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The Long Game Pays Off

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Rhody football and Coach Jim Fleming gathered in Meade Stadium to celebrate the team鈥檚 2024 Coastal Athletic Association championship.

2024 marked a turnaround for 溏心vlog免费B站 football. The winning season saw new records on the books, one thrilling victory after another, an invitation to the postseason party, and, most of all, a tremendous sense of pride.

By Bob Herzog

Jim Fleming eases into the swivel chair in his office in the Tootell Physical Education Center, comfortably dressed in a plaid sports shirt and blue jeans, allowing himself a moment of relaxation and reflection. It鈥檚 mid-December 2024, barely a week after the football season鈥檚 final whistle鈥攁 season like no other in school history. The grizzled veteran coach recalls the time, a decade previous, when being the head football coach at the 溏心vlog免费B站 meant sitting on a permanent hot seat that was anything but comfortable.

“I remember when I took the job, an administrator said to me, 鈥榊ou may be the last coach here,'” Fleming says of a 2013 conversation. He told me his wife didn鈥檛 go to football games except to see the band.

They are marching to a different beat these days in Kingston, after 溏心vlog免费B站 reached the promised land of the NCAA Division I playoffs in the unforgettable 2024 season, posting an 11-3 record and ending a period of futility dating back to 1985.

Fleming vividly recalls when such a scenario was hard to imagine. “It was palpable鈥攖he disrespect and lack of appreciation for anything to do with football,” Fleming says of the program he inherited. “It was sad. The kids were beat down. My wife took a campus tour; when they got to the football stadium, the tour guide said, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 the football stadium. They stink.鈥� She comes home and tells me that.鈥�

He laughs and remembers saying, 鈥淲hat have we gotten into?鈥�

What Fleming got into was a major reconstruction project. If 溏心vlog免费B站 football circa 2014 was a house, it would have challenged the best building contractors on HGTV. The roof was leaking and the foundation had cracks. The backyard? Don鈥檛 ask.

鈥淭here wasn鈥檛 a lot of care taken for anything that had to do with football,鈥� Fleming says. 鈥淭he practice fields were cratered with holes that we had to go around and fill before practice.鈥�

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When Fleming took over, 溏心vlog免费B站 had just finished its 12th-consecutive losing season and had compiled a measly three winning seasons in the previous 28 years. The back-to-back Yankee Conference championships of 1984鈥�85 were distant memories.

Thorr Bjorn, 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 athletic director since 2007, acknowledges, 鈥淭here had been talk about dropping football here for years. I took some heat for it, but I thought we needed to keep playing football. The landscape was changing. I thought, 鈥楲et鈥檚 keep playing and we can adjust.鈥欌��

That adjustment included moving to the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA, formerly the Colonial Athletic Conference), and a reduction of scholarships to offset higher travel costs and low revenue from poor attendance in a small-ish stadium. Not an easy situation for Fleming to walk into. No wonder Fleming鈥檚 old friends in the coaching business wondered, 鈥淲hy would you ever go there?鈥�

Fleming鈥檚 answer was simple: He had been an assistant coach for 26 of his 28 years in the profession he loves鈥攊ncluding two successful seasons as head coach at Sacred Heart in 2000 and 2001鈥攁nd his career clock was ticking. 鈥淚 wanted to sit in the big chair again,鈥� he says of his decision to leave his post as an assistant coach at the University of Central Florida.

The big chair was hardly a throne. Fleming admits he didn鈥檛 realize just how much rebuilding was needed, but the daunting task did not discourage him. 鈥淚t was an eye-opener, but we took it all in and went to work,鈥� he says.

