8 — Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Partridge, Campanile form friendship in football
The year Paramus Catholic
High School finally got over
the hump, going from four
straight losing seasons to a state
championship in 1997, the team
was full of the kind of players
that might not go onto the NFL,
but could still elevate everyone
around them.
It was the kind of season
that sparks careers and forges
connections that come back
around, so maybe it was no
surprise that 22 years later, two
of those guys ended up on the
same team again.
Chris
Partridge
was
the
senior captain, the heart and
soul of the team who doubled as
a hard-hitting middle linebacker
and tough-as-nails right guard.
Anthony
Campanile
was
the coach’s son, the talented
freshman quarterback whose
season was derailed by injury.
The two friends kept in touch
throughout the years, crossing
paths as they rose in the
coaching profession. But they’d
never been at the same place
before, not until this year.
Now,
Partridge
and
Campanile
are
reunited
at
Michigan — Partridge coaching
safeties
and
special
teams
and
Campanile
coaching
linebackers.
In some ways, they’re two
guys talking football, just as
they always have. The stakes are
just a little higher now.
***
Paramus Catholic’s coach at
the time was Mike Campanile,
Anthony’s
father
and
the
patriarch of a quintessential
New Jersey football family.
Mike’s four sons are all coaches
— Nunzio is the interim head
coach and offensive coordinator
at Rutgers, and Vito and Nicky
are
successful
high
school
coaches back where they grew
up.
Anthony and his brothers
spent their childhoods coming
to practice with their dad. They
got to know the older kids, who
made them feel special. As
Anthony grew up, he naturally
meshed with Partridge, who
also came from a football family
— his father, Rick, was a punter
in the NFL and helped coach
high school teams. Partridge
was an easy person to look up to.
Campanile managed to make
varsity as a freshman but tore
his ACL over the summer before
he had played a single snap. He
was forced to watch from the
sidelines as his team made a run.
Partridge was an inspiration
to Campanile that entire season.
He was never the most athletic
or naturally talented guy, but
he worked hard to mold himself
into not only a top player, but a
leader. The way he and the other
team leaders went about their
season made Campanile want
to work that much harder to get
back so he could play with them.
In the process, Partridge and
the other seniors helped guide
Campanile’s recovery.
“I wish they did play together
in high school,” Mike told The
Daily in a phone interview.
“(Anthony) used to watch those
guys, the older guys, and he
became close with those guys
from not being able to play. He
would watch them all day, watch
every little thing they did. … It
was a good year, it really was.
Too bad he couldn’t have really
participated with them on the
field. That would’ve been — ah!
— it would’ve been so good. But
what are you gonna do?”
After
Paramus
Catholic
scored the game-winning two-
point conversion in the state
title game, Partridge headed
off to college while Campanile,
finally recovered from injury,
stepped into a larger role. But
their friendship, as it turned
out, was just beginning.
In college, the two hung out
over breaks and during the
summer, heading to the Jersey
Shore and talking football. And
when both entered the coaching
world, their trajectories were
remarkably similar.
As
Anthony
started
his
freshman
year
at
Rutgers,
Partridge was about to graduate
from Lafayette College and
knew
his
feature
laid
in
coaching. So he gave Mike a call.
Mike
no
longer
coached
at
Paramus
Catholic
but
encouraged Partridge to apply
there anyway. Mike suspected
what Partridge later proved:
that he had what it took to be a
champion, on the field and on
the sidelines.
Partridge
served
as
the
defensive
coordinator
and
assistant head coach of Paramus
Catholic from 2003-04 before
brief college stints at Lafayette
and The Citadel. After three
years
away
from
football,
Partridge came back as the head
coach of his alma
mater in 2010. In
2012, his literal
and
figurative
return to his roots
was complete, as
he lifted Paramus
Catholic to its first
state title since
that fateful one
back in 1997.
Campanile
coached
linebackers for one year at
Fair Lawn High School before
becoming
the
defensive
coordinator and later offensive
coordinator, at Don Bosco Prep,
one of Paramus Catholic’s most
bitter rivals. For two years, the
friends coached against each
other.
“Didn’t say a word to each
other, before or after (the
game),”
Partridge
told
The
Daily. “Later, about a month or
so. We’re both competitors, so
we know it’s all in good love.”
Through all this, the two met
up at times, talking Xs and Os
with whatever means they could
— even if it meant scrounging
for a napkin and scrawling out
hypothetical plays.
Partridge was the first to
make the jump to the Power
Five when he took a job as a
recruiting analyst with the
Wolverines in 2015. When the
Scarlet Knights visited Ann
Arbor that year, Campanile,
then at Rutgers as a wide
receivers and tight ends coach,
brushed paths with Partridge
once again.
During
his
tenure
at
Michigan, Partridge has helped
bring
in
several
big-time
New Jersey players — among
them Rashan Gary, Michael
Dwumfour and Cesar Ruiz. But
last year, he recruited more than
just players. A position opened
on the Wolverines’ defensive
staff, and Partridge knew just
the guy.
