Bronx, NY (March 3, 2004)
Fordham University announced today the appointment of Ed Foley as the new head football coach of the Fordham Rams. Foley replaces Dave Clawson, who resigned last month to become head football coach at the University of Richmond.
“Ed Foley is the right person to lead the Fordham Rams in football,” said Joseph M. McShane, S.J., the president of Fordham University. “He is both a coach and an educator, and I am confident that he will build upon Fordham’s strong foundation of excellence on and off the gridiron”.
As Fordham’s offensive coordinator and offensive line coach for the past five seasons, Foley helped rejuvenate a program that rose to the top of the Patriot League in 2002, when it won its first-ever league title with a 10-3 record. This past fall, the Rams compiled a 9-3 overall record and had 12 players named to the All-Patriot League Team, including six members of the offense, four of whom were named to the First Team.
“Ed Foley has been a part of Fordham’s football success over the past five years, and we’re confident that he will be able to maintain that success,” said Executive Director of Athletics Frank McLaughlin.
“We are excited about having him in charge of the program at Fordham”.
Under Foley’s guidance, the Fordham offense has set numerous records in recent years. The Rams set a team record for most rushing yards in a season last year, gaining 1,657 yards, while also setting a school record for most pass completions in a season with 255. Individually, wide receiver Javarus Dudley, running back Kirwin Watson and quarterback Kevin Eakin all left their marks in the Fordham record book. Dudley, a consensus 2003 First Team All-American, set a Fordham single-season record with 101 receptions, while also becoming the school’s all-time leader in career receptions with 295. Watson, an All-American last year, set the school rushing record with 1,477 yards and also became the school’s all-time leading rusher with 4,617 career rushing yards. Eakin, a First Team All-League selection last fall, set a school record with 247 completions for 3,072 yards.
In 2002, Fordham led the Patriot League in passing offense and scoring offense, while finishing second in total offense and setting a team record for most points in a season. In addition to winning the Patriot League title that season, the Rams advanced to the NCAA I-AA Playoffs, where they defeated Northeastern University in the first round.
The Rams had four offensive players named First Team All-Patriot League in 2002, including Watson, who was also named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year. Three other players were named to the Second Team.
In 2001, Foley helped the Fordham offense develop its first 1,000-yard rusher on the NCAA Division I-AA level, as well as the first-ever 1,000-yard receiver in Fordham’s history. The Rams had the second-rated passing offense in the Patriot League in 2001 as well as the second-best scoring offense.
In 2000, Foley’s offense established a running game that generated 1,635 yards (an average of 148.6 per game), the most for a Fordham team on the I-AA level until the 2003 team gained 1,657.
Foley arrived at Fordham after spending the 1998 season as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Jacksonville University, which sponsored a football team that year for the first time in the school’s history. Foley helped lead the Dolphins to a 4-5 record during their inaugural season, as the offense scored 271 points in nine games (30.1 ppg).
Foley also served as an assistant coach at the University of Pennsylvania from 1991 to 1993, and again from 1995 to 1997, spending the 1994 season as an assistant at Williams College. At Penn, Foley coached the tight ends and tackles for five years and helped the Quakers to a perfect 10-0 record in 1993, when they also won the Ivy League Championship. Prior to his stint at Penn, Foley served as the offensive line coach at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany for two years.
Foley was a three-year starter at Bucknell University, playing offensive guard for one season and center for two. During his junior year, he was named the team’s top lineman and he served as a captain during his senior year. He earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Bucknell in 1989 and a master’s degree in educational psychology at SUNY Albany in 1991.
He is married to the former Rebecca Schonfeld and has a son, Charlie, born on January 4, 2000. His brother is Glenn Foley, the former New York Jets and Boston College quarterback.
The Rams have compiled a 26-10 record over the past three years, 14th best in the NCAA I-AA. They will open the 2004 campaign, their 105th season of varsity football, on Saturday, Sept. 4, when they host the University of Rhode Island on Jack Coffey Field at 1 p.m.
