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Jessica Duff
News Editor
What is your background?
I was an undergrad at Framingham State from 1995 to 1997. Like many young people, I had a really good job that I had been working in high school and in the summer – working construction. It was paying me a good salary, and so I stopped going to school full-time my senior year and started going part-time – one class at a time and working forty, fifty hours a week for this construction company.
What made you go into football coaching and sports coordination?
I played three years of football at Framingham State. We weren’t very good. We probably won maybe four games in the three years I was here. ... I was a running back, who basically has the football in their hands a lot. I got pretty beat up because our offensive line wasn’t very good, so it was a struggle. Soon as I left, I was doing the construction job. I also went back to my high school, Arlington Catholic, and I started coaching the freshman team. ... I worked my way up a couple years – three years on the freshman team, and then two years on the J.V. team and then a couple years as the offensive coordinator for the varsity team. We won a couple of championships and scored a ton of points and things were going really well.
When did you decide to come back to Framingham State?
I think in ’03 is when I finally finished it in sociology. ... Sue Dargan, who was the head of the
department, was my advisor and she was the best I could have had. When I first came back, Dr. Gregory was someone who really advised me on how to do it sort of the slow and steady way, so I was in his office quite a bit and he was the best. ... Then right around ’07 – ’08, construction wasn’t going very well – the recession hit, the hours started to slow down and I got a job as a teacher. I passed the MTELs. ... I started teaching history, science and English as a second language in Lawrence Public Schools. ... Right around that same time, I was looking for a master’s in education. So, I decided to come back to Framingham and instead of the master’s, I ended up getting into the Post-Baccalaureate Teacher Licensure program. ... It’s after you have your bachelor’s degree, if it’s not in education, you can come back and essentially get a degree in education and specialization in a subject. ... Right around the same
time I entered that program, I was here in the bookstore getting books for my first class for this program. I ran into Tom Kelley right in the front hallway of the Athletic Center. We recognized each other and we started chatting and he mentioned that he knew I was coaching at Arlington Catholic. He mentioned that he was recruiting a player at Arlington Catholic. ... Then he said, “Have you ever thought of coaching college? ... We have some positions open would you consider interviewing?” ... I interviewed at a couple of colleges – I interviewed at Curry College. I interviewed at Merrimack College. I interviewed at Framingham. I got all the jobs, but the opportunity to coach at the school I went to was really nice so I went ahead and did that. ... A couple years ago, the school decided to take club sports and bring it over to the Athletics’ Department and so I applied for that full-time job and got it. Then I basically stopped teaching and started working here full-time as a club sports coordinator and offensive coordinator for the football team. ... Right now, I am the club sports coordinator, recruiting coordinator – which is the liaison to undergraduate admissions – and the offensive coordinator for football. ... I’ve since gone on and got a master’s degree last year in public administration, also at Framingham. So I have three degrees now from this school.
What was one of your favorite undergraduate experiences?
Research Methods with Dr. Dargan. It was fun. I did my research methods project on the effects of hazing on athletic programs. I was in a group of four people. We were able to use the football team I was coaching at Arlington Catholic as a sample group.
What are some of your hobbies?
I have two little girls and any time I’m not spending on recruiting or a club sport or football or anything Framingham, I spend with my girls, for sure.
What advice would you give to students?
Remember that everything you do now matters in your future. I think that gets lost. Everybody wants everything now. Everybody wants to be the boss now, wants to be in control now and they don’t value what they’re actually doing now which are the steps to get there.