Eastern University Ready To Kick Off Inaugural Football Season

The energy that comes from adding a football program is something Eric McNelley and everybody else at Eastern University is feeling as the school’s inaugural season nears.

“Everybody is super excited,” said McNelley, Eastern’s director of athletics, in an understatement of what has been building at the St. Davids, Pa. campus since the university announced the addition of the sport in September 2021. “With the tailgating, the community and bringing people together, there is not a sport that does it like football. I think it will be phenomenal.”

Eastern, which is about 15 miles from Philadelphia, two miles from Villanova’s campus and has a total enrollment of roughly 5,700, commenced discussions about adding football 15 years ago.

The dream is about to become a reality. The Division-III program and member of the Middle Atlantic Conference is mere weeks away from its first game, a September 2 date in Ewing, NJ against the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

McNelley credits the diligence of provost Kenton Sparks for getting to this point. The manner in which George Fox University in Oregon went about building its football program was something Sparks and his staff studied intently. GFU, which took the field in 2014, is similar to Eastern in size and core values.

“He was really the driving force behind getting momentum going,” said McNelley, of Sparks. “George Fox is a like size, is a faith-based institution, a Christian school. There are many similarities. Once everything started to check, as a university, we saw how football positively impacts the community. It was not so much about the sport, even though it is exciting. It is more the campus life and the way it can positively impact all the different branches of the school. That’s what really put it over the top.”

McNelley said $2.5 million in seed money went toward upgrades of a shared facility at nearby Valley Forge Military Academy and College (VFMAC), assembling a staff and ordering equipment.

When the search for a head coach began in March 2021, McNelley was pleasantly surprised by the response.

“We were flattered,” he said of roughly 175 applicants. “We were shocked at how interested people were in starting a program at such a small school.”

It soon became clear that former Villanova assistant Billy Crocker was the perfect fit to help launch the program and lead the Eagles. He was hired in December 2021.

“It made all the sense in the world,” said McNelley, who arrived at Eastern in 2014 to coach men’s basketball. “He fits us spiritually, the quality of person that he is and his connection to the Main Line with his time at Villanova. Everyone we spoke to raved about him.”

The Connecticut native was a defensive back and baseball player at the Coast Guard Academy before completing his undergraduate studies at Villanova. After serving as a running backs coach at Albany for two seasons, Crocker and spent 11 seasons (2006-16) at VU as an assistant under Hall of Fame coach Andy Talley, the last five as defensive coordinator. His wife, Kristina, grew up nearby and his three sons were born down the road from the university.

“It is an area we love and it is our home,” he said.

Crocker, who returned to the Main Line after three seasons as the defensive coordinator at Elon under another former Villanova assistant, Tony Trisciani, gave his rolodex a workout upon accepting the position. He immediately reached out to high school coaches in Pennsylvania and New Jersey he was already familiar with.

“I think Eastern is in a great location from a recruiting standpoint,” he said. “We have easy access to Philadelphia, we are in a good recruiting area locally and we can get to a lot of places pretty conveniently.”

While familiarity with the region was key, it was difficult selling a product that did not exist. Hence, there were many evenings Crocker may not have slept well.

“It has been really a cool experience, though there have been days where I have been like, ‘Oh, man, what did I do?’” said Crocker, who had a two-season stint (2017-18) as Randy Edsall’s defensive coordinator at UConn sandwiched between his time at Villanova and Elon. “I was trying to sell kids on being a part of something that’s brand new, something that doesn’t really exist. Going out and trying to sell our vision on what we want to do, what we are going to do and what it is going to look like in the near future. (Eastern) had nothing from an infrastructure standpoint for a football program. Once I took the job, it was trying to get everything we needed just to operate.”

The program rounded into shape nicely last fall when the Eagles played three games against junior varsity programs from other universities and held a couple of intra-squad scrimmages. Still, he was not sure how that would play out, if at all.

“I did not know if we would have 40 or 60 kids,” he said. “Going into it, I told the kids that I did not know what we were going to do in the fall.”

As it turned out, Crocker had 96 players to work with, which meant he could schedule games without the concern of wearing down any of the players. Also, competing against JV squads meant players did not burn a year of eligibility.

“Watching these guys compete and get some things on film was fantastic,” he said.

The hope was the Eagles would use the facilities at VFMAC for this season’s games. While they practice at the academy, facility upgrades are not going to be ready for the upcoming season. Blame it on how things are today.

“If I have stress, that why,” said McNelley. “We have hard dates we all want to get things done by, and then things don’t happen. You can’t get steel, you can’t get this, you can’t get that and everything is delayed.”

Fortunately, Eastern has an agreement with the University of Pennsylvania to use Franklin Field for home games. The first home game is September 9 against Alvernia (Pa.) University.

The historic venue, opened in 1895 and rebuilt in 1922, is home to Penn football. It has served as the home of the Philadelphia Eagles (1958-70) as well hosting 18 Army/Navy games. It is the site of Vince Lombardi’s only playoff defeat, the 1960 NFL championship in which the Eagles defeated the Packers. The stadium also hosts the Penn Relays, the country’s oldest track and field event.

“We have a lot of Philadelphia kids and kids from eastern Pennsylvania with ties to the city,” said Crocker, who was on the sideline at Franklin Field when Villanova visited Penn. “I think it will be pretty cool to play there. It’s obviously a historic venue, a great venue. I think the kids will love it. The people at Penn have been phenomenal to work with.”

A phenomenal time is about to kick off at Eastern. Sure, as a new program there will be plenty of bumps and bruises. That goes with the territory. However, the excitement will be off the chart.

“It will be historic for myself and, more importantly, for the university,” said Crocker. “It will be like, “Wow, we’re here. It’s real now.’”