HWS News
12 October 2023 • Athletics Jack Daniels Reunion This Weekend
Beloved football coach to be honored.
The late Hobart Head Football Coach Jack Daniels P’86, GP’17, who led the Statesmen from 1981 to 1986, will be celebrated this weekend by former football players and friends during the Jack Daniels Football Reunion hosted by the Statesmen Athletic Association.
The Hobart Football team, alumni, staff and friends will gather during practice, meetings and meals on Friday and Saturday to remember Daniels who passed away in 2021. Daniels will be honored prior to Saturday’s football game against Hilbert College with a coin toss by Daniels’ wife, Carol Daniels P’86, GP’17, and after the game at a gathering for alumni.
In 1981, Daniels inherited a team that won just one game in 1980 and repeated that total in his first season, but Daniels set the Statesmen on a winning path. Hobart improved to 4-5 in his second season and then rattled off four straight winning seasons, finishing as high as second in the ICAC standings. Daniels was 25-28-1 as Hobart's head coach. In retirement, Daniels returned to coaching at Hobart, serving as the Statesmen’s special teams assistant coach in 2014 and 2015. The Statesmen went 19-4 in those two seasons, capturing a Liberty League Championship and advancing to the quarterfinals of the 2014 NCAA playoffs.
“Coach Daniels was beloved by the young men who played for him. Jack inspired a fierce loyalty in his Statesmen who regularly gather to catch a game and share stories of their gridiron glory and the man who led them to victory,” says Hobart Football Head Coach Kevin DeWall ’00.
This season, the Statesmen hold a 4-1 record and are 1-1 in Liberty League play. Hobart sits in third place in the league and is coming off a 45-21 win over Buffalo State on Boswell Field.
A full schedule of the weekend:
Friday, Oct. 13
- 4:30 p.m. – Football Team Practice
- 7 p.m. – Ronnie’s Cedar Inn
Saturday, Oct. 14
- 9 a.m. – Team Breakfast (optional) in Saga (pay at the Great Hall of Saga)
- 9:45 a.m. – Team Chapel Service and Victory Walk (optional)
- 11 a.m. – Tailgate in Boswell Parking Lot
- 1 p.m. – Kick-off Hobart Football vs Hilbert College
- Daniels Family coin toss
- 4 p.m. – Jack Daniels Reunion under SAA Tent
The Statesmen Athletic Association supports Hobart athletics with everything from purchasing equipment, supporting salaries and recruiting to paying for awards ceremonies and funding projects. Learn more here.
