Springfield, Mass. - May 11, 2012 - Springfield College football defensive coordinator Jack Holik is being honored as Distinguished American by the Northern Connecticut Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame at their annual Scholar Athlete Banquet on May 20, at the Aqua Turf in Plantsville, Conn.This year’s banquet will be honoring 16 High School Scholar Athletes and six adults for their long-time contributions to the game of football.
Holik just finished his 31st season on the Springfield College football staff and his 28th as an instructor in physical education and health fitness. He serves as the Pride’s defensive and recruiting coordinator. In 2005, Holik was recognized as the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston Assistant Coach of the Year, a prestigious regional honor bestowed upon an assistant football coach from New England.
An excellent recruiter and football technician, Holik is widely regarded as one of the top defensive specialists in Division III. In 2006, his club finished first in the nation in turnover ratio (+1.92 pg).
Holik served as captain of the baseball and football teams at Manchester (Conn.) High and received the “Outstanding Student-Athlete” and Yale Club of Hartford awards for excellence in academics and athletics. He also played baseball and was an All-New England football lineman at Trinity College, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in history in 1975. Upon graduation, Holik returned home to serve as Manchester High’s head football coach for four years before earning his master’s in physical education from Springfield College in 1982.
Michael C. “Mike” DeLong ’74 enters his 31st season as a head football coach in the fall of 2012. He enters his 29th year at Springfield College alone. For the past 28 years, he has been the head coach at Springfield, his alma mater. Mike had also been the head coach at Maine Maritime in Castine, Maine in 1979 and 1980. Read more.
