The newly-dedicated Larry McHugh Field during halftime of the 27-7 win over West Haven Saturday, Oct. 18. Photo courtesy of Xavier High School.
Xavier Dedicates Field to Larry McHugh
MIDDLETOWN - More than 1,700 people jammed the Xavier High School campus Saturday, Oct. 18, to celebrate Larry McHugh, the man who spent 20 years at the school as an educator, a motivator, a highly successful coach and the father of the Falcons’ football program.

       Mayor Dan Drew designated the Saturday as Larry McHugh Day. The Xavier community and its league of alums shared breakfast before dedicating the recently completed Larry McHugh Field, thus ensuring an enduring link to the school’s proud past and that the legacy of their first football coach will never be forgotten. They also experienced the enjoyment of the Falcon’s 27-7 Homecoming win over the West Haven Blue Devils in the first varsity football game played on campus in many years, as well as a jubilant post-game reception.

       â€"We had a great weekend. It couldn’t have been better,” said Greg Brinn, Xavier’s director of advancement. â€"This was an honor long overdue and a great day for Larry, his family, his friends, the Xavier community and the high school as a whole.

       â€"We knew the dedication and Homecoming weekend would draw a good crowd. We had seating for 1,100-1,200 spectators, with the rest standing along the fences.

       â€"Xavier had made a decision to begin a capital campaign, which includes a new arts wing, improving our athletic facilities and putting a new turf field down. Bob Guere and Brian Hetherington, both Class of 1981, serve as co-chairs. When it came time to name the field, it was a pretty easy decision.

       â€"Right now, our varsity and jayvee soccer teams and our freshman and jayvee football teams will play on Larry McHugh Field. In the spring, lacrosse and ultimate Frisbee will use the field, and some physical education classes, when possible, will be able to participate on it,” Brinn continued.

       â€"With the success we’ve had this past weekend bringing a homecoming football game back to Xavier and our alumni thrilled to be back on campus, we hope to incorporate the new facility into the varsity schedule so we can get that true home field advantage. At a minimum, we hope to have our varsity football homecoming game here each year, though Palmer Field is still very much a part of varsity football and will be for a while because of seating and parking and continued construction on campus,” said Brinn.

       The legendary McHugh admitted to â€"a flood of emotions and memories during the week leading up to the dedication. I was getting so many emails from former players who couldn’t make it to the dedication and homecoming game and they were telling me how much I meant to them.

       â€"I went out to Xavier on Thursday, where I was interviewed by WTNH, got to talk to the football team and saw the field. On Saturday morning, there were over 300 people at a breakfast, most of whom were former players, including some from all the way back to my first Xavier team.

       â€"When I walked out to the field for the dedication, I flashed back to 1964-1967, when we played all of our games on campus. We had some great victories on that field,” reflected McHugh.

       â€"I also thought of the two special people I needed to thank--Wally Camp and Artie Kohs. Wally hired me at Durham, which is now Coginchaug. I had gotten released by New York [Titans of the American Football League] in 1961 after a broken foot. I took a job teaching eighth grade science and planned to go back and play professional football. Then the Xavier job opened up in 1963 and Wally recommended me. I talked to Artie [former Xavier athletic director and coach], who hired me and that was it. It just seems like yesterday.

       â€"The field dedication means a lot. Xavier is where everything started for me. It’s a huge honor that ranks right behind getting married and my kids and my grandkids,” according to McHugh, who remains close with former players like Class of 1969 members Tommy Tokarz and Tony Jaskot, the current Director of Athletics at Xavier and McHugh’s successor at the Falcons’ helm. â€"When someone like Tommy or Tony still calls me coach, well, that’s the highest honor for me.”

       Two games that define McHugh’s coaching tenure at Xavier are the 1965 victory over Hillhouse and the 14-7 come-from-behind win over Northwest Catholic (1973) â€"We had a lot of great wins, but those two are signature victories. Hillhouse was a state power and we were supposed to get clobbered by something like 40-0. Over 10,000 fans saw our last minute win over Northwest Catholic. That was our 34th-straight victory, which set the Connecticut and New England record,” said McHugh, who posted a 152-36-6 record as varsity football coach at Xavier (1963-83) along with a trio of undefeated seasons in 1971, ‘72 and ‘74.

       McHugh’s legacy also includes numerous local, regional and national awards, designations and honors, including National Coach of the Year 1973; Connecticut Coaches Hall of Fame 1984; Connecticut Sports Writers Alliance Gold Key 1985; Middletown Sports Hall of Fame 1994; New Haven Gridiron Club Hall of Fame; and the American Legion Americanism Award.

       The past president of the National High School Athletic Coaches Association was named one of Hartford Magazine’s 50 Most Influential People in 2012. Four governors in a row appointed McHugh to the Board of Trustees of the Connecticut State University System, where he served for 27 years, part of the time as chairman, attesting to his commitment to academics. His rigorous schedule includes serving as the Chairman of the UConn Board of Trustees as well as President of the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce, which he has built into the state’s largest and most active chamber while increasing membership ten-fold.

       The Larry McHugh Senior Leadership Award is presented annually to a Xavier senior football player that puts the needs of the team first and his personal goals second and who provides leadership on and off the field by his actions, effort and play.

       â€"It was great to spend some time with former players, family, friends and long-time supporters,” said McHugh. â€"But as I have repeatedly noted, this is the players’ field, not mine. I want to thank Xavier High School, and in particular Headmaster Brother Brian Davis, Director of Athletics Tony Jaskot, Director of Advancement Greg Brinn, the Capital Campaign Committee led by Bob Guere and Brian Hetherington and former Director of Athletics Art Kohs,” said McHugh, who saw his 1974 Xavier state championship football team (10-0) honored during halftime of Homecoming.

       â€"I was fortunate to be hired at an unbelievable school. Xavier is a very, very special place. My legacy is not the wins and losses. My legacy is the players and students I coached and taught and who have become outstanding leaders in their communities,” said McHugh.
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