Partridge
had
talked
to
Campanile about his job at
Michigan before, and how much
he loved the place. But this time,
he hoped his friend could see for
himself. He called Campanile
and told him, “This could be
something special, and I think
it would be awesome for you to
look into.”
Then, Partridge told Jim
Harbaugh
about
Campanile.
With
Campanile’s
other
connections on staff — he knew
defensive
coordinator
Don
Brown from his time at Boston
College
and
then-offensive
analyst Ben McDaniels from
a mutual stint at Rutgers —
he seemed like a perfect fit.
Campanile came out to see for
himself, an official visit of sorts,
and felt right at home. He was
hired in January of this year.
In football, chemistry on
the staff is just as important
as chemistry on the team.
Otherwise, it becomes every
man for himself, people just
striving for paychecks instead
of working together towards a
common goal. The way Mike
describes it, good camaraderie
lights a fire under a coaching
staff, and that rubs off on the
players. In a broader sense,
communication is vital in such
a
high-stress
position,
and
familiarity can breed that kind
of assertiveness.
“It was awesome because we
work
really
hard
and
you’ve
gotta
have guys you
trust and lean
on and stuff
like that in this
profession,”
Partridge said.
“I think now
we have that.
It’s so huge.
“And
(Campanile) just adds to it
because I’ve known him for
so long. It’s cool just to see the
mesh of coaches that we have
here now and the fact that we
get along so well for so long, I
knew he would fit if that makes
sense. I just knew he would be a
guy that Jim would love and the
whole staff would love.”
At
Michigan,
Partridge
and
Campanile
are
expert
recruiters — bouncing New
Jersey recruiting knowledge off
each other — and work closely
together on the defensive staff.
Partridge came to his interview
straight from his office, where
he and Campanile were drawing
up schemes. They bring not
only that all-important sense of
camaraderie, but also the same
qualities that lifted their once-
moribund school: toughness,
leadership and a will to win.
Back in the old days, when
Partridge and Campanile were
both new to the wide world of
coaching, Partridge remembers
the two joking about how they
were so like-minded — wouldn’t
it be fun to work together?
Campanile
maintains
that
they
never
exactly
framed
it that way. But he still sits
back sometimes and thinks to
himself, “What are the chances
of this?” He knows that if
you went back and told the
freshman quarterback with a
torn ACL that he’d be here, with
Partridge, coaching at the same
school, he wouldn’t believe you.
“How often does two kids
from the same team end up
coaching at a major college
together?” Mike said. “That’s
especially if one of them’s not
the head coach. … It’s kind of
strange that they ended up on
the same team.”
***
That 1997 season did more for
Partridge and Campanile than
simply making sure they left
with a trophy.
Ask Campanile, and he’ll say
Partridge was a masterful team
leader the entire season. Ask
Partridge, and he’ll tell you how
much Campanile’s passion for
the game shined through. Ask
either one, and they’ll tell you
they could tell the other was
going to be a coach, even back
then. And guiding their team
was a perfect role model in the
business.
Mike was a master motivator,
pushing players to places they
didn’t believe they could take
themselves. He believed that
hard work and leadership were
vital, both on the sidelines and
in the locker room. Those are
values both still take to heart.
“(Mike) really gave me the
foundation
of
how
football
should be played,” Partridge
said. “Hard-nosed, tough, just
the qualities of an old-school
coach that I try to employ now.”
Mike, who still coaches high
school freshmen even into his
70s, follows his former players
from afar. He offers up advice
— “You can’t play the game
for them,” he says to Anthony
when he’s too hard on himself
— and sees in the two the same
competitive fire they had back
in high school.
Now,
Partridge
and
Campanile, two kids who grew
up and won a state championship
together, are striving for Big
Ten championships together.
They sometimes hit the road
together on recruiting trips
and meet up with their families
other childhood friends — many
of whom are also coaching
— when they’re back in New
Jersey. Instead of scavenging
for napkins to get in some Xs
and Os, they get to talk football
together, all day, every day, on
the whiteboards in their offices.
“I think the similarities really
lie in what we learned growing
up,” Campanile told The Daily.
“About, there’s nothing wrong
with
being
tough.
There’s
nothing wrong with having
character. … There’s really only
one way to do it. Be tough, do
your job, do it to the best of your
ability. But love your players.
Be a rational, competitive and
compassionate person.
“ … That’s something I think
we probably learned when we
were young, from our staff in
high school, which inspired
us to be coaches, among other
guys that we played with in high
school to be coaches. That’s the
cool thing.”
Maybe the odds of them both
ending up here were small on
paper, but after the two friends
built their foundations in the
same place and brushed paths
for years, it’s only appropriate
that things have come full circle.
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Special teams coordinator and safeties coach Chris Partridge has shared a friendship with Anthony Campanile since the two attended high school together.
ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Editor
Michigan finishes 13th
The circumstances weren’t
advantageous for the Michigan
women’s golf team this past
weekend
at
the
Landfall
Tradition
tournament
in
Wilmington, N.C. But that’s
what’s
expected
when
competing in a tournament
fielding 13 of 18 teams ranked
in the top 50 on a challenging
course in inclement weather.
