New Guilford College Football Coach Chris Rusiewicz meets the press/public

They introduced the Quakers’ new football coach today and Chris Rusiewwicz is off and running and he took time to meet and greet, with the members of the press and with the folks from the Guilford College Community….

Brian Hall from WFMY TV 2 Sports was there, along with Timmy Hawks from FOX 8 Sports, Joe Daniels from the Carolina Peacemaker, Time Warner Cable News 14, WXII TV 12 Sports and Bryan Jones from Guilford College Sports Marketing, plus Tommy Bryant from the Quakers’ internet football broadcast team…..

Good turn out and we had a chance to hear from the new Quaker coach, led in accordance by Guilford AD Tom Palumbo and Quaker SID Dave Walters and Coach Rusiewicz said he learned about the opening for a new football coach at Guilford from one of the coaches on the staff up at Ursinus, the school he left to come to Greensboro and to take over at Guilford College….Rusiewicz was an assistant coach at Ursinus, a DIII college with a very strong football program, up in Collegeville, Pa.

Coach Rusiewicz also spent time studying Guilford on the internet, before accepting the position as head coach for the Quakers and he also was able to watch football game footage on the web, in preparation and anticipation of taking the job at Guilford…..

Rusiewicz told us he will begin talking to his team in detail next week(Thursday January 13) and that one-on-one sessions, with the remaining Quaker squad from 2010, will begin shortly…..Coach Rusiewicz told Greensborosports.com and those assembled at Guilford today, that he brought one of his coaches with him from Ursinus and that it was good to have a fellow-Ursinus assistant joining him in Greensboro….He also told us that he has already met with many of the Quaker assistants from last season and that he anticipates several of them staying on board for 2011……

Coach Rusiewicz told me that he hoped his recruiting would carry over from what he had already started up in Pennsylvania, at Ursinus and that he had spoke to a few of the players he was recruiting while in Collegeville, Pa. and that they wanted to know more about Guilford and Coach R’s plans for the Quaker school……

Coach Rusiewicz told me spring practice would begin after Spring Break and that Old Dominon Athletic Conference(ODAC) rules only allow for four days of practice for four weeks, during Spring drills……

Coach Chris Rusiewicz is ready to roll at Guilford and he beat out over 200 applicants for this job, so he has one big victory under his belt already and that is becoming a head coach for the first time in his football coaching career……

Rusiewicz is ready to rock and roll and can today’s Guilford College football player respond and relate to Rusiewicz????? Chris summed up his efforts like this, “I don’t believe in quanity, I believe in quality….It’s not how many hours of work you put in, it’s what you do with the time you spend on the job working”. Quality person, Chris Rusiewicz, with a game plan he plans to see elevate his Quality Quakers to the top in DIII…..

What do we see? Quality Quakers competing again in DIII, with the young Mr. C(Chris Rusiewicz) about to be busting his T(tail), for the cause of the G(Guilford)…….

Quality Quakers, you have to like that and Good Luck to Coach Chris, in his new role as the Quakers’ coach(football)……

More from Dave Walters Guilford College Sports Information Director:

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Chris Rusiewicz, former associate head coach at NCAA
Division III Ursinus College, was introduced as Guilford College’s new head
football coach Wednesday, Jan. 5. He’s the Quakers’ 22nd head football coach
in 104 recorded seasons, he succeeds Kevin Kiesel, who compiled a 24-36
overall record in six campaigns.

Rusiewicz, 33, served the past four seasons as associate head coach at
Ursinus, a highly selective liberal arts college with 1,750 students in
Collegeville, Pa. He received the 2010 American Football Coaches
Association’s (AFCA) Division III Assistant Coach of the Year Award in
November. The annual prize honors coaches who excel in community service,
commitment to the student-athlete, on-field coaching success and AFCA
professional organization involvement.

“Chris quickly distinguished himself as a guy who is very enthusiastic and
very energetic,” said Guilford Athletic Director *Tom Palombo*, who
introduced Rusiewicz. “He wanted to take this on as a challenge and in the
short time he’s been here, he can see the potential of what Guilford College
football can be.”

“I’ve had the opportunity to watch Guilford football play and I think the
pieces are here,” Rusiewicz said. “It’s not a matter of rebuilding … it’s
about refocusing.”

Rusiewicz joined Peter Gallagher’s Ursinus staff in 2001 as a secondary
coach, became the Bears’ defensive coordinator in 2003 and was named special
teams coach in 2008. The team ranked 23rd or higher among NCAA Division III
total defense leaders in three of the past four years. The Bears boasted the
nation’s 12th-rated rushing defense in 2010.

He guided 11 Ursinus defenders or specialists to 14 First Team
All-Centennial Conference honors in 10 seasons, including defensive back
Mike Dale, a 2001 third-team All-American. Four Bears defenders received
D3football.com All-South Region recognition, including two-time selection
Chris Rountree, the 2009 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division
III Southwest Rookie of the Year.

Ursinus has had four winning seasons and four top-three conference finishes
in the past five years. Last fall, the Bears posted an 8-2 overall record
and went 7-2 in the Centennial, their best league mark since 1996. Ursinus
shared the 2010 Centennial title and made postseason appearances in the 2006
and 2009 ECAC playoffs.

In addition to his coaching accomplishments, Rusiewicz made significant
contributions to the greater Ursinus community. He implemented a Christmas
program that raises approximately $1,500 for the benefit of three local
families. In conjunction with the National Marrow Donor Program and Temple
University Hospital in Philadelphia, Rusiewicz coordinated an effort to
recruit bone marrow donors. He also participated in service projects with
Big Brothers and Habitat for Humanity that contributed to the football
team’s over 600 volunteer hours in 2009-10. He also developed and
implemented a series of off-field programs designed to benefit students’
academic progress and leadership abilities.

“A football coach is someone that not only teaches the game, but also is a
good mentor and a leader,” Rusiewicz said. “I plan on doing that here, not
just on the field, but off the field.”

After playing at Quakertown (Pa.) High School, Rusiewicz started his college
career at Shippensburg (Pa.) University where he lettered as a reserve
running back for the NCAA Division II Red Raiders. He graduated with a
degree in sport management from DeSales University in Center Valley, Pa., in
2001. Rusiewicz entered the coaching ranks as founder, general manager and
offensive coordinator of the semi-professional Eastern Pennsylvania
Scorpions from 1997-2004. He spent four years as the Physical Director of
the Spring Valley YMCA.

A native of Perkasie, Pa., Rusiewicz and his wife, Tara, have two daughters,
Brooke (3) and Natalie (1). The couple is expecting its third child in May.

Dave Walters
Guilford College Athletics

3 thoughts on “New Guilford College Football Coach Chris Rusiewicz meets the press/public

  1. He was only the “National Assistant Coach of the Year” in Division III football this last year. His last years defensive unite at Ursinus was ranked 12th in the nation. And, his defense allowed Ursinus to finish #1 in their conference for the first time in 14years.

  2. Jason,

    Pick up that door mat and give it to one of those Va. schools. You’ve been standing on it for over a decade. No more pleasant road trips down Hwy. 29 south. Defensive football has finally founds it’s way into the ODAC. We’ve always had the best barbecue for the eating, now we’ve got the quakers for the watching and winning to go with it.

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