Connecticut feature story on Glenn Caruso

February 18, 2008

New St. Thomas football coach Glenn Caruso was profiled in his hometown newspaper in Greenwich, Conn., in mid-February:

Paradise found:

Cos Cob native Glenn Caruso is loving life in Midwest as head football coach at St. Thomas.

By Jesse Quinlan/Staff Writer

Upon graduation from Ithaca College in 1996, Glenn Caruso figured he’d follow in his father’s footsteps and attend law school. But the late Frank Caruso had a different plan for his overachieving son, an undersized 5-foot-10, 220-pound center on Greenwich High School’s first back-to-back state championship football teams in 1990 and 1991.

“My dad told me to get into my car, go somewhere completely different and figure out who you are,” Caruso recalled.

These days, Caruso is a husband, a father of three and, as of three weeks ago, the new head football coach at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota.

That road trip to the Midwest sure has been a long one.

“I first ended up in Fargo (North Dakota) and I guess that’s about as opposite to Greenwich as it gets,” Caruso said. “My dad said I could always come home, but I never didi. At least not permanently.”

Caruso’s roots might be here in town, but his heart is definitely in the Twin Cities. The 33-year-old Cos Cob native speaks like a man who has found paradise in St. Paul. At the very least, he has begun his idea of the perfect job, Caruso was named St. Thomas’ 29th coach in the 104-year history of the program, following a thorough nationwide search that lasted nearly three months.

In the end, Tommies athletic director Steve Fritz found the ideal candidate just 10 blocks away at Macalester College, a similarly struggling Division III team that Caruso was on the verge of turning around after two seasons.

“We found a gem in our own backyard,” Fritz said.  “Glenn has an excellent personality and a stellar resume. He comes highly recommended, and you feel his passion for Division III football and teaching young men. We look forward to many years under his leadership.”

During his 12-year coaching career, Caruso has been a part of three impressive rebuilding jobs. He has developed a reputation for installing dynamic, high scoring offenses like the one at South Dakota that set 117 school records in 2004, and then averaged a whopping 49.7 points and 583 yards per game the following season. 

Good Fit

Numbers like those typically lead to high-profile positions, be it as an offensive coordinator or head coach.  For Caruso, however, St. Thomas is the only job.  This isn’t springboard to somewhere bigger—and if Caruso has his way, he won’t be going anywhere ever. 

“This job is everything I could wish for personally and professionally,” Caruso said.  “It’s the largest Catholic university in the Midwest with an enrollment over 10,000 and as far as I’m concerned, the ultimate experience for student-athletes.  This institution has a vision and mission that are parallel with that of my family’s.  I didn’t have to compromise a single thing morally, that’s why I’m so happy here and at the D-III level. What’s great too is that the traditional sports still rule here, they’re woven into the fabric of the community.”

There really is no off-season for college football coaches anymore. It’s a 12-month-a-year job, so naturally, Caruso describes his first few weeks at St. Thomas as “wild.” But this is what he signed up for. Endergy and intrigue are part of Caruso’s personality. That is why he not only answers questions, but asks them.

“Between the regular season, off-season weight training, spring ball and player development,” Caruso said, “there’s always something going on.  And, of course, recruiting.  Like they say, its not the Xs and Os, but the Jimmys and Joes.”

Caruso can only laugh when thinking back to the first item on his to-do list.

“My wife (Rachel) was at a conference in Houston and called to congratulate me,” Caruso sad. “So I had daddy duty the first few days after I got the job and she said ‘What’s the first order of business?’ I said, ‘Recruiting.’ She said, ‘Before you go and change the world, get our 3-year-old to preschool.’ That’s the running joke here now.”

Caruso views St. Thomas, which finished 2-8 last year but is ranked in the top 25 in Division III all-time winning percentage, as a sleeping giant.

He is selling recruits on tradition, location and education. There is also a sparkling $136 million athletic facility on the way, including a f180,000-square foot facility for football. 

