NEWPORT- Dennis Borcuk, who was recently hired as Newport High School’s new head football coach, was kind enough to sit down for an interview on Thursday night. Borcuk was both appreciative of the coaches that came before him and also excited for the changes he is looking to make starting Monday, August 13 on the first day of practice.
Borcuk replaces Rich Boone, who stepped down from the head coaching position after two years with the program.
Borcuk has spent the last 12 years as an assistant coach in the program, including 8 as the JV head coach. Borcuk also has history with the Tigers as a player, as he was a two-way starter on the 1995 NH Division IV state championship team. He was a 1997 graduate from Newport High and played in the VT-NH Shrine game later that summer. He went on to play football at Plymouth State College.
When speaking to Borcuk on Thursday night, he already had plans laid out to keep with the Tigers’ tradition alive, saying, “This is a great community and it’s a football town. It’s the best game going.”
Borcuk was quick to credit the coaches he has served under. “I’ve learned quite a bit from everybody that I’ve either been coached by or coached under,” he said. “From Bill Thurlow to Larry Carle to Larry McElreavy to Rich Boone, they’ve all had certain qualities that I’ve admired.”
“I’d describe myself as a no-nonsense type of guy,” said Borcuk. “Coach McElreavy was another level of a no-nonsense type of guy. He used to say ‘If you’re on time, you’re late’, so you gotta be ten minutes early to be on time. It’s things like that that I think of. I’m intrigued to make changes and see how these changes affect the kids and how it plays out on the field.”
When asked what some of the changes he planned on making this season for the Tigers’ program, Borcuk said, “In some facets of the game we’re going to stick to Newport’s tradition. In the past, we’ve been a running team and a base 4-4 defense, and some of these things aren’t going to change. But we are in the process of making some changes and ironing things out.”
One change Borcuk made clear that he wanted to happen was improved weight-lifting programs for the players.
“One thing I want to get changed and that I talked to the hiring committee about, is that we need to get weight-lifting going. We do weight-lifting in the summer but as soon as football starts, it’s an afterthought.”
He recalled a prior playoff-loss to Monadnock where he thought Newport got overpowered. And, the newly hired head coach saw a look on the players’ faces that he never wanted to see again.
Borcuk is in the works on improving the program’s weight-lifting facility to include equipment such as a squat rack and working on encouraging the players to both lift, and lift more efficiently.
Borcuk will have to deal with a few major losses in his first year at the helm, including Peter Thibault on the defensive line, Kyle Rossiter at quarterback, Cody Turgeon who was used all over the field at linebacker/tight end/fullback, and he is also losing Peter’s younger brother, John, who is transferring to Trinity.
On the loss of John Thibault, Borcuk said, “We got two fantastic years out of the kid, and we don’t get the last two years of a young man who’s a great individual and a fantastic athlete.”
On the loss of John’s older brother, Borcuk said, “Peter Thibault ripped it up at the ChaD game… he’s every bit as advertised and he’s going to be missed on that defensive line.”
On Rossiter, who was a late addition to the NH Shrine team roster last week, Borcuk said, “He was a quarterback on and off the field. It couldn’t have happened to a better kid.”
Borcuk will get to work immediately, with the season abruptly coming upon us, and will try to lay the foundation of a team that has what it takes to compete at the top of their division.
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