relishes the fact, that when the opposition looks across the field lasering on the block H on the sides of the Harvard Crimson red helmets, they burn with the same intense animosity as a bull charging toward a balletic matador standing in the ring defiantly waving his red muleta.
“In a football sense, we are the villains,” said the coach. “We realize that we have a bullseye on our backs and that we are going to get the best from everyone we play. And that is fine with us. We embrace it, as it is our expectation is to win the Ivy Leaguetitle every year.”
“In fact, every player that comes to Harvard expects to have that success,” said Aurich, who in his inaugural season finished in a three-way tie for the Ivy crown, becoming the first coach since the formation of the league during the Eisenhower Administration in 1954 to win a share of the title during his maiden voyage as a first-time head coach.
But with a hat-tip to the Standells of “Dirty Water” fame, the head ball coach of the school located on the banks of the River Charles, was hardly satisfied with that resume enhancer.
“I, and our players didn’t come here to share titles,” he said declaring in a serpentine way that he intends to correct that ledger this season.
That ledger correcting begins on Saturday afternoon (ESPN+, 1p.m.) when the Crimson travel to Deland, Fla. to take on the Hatters of Stetson, a team it defeated at the Stadium 35-0 last year, giving Aurich his first victory notch as the leader of Crimson Eleven.
With the goal of winning the title outright, the 42-year old Princeton grad has the good fortune of being able to lean on two of the best players in the FCS, in QB Jaden Craig, and his defensive counterpart safety Ty Bartrum, the 151st captain in the storied history of Harvard Football.
Under the coach’s watchful eye, the Crimson’s demanding practices are executed at the highest level of intensity, as Aurich holds his players accountable every day during fall camp, holding to the philosophy that if you practice well, you will be able to manage the stress in game situations.
QB Jaden Craig, who was a 2024 Walter Payton Award finalist, is the offensive igniter of the “Sons of Ryan Fitzpatrick,” whose accuracy 23-TDs-3 INTs, might be second to only William Tell, while he averaged an astonishing 14-yards per completion.
“Jaden is a great practice player and a tone setter. He is someone who almost has no ceiling in his ability to be a difference maker and his performance has earned the respect and trust of the entire team,” said the coach.
In highlighting his work ethic, and leadership, Aurich said that because of graduations and transfers, the Crimson will be fielding an entire new corps of receivers, and that Craig took the initiative on his own during the summer to work with and to get to know his new receivers and said that he did a great job.
[Note: That transfer was starry wideout Cooper Barkate, who transferred his NFL abilities, but more importantly his 11-TDs, to Durham, North Carolina and the campus of Duke University leaving a receiving gap as wide as Shakespeare’s character Falstaff.]
The rest of the offense of the “Sons of Vic Gatto,” is buoyed by a seasoned offensive line, opening holes for its hard charging line busting tailback Xaviah Bascon, while providing enough protection and relief to keep opposing defenses on the alert allowing its starry dart-throwing field general extra time to work his pigskin magic.
The head man of the Charles River Eleven had similar platitudes for his All-American captain, safety Ty Bartrum, who is on the Buck Buchanan watch list, describing him as a physical intimidating football player of the highest order which is highlighted by his team leading eighty-three tackles last season, and this is in a ten-game season.
“Ty sets the example of how to properly practice at game speed. And when he speaks to the team he is like the classic E.F. Hutton commercial, everyone listens because it comes from the heart as a well thought out message, and not filled with meaningless cliches,” said the Coach.
On D, the strength of the “Sons of Isaih Kacyvenski” (Harvard’s all-time leading tackler) is a secondary that is feistier than Sam Huff tackling Jimmy Brown commanded by captain Bartrum and reinforced by his All-Ivy teammates, corners Damien Henderson, and Austin-Jake Guillory, who together attack with the intensity and mayhem of a heat seeking missile.
They combine to present a Gibraltar-sized challenge for opposing quarterbacks attempting to throw into their areas.
Finally, with apologies to the former Indianapolis Colts coach Jim Mora of “Playoffs” fame, the most exciting news for the members of the Ancient Eight was the announcement by the Ivy League Council of Presidents that it will finally allow its league champion to compete in the FCS playoffs.
[Note: In 1919, the same year as the Great Molasses Flood in the North End, and the Boston Police strike, Harvard won the Rose Bowl defeating Oregon 7-6 to win its last national title on a team that finished 9-0-1, the tie was against Princeton, as the Crimsonoutscored its opponents by a mindboggling 222-19 which included seven shutouts.]
Aurich, and the entire Ivy League coaching fraternity are delighted by this long overdue change.
“As everyone knows, our last game of the season is with our traditional rival, the Bulldogs of Yale, and it’s always played on the last Saturday before Thanksgiving, and after the game everyone heads home for the holiday.”
“But with our league champion now allowed to participate in the playoffs, I told our players that they better make sure they buy trip insurance,” he said with a laugh.
The reason: Aurich is counting on his Veritas footballers to be singing its post-game victory song; “Ten Thousand Men of Harvard” deep into the month of December.