By Craig Roman
The Northeastern football team’s coaching staff will have a new look when and if they start spring practice on time.
According to head coach Rocky Hager, spring practice is scheduled for March 14, but the start may be delayed if the team is not able to find a replacement for assistant head coach Jim Salgado. Earlier this week Salgado was named the new cornerbacks and safety coach at Syracuse University under their new head coach, former University of Texas defensive coordinator, Greg Robinson. It has been widely speculated that Salgado, a native New Yorker, is expected to help Syracuse recruit within New York.
Salgado said Robinson approached him about the Syracuse job in early January. Salgado has high expectations of his new team and thinks Syracuse will once again be able to return to the top of the Big East conference.
“I don’t think it will take long. Syracuse has a great tradition. Coach Robinson has a great amount of energy and enthusiasm. It won’t take long for our players to feed off of that. My goals at Syracuse are to help each young man develop into future leaders on and off the field. Teach each player how to work hard and strive for excellence in all that they do — have a lot of energy and enthusiasm.”
Salgado began his coaching career as a graduate assistant in 1994 at his alma mater Hofstra University. He spent the ’94 and ’95 seasons coaching the linebackers and special teams at Western Connecticut State University. He came to Boston in 1996, coaching linebackers at Boston University. For the 1997-99 seasons it was off to Millersville University for his second stint as a defensive coordinator and special teams coach. The coach made his first coaching appearance at Northeastern for the 2000-01 season, coaching safeties. Salgado returned to Hofstra in 2002 where he stayed for two seasons as a secondary coach under long-time head coach Joe Gardi.
Gardi said Salgado “absolutely has a future as a head coach. He is an excellent recruiter. He is gonna be great; I gave a great recommendation to coach Robinson.”
Northeastern coach Rocky Hager echoed these sentiments. “He’ll either wind up being a 1-A head coach or in the NFL in some capacity. He is a very good football coach. He is intelligent, an excellent communicator. He is very motivated and very organized. He is special he has some magic about him.”
Salgado found his way back to Northeastern for the 2004 season in an effort to further build his already lengthy resume.
“Coach Salgado came to us as a very polished young man. He’d been at several NFL camps as an intern with the Chargers, Eagles and Bears. We knew he was a rising star; because of that we wanted to help him develop his resume,” Hager said.
Hager said while the team has no replacement in mind, they will have to go through the usual process of advertising and interviewing potential candidates.
“We will look for the similar kind of person as what [Saldago] brought to the table for us as a coach. Someone that I would want my son to play for,” Hager said.
Salgado said his fondest memory of NU football came this past season after the Huskies’ overtime win at Hofstra.
“Great memory at NU was beating my alma mater [Hofstra] this past year in double overtime at their place. We had a lot of fun in the locker room that night!”
Salgado was a three year starter for Hofstra from 1989-92. During that time he was a member of a 12-1 team that lost in the semifinals of the 1-AA National Championship Playoffs.
“The decision to leave NU was hard. I will miss the times I got to spend with the players and coaches. I have the utmost respect for the players at Northeastern and how hard they work on and off the field. The coaching staff at NU are all great guys. We had some good times together,” Salgado said.
While he is sad to see his colleague go, coach Hager said coaching is about helping people get to where they want to be.
“In our profession it is important to realize that one of the things that needs to be done is helping people continue to reach their goals professionally. He was the glue to the defense, he was a stabilizing force, he was even-keel and a motivator, a real fine class gentleman as well as someone the players can look up to,” said Hager.
