Harvard’s Development into the Ivy League’s New Football Factory

Certain schools develop more NFL talent than others: the Alabama Crimson Tide, Ohio State Buckeyes, LSU Tigers, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, USC Trojans and…the Harvard Crimson?

Well, the Ivy League institution isn’t on the same level as those traditional pipeline schools, but head coach Tim Murphy’s program is well on its way to becoming a must-stop for team scouts each and every fall.

Last season, six former members of the Crimson were counted among NFL rosters. The other seven Ivy League programs combined to produce seven.

Four more Harvard products will join that previous number during draft weekend.

Tight end Ben Braunecker and right tackle Cole Toner are expected to be drafted at some point during the three-day event, while fellow offensive linemen Anthony Fabiano and Adam Redmond will likely sign contracts as undrafted free agents.

The increased level of talent shows consistent growth within the program.

During Murphy’s first 19 seasons as head coach, only three players were selected in the NFL draft. Center Matt Birk went on to become one of the NFL’s best offensive linemen during his 14-year career. Linebacker Isaiah Kacyvenski played seven seasons after being a fourth-round selection by the Seattle Seahawks in the 2000 NFL draft. And quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick just posted the best season of his career with the New York Jets.

What Murphy successfully accomplished during his 22 years as head coach was build a consistent and winning program while operating within stringent standards at one of the nation’s most recognizable academic institutions.

As a result, the program has experienced a recent surge in NFL-caliber talent.

“I won’t say we’ve peaked,” Murphy said, “but we’ve gotten to the point where the NFL is fairly familiar with us and vice versa.”

With the recent influx of talent, the NFL is showing more interest in the program. The coach and his players certainly noticed a difference.

“We do,” Murphy said. “It’s not like we’re discussing a 180-degree difference. The bottom line is we’ve done a very solid job evaluating, recruiting and developing Division I football players.

“If you look at a lot of these guys including the starters [from Harvard] in the NFL last year, they weren’t highly recruited kids by Power Five conference standards. They developed to the point where they became NFL-caliber players. We’re grateful those types of kids are interested in our program. We’re grateful we’re getting kids who are legitimate student-athletes, want to get a world-class education and, if they’re good enough, have an opportunity to play at the next level.”

It’s part of a trend where traditional academic schools are drawing more interest from recruits. In recent years, programs such as the Stanford Cardinal, Duke Blue Devils and Northwestern Wildcats have experienced a resurgence.

The only major difference between those schools and Harvard is the Crimson play at the FCS level instead of FBS. High academic standards are no longer seen as a hindrance, though.

Old stereotypes aren’t nearly as prevalent or perpetuated by pop culture. Thirty years ago, movies with the “dumb jock” running around yelling “Nerrrrds!” were popular. Today’s young athlete sees other athletes and entertainers who are highly successful in business ventures and areas outside their chosen professions on a daily basis.

Most understand the chances of making it to the professional ranks aren’t in their favor. Academics are important. The delineation between the student and athlete in student-athlete may be growing in certain areas of the sport, but the increased overall interest in programs with reputable academics can’t be denied.

“I don’t think there is any question about it,” Murphy said. “In a perfect world, kids want to have their cake and eat it too, so to speak. It seems like a fair number of recruits have a strong interest in Harvard, because they feel if they’re good enough, they can still pursue their sport’s highest level.

“They realize the odds are against them. At best, they realize they’ll be in their 30s and have to work 30 more years. Why not get a world-class education with a balanced collegiate experience? They try to have it all.”

However, there’s still a lingering stigma as it pertains to Harvard students who are trying to make it in the NFL.

The recent influx of Crimson talent started three years ago when the Baltimore Ravens selected tight end/fullback Kyle Juszczyk in the fourth round. Teammates labeled Juice—as his friends refer to him—as the “Harvard guy.”

“It came up every day and still does,” he admitted. “The name carries a certain weight behind it. It was more so as a rookie I became the ‘Harvard guy’ since Matt Birk recently left. It certainly came up pretty much every day.

“I don’t think it was held against me. It’s an easy target for a young player.”

Juszczyk developed into one of the game’s top fullbacks, but he started as the leader of a talented tight end room.

During his senior campaign, four future NFL players were sitting in the same positional meetings. Cameron Brate followed Juszczyk and currently plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tyler Ott doubled as Harvard’s long snapper and continues to do so for the New York Giants. Braunecker will be the next to enter the professional ranks.

Harvard has become a true tight end factory.

“I take a lot of pride being the first guy to lead the way,” Juszczyk said. “My former teammates reached out to me with questions as they went through the process. I’m happy to help them out.”

The reason that tight end, in particular, has been so successful coming out of Murphy’s program is that the head coach also serves as position coach, which gives the team’s tight ends a better overall understanding of the entire offense.

“We’re a tight end-heavy offense with two and sometimes three on the field,” Juszczyk explained. “We don’t ever take the tight ends off the field. We play all positions: on the line, in the backfield and out wide.

“With Coach Murphy as our position coach, we learned the entire offense. On film, we didn’t just watch the offense. We had to know every position. This was huge in our development. It gave us the type of versatility to play in any spot.”

Braunecker might be the first …

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