And
yet,
the
Wolverines
finished in a formidable 13th
place. The team finished at
27-over par (296, 303, 292) over
the course of three days and 54
holes. Junior Ashley Kim was
the top individual performer,
finishing 2-over par and tied for
17th place.
Michigan felt like it had
something to prove. Coming
into this high-level tournament,
the last of the fall season, the
Wolverines
hoped
to
finish
on a high note and gain some
momentum for the offseason
before the year picks up in
February.
“We had quite a few flashes
of some high-level golf,” said
Michigan coach Jan Dowling.
“In our final round, we really
played quite well. I think we had
a little bit of something to prove.
We were the fourth-lowest team
score (on the last day). This was
definitely a moral victory.”
Going into the final day of
the tournament, Michigan was
in 15th place and focused on
moving up in the standings. They
accomplished this by limiting
their mistakes and capitalizing
and staying in control on par
5s. In the final round, they were
3-under par on such holes.
There
were
plenty
of
positives to take away from
this tournament, like Kim’s
continued consistency and good
play. This was Kim’s second
top-20 individual finish in four
events. In the first round, she
shot 2-under par, notching her
third under-par round of the
season. Her play this tournament
reaffirmed everything she has
been working on throughout the
summer and fall.
“It was nice for her to see (her
hard work) come together on a
hard golf course in some pretty
tough
conditions,”
Dowling
said. “That’s only going to build
some confidence for her. She is
working on the right things and
that validates the work she has
done.”
Sophomore
Ashley
Lau
followed Kim by finishing the
tournament 6-over par (72, 76,
74) and tied for 39th place. This
was her second top-50 finish of
the season.
As a collective, Michigan
was excited to compete against
some of the best talent from
around the country. While it did
not finish as well as they did in
similar caliber tournaments at
the beginning of the season, this
tournament showed what they
are capable of.
“If you look at our schedule
we are constantly trying to play
against the best teams on some
great golf courses,” Dowling
said. “That really prepares us
for the big picture which is
the postseason and the NCAA
championships. It’s a really big
challenge but it’s also something
that our team welcomes every
time we tee it up. It’s always
a great opportunity and we
embrace it as much as we can.”
The
Wolverines
do
not
compete in another tournament
until February but will use this
time off to prepare for the spring
season.
“The idea for the spring just
keep building on those flashes of
brillance we had,” Dowling said.
“It shows our capability. We have
a great lineup of tournaments in
the spring and have some nice
changes to work on our games,
compete, and spend some good
time over the winter to make
some
improvements
in
our
consistency.”
‘M’ gains experience
The Eastern Michigan Fall
Classic is a small event at the end
of cross country season. You could
even say it’s unimportant, but
that’s not the case to Michigan
coaches Mike McGuire and Kevin
Sullivan who view it as a great
oppurtunity to showcase young
runners’ talent and the work
they’ve put in all season.
The
Michigan
men’s
and
women’s cross country teams
competed at the Eastern Michigan
Fall Classic on Friday in Dexter,
Mich. While a small event, the
meet is still a good benchmark for
the young Wolverines searching
for experience at the end of the
fall season.
Michigan rested its starting
lineups in preparation for the Big
Ten championships meet next
Sunday. And even though the
meet was not scored, that didn’t
stop the Wolverines from having
what Sullivan labeled a positive
day, gaining experience for their
young runners.
For the men, sophomore Gabe
Mudel was the first to cross for
the Wolverines in fourth place,
with a time of 15:04. Freshmen
Colton Yesney and James Gedris
crossed the line next in seventh
and ninth, respectively.
“Our guys did a good job of
injecting themselves in the race
and being competitive,” Sullivan
said.
The women’s team brought
a larger group to the meet and
got similar results. Five runners
finished from spots eight to 13, led
by senior Faith Reynolds in eighth
place.
“Faith’s been running with the
travel squad all year so I thought it
was a strong race, ” said Michigan
coach Mike McGuire.
This is the second time the
Wolverines
have
raced
this
course this season, the first of
which was in the season opener
at the Michigan Open, where they
had overall slower performances.
“We came back and improved
on what they established in late
August on this course,” McGuire
said.
This all comes after an entire
fall of training and an entire
season of experience. And while
most of these runners don’t get
to see action as often as some
of their teammates, when the
opportunity arose on Friday, they
showed up.
“Really
happy
that
their
body of work in the falls being
reflected,” McGuire said.
While
the
runners
here
aren’t running in the postseason
this year, they may next year,
making this experience possibly
invaluable.
“We will have people running
in the Big Ten meet who were in
this position a year ago,” McGuire
said.
Preparing for next year isn’t
all experience is good for. In the
more immediate reality, this
is a time for young runners to
showcase what they’ve worked
towards.
“This is like studying all
fall and taking an exam at the
end,” McGuire said. “This exam
happens to be different and
maybe next year, this exam will
be the Big Ten meet.”
We’re both
competitors, so
we know it’s all
in good love.
SPENCER RAINES
Daily Sports Writer
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Michigan coach Mike McGuire is getting ready for Big Ten Championships.
WOMEN’S GOLF
LILY ISRAEL
Daily Sports Writer