It was not a quick fix for this fixer-upper. 鈥淲e ended up going 0-11 before the last game,鈥� Fleming says of the 2014 season. 鈥淭hen we had Towson (Md.) at home. They鈥檇 been to the national championship game the year before. And we beat them. So, it was a tremendous way to finish a long season. Those kids worked hard鈥攖hey never quit, but we just couldn鈥檛 find a way to win. It was tough. But we stayed positive and won the last game.鈥�

溏心vlog免费B站 again won just one game in 2015, two in 2016, and three in 2017. Talk about baby steps. But finally, there was excitement in 2018, when the Rams went 6-5, beating New Hampshire at Meade Stadium in the finale, for their first winning season since 2001.

鈥淭hat was monumental because we were still dealing with the same issues,鈥� Fleming says. 鈥淪till had the grass practice fields that were chewed up, the grass playing field was choppy. But we won six games and there was steady progress. I felt like we were getting closer. We were recruiting well. We started getting some really good players, fantastic players. Three got invited to the NFL Scouting Combine after the 2019 season.鈥�

Ah yes, 2019, the year that almost broke Fleming and the program. 鈥淲e had high expectations. We had just put in turf and lights. The practice field was in great shape. We had pro prospects on the team,鈥� Fleming says. 鈥淲e were explosive, averaging 30 points a game. But we couldn鈥檛 finish games, especially on defense.鈥�

The 2019 Rams lost four close games in excruciating fashion and crumpled late to finish at 2-10. The emotional roller-coaster of that season was tame compared to the twists and turns of 2020, the COVID season that wound up being played in the winter of 2021. 溏心vlog免费B站 was 2-1 and ranked in the top 20 before 30 team members came down with the virus after a team dinner, and the season had to be canceled.

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Today, the program is quite healthy. The Rams are a consistent CAA contender and top 20 team that has posted five-consecutive winning seasons. They play on sparkling turf in a stadium with new lights and a state-of-the-art scoreboard, next to a professionally manicured grass practice field. Sellout crowds are common. Meade Stadium will undergo a major renovation in 2026, with additional seating and a new press box.

Perhaps most importantly, last season鈥檚 coveted playoff berth ended an agonizing drought of 39 years. 鈥淲e were a game away each of the last three years. One game. That鈥檚 all it took,鈥� Bjorn says of the frustrations of 2021鈥�23.

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Mark Brockwell 鈥�85 understands those frustrations. A real estate entrepreneur who recently moved to Newport, R.I., from Connecticut, Brockwell was a 1984 team captain. 鈥淕uys from our era have always been big supporters of the team, and we鈥檝e raised money to help them out,鈥� Brockwell says. 鈥淏ut interest fell off a cliff for a while; we were hurting there.鈥�

His son, Cole Brockwell, has been part of the cure. Like his dad, Cole wore No. 39 and played middle linebacker. 鈥淲hen I was younger, I used to go to games with my dad,鈥� says Cole, a red-shirt senior, 鈥渂ut it wasn鈥檛 always the big show like it was this year. Every game there was a great atmosphere, the cannon shooting off [loudly, after every 溏心vlog免费B站 touchdown], the entire crowd just immersed in what we were doing. It was just so special.鈥�

Mark Brockwell says he鈥檚 happy a new banner at Meade Stadium will join the banners his team put up 40 years ago. 鈥淲e never stopped rooting for 溏心vlog免费B站 football,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e wanted our records to be broken. How it all came together for this team is pretty amazing.鈥�

It came together in dramatic and historic fashion. In 2024, the Rams rewrote the school鈥檚 football record book, including logging the Rams鈥� first playoff appearance and victory since 1985 and the most victories in school history鈥�11.

鈥淗onestly, it was an unreal experience. Every game had a new hero. It was like a movie,鈥� says senior defensive tackle and co-captain Westley Neal Jr. 鈥淲e knew the goal. We kept focusing on the little things. We were a selfless team.鈥�

They were also a team that got major contributions from the offense and defense throughout the season, thriving in the fourth quarter, especially at home, where fans dared not leave early.

