Changing the Culture: Dean Football

The new Head Coach- Luke Bakanowsky Photo Courtesy: Dean College

Dean Football rounded out the 2024 season with a record of 0-9 and a spot open for a new head coach. It was announced on the Dean Athletics page on January 9, 2025, that Dean was hiring Luke Bakanowsky, who is coming off a season with New England College as their offensive coordinator. January 9th also happened to be the first official day on the job for Bakanowsky. With this being during the holiday season, he admitted that it was a stressful ti

me, but Dean administration was able to create a smooth transition for him. Bakanowsky aimed to start building up the team as soon as possible.

“Settling in was easy. Administration here was great, people made it easy and

comfortable for me,” Bakanowsky mentioned. “But there's nothing easy about trying to

recruit a brand-new culture, new team. You’re going to bring in a lot of new kids, so we

hit the ground running.”

Bakanowsky talked a lot about a new culture that he wants to bring to Dean Football this season. He also knew it was important to entice the older athletes on the team to trust his process and buy into his vision for the program. Due to him being hired in January, he missed a crucial recruiting time period where transfers were looking for other opportunities at new schools, which was a disadvantage for him. His main goal in recruiting was to articulate his goals and visions to these athletes and find ones that were a good fit.

Coach Bakanowsky addresses the team ahead of training camp.  Photo Courtesy: Dean College Bulldogs Youtube

While going through the recruitment process, Bakanowsky wanted to make it clear that he believed “you want good football players. You want kids that can run fast, kids that can jump, catch the ball, tackle. For us, when you talk about culture, family, and brotherhood, being a good human, for me, is way more important.” He and his staff looked for character as a defining attribute in the people he was recruiting. It didn’t matter where they came from, what kind of house they grew up in, or the major they wanted to pursue. If they were not an upstanding person, they wouldn’t fit the direction that Dean College Football is heading in. The staff was able to bring in 65 new players, freshman and transfers, who they believe are a fit for the program.

The head coach was not the only position that needed to be filled for the upcoming year. They also hired Chris Redding as Defensive Coordinator, Dan McKenna as Special Teams Coordinator, Joshua Pierre-Charles as Running Backs Coach, Noah Pearson as Linebackers Coach, and Larry Mounds as Offensive Line Coach. Bakanowsky explained that he wanted a fresh start for everyone when choosing who would be on his staff.

“We’re going to be in a new conference. The way we run practices is different, and the

way we run meetings is different. So, I thought it was just good to flip the page and be a

new chapter of Dean Football,” Bakanowsky stated.

He also emphasized that his players should feel comfortable going to the staff with issues that were not football related and that he thought his staff reflects those qualities. He put a lot of emphasis on building up good relationships with the players and their families.

Coach Bakanowsky joins the huddle in a preseason practice. Photo Courtesy: Dean College Bulldogs Youtube

Going into preseason, the coaches knew it was going to be a busy, hectic time. The players were given daily itineraries that detailed out most parts of the day from breakfast to nighttime check-ins. From the beginning, he could tell what players stood out to him and impressed him the most. Bakanowsky commented, “You figure out pretty early the guys that love football and that has nothing to do with who's winning the most reps on the field or who's ‘succeeding’ the most. It’s guys that have the right energy. They get there early, or they help pick up the equipment on the field. I’m really happy with where we’re at, from a culture standpoint.”

Despite adding 65 new members to the team, Dean still has a lot of valuable veterans for leadership on the team. That includes Christian Donalson, Fontabian Donalson, Jerney Price, Santino Ferrante, and Da’Qwon Foster who are all captains for the 2025 season. Bakanowsky had extremely high praise for these five athletes, but made sure to mention that you don’t have to be a captain to act like a leader. Nick Levine, the starting quarterback, was not voted captain, but he has stepped up and has become someone who is looked upon during the good and bad times on the field.

Dean Football has become a completely new program this year, with new players, new coaches, and a new culture. Bakanowsky believes that the most important factor to Dean’s success this year will be keeping a level head in all situations.

“It’s being able to stay somewhat level. I always tell our guys not to ride the roller coaster. When things are good, it’s really easy to get high, to be crazy emotionally. Then, when things are bad, you start pointing fingers,” Bakanowsky stated. “Trying to stay somewhere in the middle is important because there are so many young guys, so many guys new to college football that just being able to figure that out will be huge.”

He understands that there will be bad plays or bad games, but it’s important to be able to improve and move past those mistakes. Being able to make corrections will be a point of emphasis during the season. After a loss in their season opener against Fitchburg State on September 5th, the Bulldogs look to right the ship on September 13th for their home opener against Massachusetts Maritime Academy.