There is new blood sitting at the helm of Colgate University football with the appointment of Head Coach Curt Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick was named Fred ’50 and Marilyn Dunlap head football coach — 31st in the program’s history — in December 2024, and he looks to bring a culture of excellence and a treasure trove of championship experience to a program looking to get back on its feet after a difficult 2024 season.
Making his way to Hamilton, N.Y., Fitzpatrick leaves behind a program at SUNY Cortland, where he led the Red Dragons to a national championship in 2023, was named 2023 Division III Coach of the Year and compiled an impressive 45-5 record over four seasons. Before that, Fitzpatrick was the head coach at nearby SUNY Morrisville, where he led the team to a conference title and multiple postseason finishes. He spoke to the Maroon-News about his past coaching experiences and how they have prepared him for the task ahead.
“I’ve been to a lot of great schools, places that allowed me to grow and learn, and I think that as a coach, that’s what you need. You need some space, some room to run and to be able to grow and learn, and I think all that has prepared me for an opportunity like this,” Fitzpatrick said.
Although this will be his first experience coaching Division I football, Fitzpatrick is taking the new challenges that await him in stride. He brings with him a calm and collected mentality in terms of how he views the new competition.
“[It’s a] new league, but football is football — it’s 11 on 11. Learning about the new teams and new matchups is a fun challenge, but they don’t know anything about me either, and so they have to learn also. It’s not the same Colgate they’ve always played — this team is going to be different. It’s going to be an adjustment, but I’m excited for the challenge, and I think we’ll be ready for it,” Fitzpatrick said.
The leadership and coaching style that Fitzpatrick has developed over more than 10 years as a head coach has been crucial in helping his teams find success in the past. He looks to bring these same skills to the Raiders, who are looking for a new spark in their team culture.
“As a head coach, I try to be a very empowering person. I’m not too much of a micromanager. I think that that’s how I would want to be treated as an assistant coach — to be given a framework for what to do, but then let me do my job. And that’s the expectation I’ll have with my assistant coaches. They have a job to do, so let’s go do it,” Fitzpatrick said.
When it comes to his players, Fitzpatrick expects the best out of them, and he emphasized the importance of instilling best practices and habits, which constitute the building blocks of success.
“I’m a very demanding coach on the field — but not demeaning,” Fitzpatrick said. “I set a high standard for how we play and how we execute and how we act in our body language. Everything else that goes into being an elite college football team, the habits and all that stuff, that’s the kind of standard that I’ll set with our players, and they’ve been great so far this spring semester. They’re willing to buy in and be coached hard.”
Fitzpatrick spoke about his vision for the Raiders both for the upcoming season and for the long run. The theme centers around building a championship-caliber team from the bottom up. He understands that good things take time, but building the foundation right sets the team up for success down the line.
“You’ll never hear me talk about expectations in terms of wins and losses, because I think that if you do that, sometimes you might be setting the bar too low. You also might be setting the bar too high,” Fitzpatrick said. “We want to be input-focused, not output-focused. From a long-term standpoint, my vision for our program is to be the premier football program in the Patriot League. You could take ‘premier’ to mean a lot of things — hopefully, it means a win-loss record, but it also means the way we treat our players and in the experience that these student-athletes have.”
As for the upcoming season, reinforcing those day-to-day best practices is the focal point for Fitzpatrick.
“In the short term, I want our current team to focus on our daily habits and to stay in the moment and be the best we can be,” he stated. “And that’s what I’ve told them so far. I don’t want to hear them talk about how we want to win a Patriot League championship — I want [them] to develop the daily habits that lead up to winning a Patriot League championship. You don’t stare at the top of the mountain as you climb, you focus on where you’re at and focus on the next move. And eventually, if you keep climbing, you know that you’ll reach the peak. That’s the mindset of a champion.”
In addition to the culture and championship-winning experience that Fitzpatrick carries with him, he also brings a bit of a lucky charm. He spoke about his pregame ritual, which he has been adhering to since his days at Cortland.
“I don’t really listen to the same music or any of that stuff. I have three young kids and our routine at home on game day, kind of the lucky thing that we do, is that my wife will make a special breakfast. So we all eat the same breakfast every game day morning at home. That’s how we did it at Cortland and I’m sure we’ll continue that here at Colgate,” Fitzpatrick said with a smile on his face.
Fitzpatrick expressed his appreciation for the school and the team, as well as his enthusiasm for what lies ahead.
“Colgate is a great place, and I know that we’re going to be a team that Colgate’s students and faculty will be excited to watch,” Fitzpatrick said. “They’ll be proud of the toughness and the character that we play with — that resiliency. There’s nothing better than a fall Saturday where we’re playing a football game and the stands are packed with students. Colgate is a special place — I’m excited to get to spring ball here in a month or so, and I’m excited for that first home game next fall,” he said.
The 2025 season marks a new chapter for Colgate’s football team, and Raider fans have plenty of reasons to be excited about what lies ahead.
