By Nick Quartaro

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Hello HawkFanatics!

It’s been a long time and so much has happened since I wrapped up my college football career at the University of Iowa and earned my degree in journalism in May of 1977. Now, thanks to Pat Harty, I have the opportunity to reconnect with people like you and combine two of my all-time favorite passions, sports journalism and college football.

I worked hard to build a pretty solid resume as an undergrad by working for the Daily Iowan as a sports writer, as a student assistant in the Iowa Sports Information Office, doing sports stringer work for the CR Gazette and interning as a weekend news correspondent for KCRG-TV. But, an unexpected twist of fate right after graduation rerouted my career path and I was off on a 39-year career ride in coaching, from which I retired in the summer of 2019.

Without getting too far into the weeds, and at the risk of some of you dozing off, I won’t go into too much detail, but I will share some connections to the Hawkeye Football and the state of Iowa.

Relationships forged during my time in Iowa City were extremely valuable in my coaching journey. The late Dennis Green, a former Hawkeye running back who was an assistant during my playing days, gave me the break of a lifetime when he hired me in 1981 at Northwestern University. I spent five years as a young coach learning from him and his staff which happened to include my former teammate and future NFL head coach, Jim Caldwell. Co-captain of our 1974 Hawkeye team and a great friend to this day, Dan McCarney, brought me aboard at Iowa State as he and the Cyclones were in the process of building for a major turn-around. I was with Coach Mac for four years (’98-2001) and then again at North Texas for five years (2011-15).

Backing up a bit, in 1986 I left Northwestern to become head coach at Drake and was responsible for building a totally new, non-scholarship program, that has been flourishing now for decades. From there former Hayden Fry offensive coordinator, Bill Snyder, gave me a chance to be part of history as a member of his original staff at Kansas State.  I learned and grew exponentially as a coach under the now College Football Hall of Famer. My K-State experience allowed me to be hired as head coach at Fordham University of the Patriot League (FCS) where I served for four years before joining Coach Mac and the Cyclones.

Other major college experiences include five years at the University of Kansas (2002-2006) and three-plus years at Rutgers. I retired from full-time coaching in the summer of 2019.

Since then I stayed busy in 2019-20 doing some consulting for high schools and small colleges, coaching part-time for the 2021 season here in my hometown of Geneva, New York with Hobart College and last year I lived and worked in Italy for five months as head coach of an American Football team in the Italian Federation League, the Milan Rhinos!

As I said back in the beginning, sports journalism and college football are two of my passions. Whereas most people have sports as their hobby, sports/coaching was my life and journalism has been my interest. With HawkFanatic I look forward to writing a weekly column which will be very heavy on Big Ten Football. I will provide you with an insider’s look at things from a coach’s perspective. I promise not to go over-board with technical jargon, but I do want to help you understand some of the Whys and Hows. I also want to give you insight into the mental and organizational aspects of the game and why those are such important factors.

Pat Harty is very generous in affording me this opportunity and I will tell you what I told him. I’ll prepare for this column, as well as my weekly appearance on KCJJ radio, just like I did for 39 years as a coach. I’ll be thorough and well-prepared. You can count on that.

I am very proud to be a part of this very credible sports website and the HawkFanatic family!

If you would like to reach out to me by email: [email protected]

 

 

 

By Nick Quartaro

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Hello HawkFanatics!

It’s been a long time and so much has happened since I wrapped up my college football career at the University of Iowa and earned my degree in journalism in May of 1977. Now, thanks to Pat Harty, I have the opportunity to reconnect with people like you and combine two of my all-time favorite passions, sports journalism and college football.

I worked hard to build a pretty solid resume as an undergrad by working for the Daily Iowan as a sports writer, as a student assistant in the Iowa Sports Information Office, doing sports stringer work for the CR Gazette and interning as a weekend news correspondent for KCRG-TV. But, an unexpected twist of fate right after graduation rerouted my career path and I was off on a 39-year career ride in coaching, from which I retired in the summer of 2019.

Without getting too far into the weeds, and at the risk of some of you dozing off, I won’t go into too much detail, but I will share some connections to the Hawkeye Football and the state of Iowa.

Relationships forged during my time in Iowa City were extremely valuable in my coaching journey. The late Dennis Green, a former Hawkeye running back who was an assistant during my playing days, gave me the break of a lifetime when he hired me in 1981 at Northwestern University. I spent five years as a young coach learning from him and his staff which happened to include my former teammate and future NFL head coach, Jim Caldwell. Co-captain of our 1974 Hawkeye team and a great friend to this day, Dan McCarney, brought me aboard at Iowa State as he and the Cyclones were in the process of building for a major turn-around. I was with Coach Mac for four years (’98-2001) and then again at North Texas for five years (2011-15).

Backing up a bit, in 1986 I left Northwestern to become head coach at Drake and was responsible for building a totally new, non-scholarship program, that has been flourishing now for decades. From there former Hayden Fry offensive coordinator, Bill Snyder, gave me a chance to be part of history as a member of his original staff at Kansas State.  I learned and grew exponentially as a coach under the now College Football Hall of Famer. My K-State experience allowed me to be hired as head coach at Fordham University of the Patriot League (FCS) where I served for four years before joining Coach Mac and the Cyclones.

Other major college experiences include five years at the University of Kansas (2002-2006) and three-plus years at Rutgers. I retired from full-time coaching in the summer of 2019.

Since then I stayed busy in 2019-20 doing some consulting for high schools and small colleges, coaching part-time for the 2021 season here in my hometown of Geneva, New York with Hobart College and last year I lived and worked in Italy for five months as head coach of an American Football team in the Italian Federation League, the Milan Rhinos!

As I said back in the beginning, sports journalism and college football are two of my passions. Whereas most people have sports as their hobby, sports/coaching was my life and journalism has been my interest. With HawkFanatic I look forward to writing a weekly column which will be very heavy on Big Ten Football. I will provide you with an insider’s look at things from a coach’s perspective. I promise not to go over-board with technical jargon, but I do want to help you understand some of the Whys and Hows. I also want to give you insight into the mental and organizational aspects of the game and why those are such important factors.

Pat Harty is very generous in affording me this opportunity and I will tell you what I told him. I’ll prepare for this column, as well as my weekly appearance on KCJJ radio, just like I did for 39 years as a coach. I’ll be thorough and well-prepared. You can count on that.

I am very proud to be a part of this very credible sports website and the HawkFanatic family!

If you would like to reach out to me by email: [email protected]