By Andy Walter

DOVER — Steve Azzanesi still thinks about Mike Drass a lot.

There’s a painting of the late Wesley College football on his son’s bedroom wall.

And with four other former Wolverine football coaches on his Alvernia staff, it doesn’t take much for them to start telling stories abaout the old days.

“We had such great experiences with Coach Drass that it comes up all the time in the office,” said Azzanesi. “Coach (Steve) Scanlon might be the best story teller. He just has a million stories. ... Most of them, Coach Drass is the main character.”

There was a time when Azzanesi thought he would never leave Wesley.

He spent over two decades as a Wolverine, first playing quarterback for Wesley and then working as an assistant coach for 18 years there.

But things happen.

Drass passed away suddenly in 2017 and then Wesley closed a couple years later.

Now the 45-year-old Azzanesi finds himself the head coach of Alvernia University’s fledgling football program. He was hired at the Reading, Pa. school in January.

It’s hard not to notice the connection between Alvernia’s program and Wesley’s now. Former Wolverine coaches and/or players Mike Sabino (Lake Forest), Scanlon, Joe Bottiglieri and Angel Guerrero are all coaching at Alvernia.

“Talking to some college coaches, they’re calling it ‘Wesley North,’” joked former longtime Wesley coach Chipp Knapp, now the coach at Dover High.

“We had a really unique situation with a lot of coaches who worked really hard. We found a formula for success with a lot of great memories along the way. He gets the chance to kind of keep that alive and keep that going. He can use all his experiences at Wesley and apply them to a new situation.

“The things that we did at Wesley worked so I imagine they’ll work as Alvernia as well.”

The Division III Golden Wolves have won just three games since they first took the field in 2018. Knapp, though, knows that Azzanesi has the personality to recruit players as well as the drive to keep working at it.

Knapp can remember times during the season when Azzanesi would sleep in the Wesley coaches’ office.

“In college football, it’s about players,” said Knapp. “He can get them. He’s recruited some of the all-time greats at Wesley. And the stories behind them are pretty amazing — the things he had to do and the time he had to spend to get those guys to commit to Wesley, was unique.

“He’d beat their resistence with his persistance.”

Azzanesi, who spent the last couple football seasons as an assistant at Delaware State, said there’s a certain comfort level working with people who are all on the same page. Sabino, Scanlon and Guerrero all played at Wesley.
Bottiglieri was Drass’ college coach at Mansfield State before replacing him as the Wolverines’ defensive coordinator.

A lot of what the younger coaches learned about college football came from Drass.

In Wesley’s last coaches’ offices, Azzanesi was in an adjoining room to Drass.

“There’s probably a lot of great head coaches out there,” said Azzanesi. “But, in my mind, he (Drass) was the best in the business. Just all the little things he did to help people.

“Even just hearing him on the phone with different aspects of the job. I remember thinking, ‘Man, he’s good. He’s really good.’”

If someone had told Azzanesi that he’d spend his whole career with the Wolverines, that would have been fine with the Wilmington native.

“I loved Wesley,” he said. “I loved Wesley. I loved being there, I loved everything about it.

“He (Drass) and I, we had conversations about him becoming athletic director. I don’t know if he ever would aver actually done it, but we did talk about that,”

Azzanesi said with a laugh. “For most of my career, I felt like I never wanted to leave Wesley. I just loved it.”

Azzanesi didn’t come to Wesley until it was well on its way to respectability.

There was a time, in the late 1980s, though, that the Wolverines lost 27 games in a row.

Nobody then imagined then that Wesley would end up going to the Division III national semifinals six times.

Azzanesi heard enough stories to know that getting the Wolverines turned around wasn’t easy. Drass and Knapp’s formula for winning was pretty simple.

“I know what the recipe was,” said Azzanesi. “They worked extremely hard, especially in those early days. I heard a million stories. It comes down to hard work — it’s hard work and recruiting really good players who are really good people.”

If Alvernia eventually has anywhere near the success that Wesley had, it would be remarkable. But, if it doesn’t happen, it’s not going to be due to a lack of effort on Azzanesi’s part.

It’s what Drass taught him.

Knapp recently played in Alvernia’s fundraising golf tournament — another thing Azzanesi learned from Drass. He could tell that trying to make the Golden Wolves a success really means a lot to Azzanesi.

“Alvernia,” said Knapp, “is going to get everything he’s got.”

Sports editor Andy Walter can be reached at 302-741-8227 or walter@iniusa.org.
Follow on Twitter at @DSNSports.