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Eastchester, N.Y. (July 16, 2014) – With the days to 2014 opening night getting closer, the Fordham University football program kicked off the season with the 21st Annual Fordham Football Gridiron Club Golf Outing held on Monday, July 14, at the Leewood Golf Club.
 
Following a day on the links, the group enjoyed dinner in the clubhouse and heard from Gridiron Club President, Frank Sacco, FCRH '87, along with Director of Athletic Dave Roach and head coach Joe Moorhead, , FCRH '96.
 
Sacco welcomed everyone and made special mention of a Gridiron Golf Outing regular who was not in attendance, Dr. Andy Cordaro, FCRH '66, who has been a mainstay of the outings since they were started 21 years ago. He also noted some dates to remember, including the August 30 opener with Saint Francis in Jack Coffey Field and the annual Football Gridiron Dinner, which will be held on Friday night, September 12 in O'Keefe Commons. This year the club will honor Bill Burke, FCRH '65, with the Walsh Award and the 1964 Club Football team, celebrating its 50^th anniversary, with the Mara Family Award.
 

Roach then took the podium and highlighted some of the changes Jack Coffey Field is undergoing this summer. They include a total resurfacing of the area with new FieldTurf, the addition of new chair back seats in the grandstand, the addition of 500 seats in the end zone next to the scoreboard and the installation of a new public address system.
 
"I really want to thank all of you for being here and for your support throughout the year," said Roach. "It's a quite a commitment to resurface the entire complex, which is about two and a half acres, and the university has stepped up its support to complete this and other projects. But we also need your continued support. If you haven't bought your season tickets yet, please do."
 
Moorhead began his address by recapping highlights of the 2013 season, including the Rams' winning the first ten games of the year for the first time in school history and being ranked as high as fifth in the NCAA FCS polls, Fordham's highest ever ranking on the FCS level. The Rams set a school record for most wins in a season in the modern era (since 1920) and closed out the season ranked ninth in the nation. The Rams accomplished a plethora of firsts, including the first win over an NCAA FBS team (Temple), the first win over a top-ten ranked NCAA FCS team on Jack Coffey Field (Villanova) and the school's first ever home NCAA FCS championship win on Jack Coffey Field (Sacred Heart).
 
As coach Moorhead is noted for saying, with team success comes individual accolades as 18 players earned All-Patriot League accolades, including the Offensive (Mike Nebrich) and Defensive (Stephen Hodge) Players of the Year, along with five All-Americans.
 
Moorhead then gave the crowd a look at the 2014 squad as Fordham enters the season ranked as high as eighth in the NCAA FCS and is the preseason pick to win the Patriot League.
 

"The pieces are in place to have a special season this fall," said Moorhead. "To me the reason behind that is a three-tiered approach: Talent, Culture and Coaching. If you take one of those individually, you're not going to give yourself the opportunity to be successful."
 
Moorhead also addressed the idea that the season will be more difficult now that the Rams will be the hunted, rather the hunters, and the expectation levels will be higher.
 
"We have been the pursued since we beat Villanova and Temple last year," noted Moorhead. "We created these expectations so we're not going to shy away from the pressure; we're going to embrace it. As I tell the guys there's two things you can do with pressure, you either feel it or you can apply it and we are going to apply it."
 
Moorhead went on to explain that the team isn't concerned with the preseason accolades and that they are working harder this offseason to get ready for next year and take care of last year' unfinished business when the Rams came up three games shy of the national championship.
 
"Our goals haven't changed since we took over this program in 2012," said Moorhead. "We still want to retain both cups (the Liberty Cup and the Ram-Crusader Cup), have a winning non-conference schedule, win the Patriot League championship and win a national championship."