Some day, soon perhaps, Caruso plans on bringing the program is first-ever national championship.  But first things first, the Tommies’ last Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title and playoff trip came in 1990.

“You’ve got to set the bar high,” Caruso said.

For now, Caruso is setting his sights on the Sept. 6 season-opener against, of all teams, Macalester.

“I take an enormous sense of pride that we leave (Macalester) better than we found it,” said Caruso, who took over a Macalester program mired in a 2-25 stretch and guided the Scots to a 6-12 record. “When we were at Mac and scheduled St. Thomas, we did so with the idea of beating them. I would rather our opener not be against them. I’m hoping I didn’t create a monster that’s going to beat me in my first game here. There’s a big piece of me left over there and I wish them all the best.”

To turn St. Thomas into a MIAC powerhouse, Caruso knows that a victory over St. John’s and legendary coach John Gagliardi would go a long way.

“We’ve never beaten them so that’s a goal, for sure,” Caruso said. “Like I’ve been telling people here, I just hope the great state of Minnesota can embrace two Italian football coaches, even if we’re 50 years apart.”

Hometown Memories

Caruso is no stranger to rivalries on the gridiron.  He hasn’t forgotten the games between Cortland and Ithaca, where he helped the Bombers make two Div. III playoff trips, and he’ll always remember Greenwich’s battles against Danbury and other FCIAC foes in the early 90s.

“I fell in love with football at Greenwich High,” Caruso said. “I was the runt of the litter on those lines loaded with big guys like (former New York Giant) Scott Kiernan. I was the typical overachiever. Nothing was ever handed to me.”

Caruso’s blue-collar approach has takem him far, and yet he keeps the lessons learned at GHS close.

“Not a day goes by that I don’t think back to my days playing for coach (Mike) Ornato and his staff,” Caruso said. “My coaches, Ornato, Rocky DeCarlo and Rod Saggesse taught me so much. Expectations, not so much for me personally but within the framework of the team, have always been high. We’ve always strived for excellence.”

Caruso still keeps tabs on the accomplishments of his alma mater.

“My hat’s off to Coach Albonizio, his staff and the players,” Caruso said. “Greenwich hadn’t won back-to-back state titles since we did it, so that’s terrific. Tradition never graduates.  Hopefully I can get some of their players up this way in years to come.”

Despite the gaudy stats his offenses pile up, Caruso’s multiple two-back system is designed with a 50-50 run-pass ration in mind.  It’s heavy on packages and personnel formations—defenses may see as many as 35 in a single game—but actually light on confusion to his own players, which is all that matters.

Dad's Infuence

Somehow you just know that Frank Caruso, a former GHS football player himself who passed away three years ago, is looking down with a smile, proud of how his son has progressed from graduate assistant at Ithaca to head coach at St. Thomas—in a place somewhere very different from here.

“My dad was the biggest influence on my life,” Caruso said. “He always told me, ‘Excellence is not something you turn on and off like a light switch.’ I’ve tried to take that with me at each stop over the years.”

After stops at North Dakota State, Wisconsin-Eau Claire and South Dakota, Caruso finally seems ready to settle down for good.—even if it’s in the same home he’s already lived in for two years.

“I’m probably the only coach in the nation that got the caliber of job I got without having to move single stick of furniture,” Caruso said. “This job is everything I’ve ever dreamed of and more.”

Caruso says that in 20 years it might be different, but until then, he wants his three kids—ranging from 3 years to 5 months old—to have a place to call home, much like Cos Cob offered him.

“They deserve that,” Caruso said. “We love St. Paul, and I want them to have the history and background that I have looking back on where I grew up.”

Besides, if Caruso ever finds himself on the coaching hot seat, he can always step outside into the arctic Minnesota winter.

“The weatherman on TV the other day said the temperature was going to warm up,” Caruso said. “I think it was supposed to get all the way up to the minus 2 (degrees).”