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Xaverian Names DeSiena as Football Coach
BY BERNIE BEGLANE
While growing up, how many times did you hear young boys say that they wanted to be a fireman, a policeman, a teacher and so on?
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Coach DeSiena |
Joseph DeSiena was not exactly a young boy – a young man would be more like it – when he decided being a football coach was for him.
And the St. Francis College graduate is on the way to achieving his goal.
“I started playing football when I was in the third grade,” explained DeSiena.
“When I went to Xaverian High School, I was the quarterback on the football team and the first baseman on the baseball squad.
“Football was really for me and the four years there were absolutely outstanding.”
Following graduation from Xaverian in Bay Ridge, Joe went on to St. Francis College, Brooklyn Heights, where he earned his undergraduate degree in January 2005.
All of which meant that he had to put that degree to work.
Job Hunting
“I visited Xaverian to talk to my former coaches, Dennis Canale (baseball) and Dom Laurendi (football),” explained Joe.
“Also I stopped in to see Dr. Sal Ferrera (Xaverian’s president).
“What I was really doing was job hunting and I discovered that there was a football coaching position available.”
It did not take long for DeSiena to be hired as the assistant offensive coordinator for the varsity and assistant for the junior varsity which won the Catholic High School Football League title in 2006.
And with Laurendi having stepped down as varsity coach after this past season, Joe has been selected to succeed him.
When the appointment was official, DeSiena said to Lisa DeBlasio, his girl friend, “I just got married.”
Her response?
“She laughed,” was the reply. “Lisa knows all about the long hours involved in coaching.”
Joe is inheriting a program that was winless in CHSFL competition last season.
Despite that, he is quite optimistic, explaining, “Seven losses were by eight points or less.
“I have 35 players returning.”
The upcoming schedule calls for Xaverian to open at home (Kings Bay Youth League Field) on Sept. 20 against St. Francis Prep.
“Najee Tyler, my quarterback, threw for 1,300 yards last season,” stated the rookie coach.
“He is six-six and has the arm of a Division I college player
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