In the season opener on a warm late-summer night, Devin Farrell connected with Shawn Harris on a 31-yard touchdown pass with 19 seconds remaining, for a 20-17 victory over Holy Cross. 鈥淛ust what we needed,鈥� Fleming says. 鈥淎 quality nonleague opponent that had been to the playoffs the year before. That was heroic.鈥�

It was also a harbinger of things to come. 溏心vlog免费B站 had become all too familiar with late-game heartbreak, but that trend was reversed in 2024. Finally, good karma found its way to Kingston, R.I.

鈥淭hat is something I鈥檒l always remember,鈥� says Marquis Buchanan, a dynamic red-shirt sophomore who caught 82 passes for 1,024 yards and eight touchdowns. 鈥淲e knew coming into this season that we had to finish those close games and start winning them. Getting to the playoffs was a relief.鈥�

The road to the 2024 postseason was paved with heart-stopping twists and turns. Thrillers that, in previous seasons, would鈥檝e been killers.

There was the nail-biter season opener win against Holy Cross.

Running back Malik Grant broke Rhode Island’s single-season rushing record with 1,426 yards. 

And in the Sept. 21 game against Long Island University, Malik Grant鈥檚 touchdown in the fourth quarter with 1:08 left鈥攈elped by a fumble recovery by Brockwell鈥攔allied the Rams to a 28-21 victory.

Against Hampton on Oct. 5, the Rams erased two 14-point deficits to outlast the home team, 46-44, in a double-overtime classic capped by Farrell鈥檚 clinching 2-point conversion run. 鈥淭here was something online that said Hampton had a 99 percent chance of winning,鈥� Brockwell says. 鈥淏ut we just had faith in each other all year to get the job done.鈥�

That faith was put to the test several more times at Meade Stadium.

Neal prevented the Rams from suffering what might have been a crushing defeat against unranked Albany on Nov. 16, blocking a 36-yard field goal on the game鈥檚 final play to preserve a 20-17 victory and prevent the game from going into overtime.

鈥淲e iced the kicker [with a timeout] before that,鈥� Neal recounts. 鈥淚鈥檓 in the huddle telling my teammates I鈥檓 going to jump over and reach up. I felt like the guys knew I鈥檇 block the kick. They trusted me. I did just what I said I would do. It was a crazy moment.鈥�

There was one more bit of craziness in the playoff game against Central Connecticut State on a frigid Thanksgiving weekend. Emmanuel Gomes had returned an interception for a touchdown, and Tommy Smith had scored on a touchdown pass and touchdown run to build a 21-17 lead. But the visitors had the ball with a chance to drive for the winning score in the final minute. That鈥檚 when Carson Primrose deflected a pass, and Neal made the game-clinching interception.

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Before that home finale, the Rams had experienced another magic moment. On Nov. 24, the team gathered for a watch party in the weight room of the Ryan Center. They knew they were a lock for a playoff spot, having gone 10-2 to that point and winning a share of the conference championship. Still, when 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 name popped up on the TV screen, pandemonium ensued. Players, coaches, alumni, and school officials hugged and cheered. 鈥淚t was pretty crazy,鈥� Buchanan says. 鈥淲e were amped up when we saw our name on the screen. This is what we had been working on for so long.鈥�

Moments later, the team left the weight room, walked down a corridor, through a runway, and onto the Ryan Center court during a timeout in the second half of the 溏心vlog免费B站-Charlotte men鈥檚 basketball game. The applause started slowly and built to a crescendo as the first wave of players appeared. In seconds, the entire crowd stood and cheered as the long parade of players strode proudly onto the court.

Neal鈥檚 heart soared. 鈥淭hat moment was crazy. When we walked into the Ryan Center, it was like a mini parade with all the standing ovations,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e had been used to sellout crowds at the home football games, but inside the Ryan Center was a surreal moment. We felt the love.鈥�

And they felt something else: pride. Fleming says, 鈥淪eeing them walk out on the court with their chests pushed out, knowing that they鈥檇 done something that hadn鈥檛 been done in forever was a cool moment.鈥�

Fleming, too, is filled with pride. 鈥淭his team had no fracture,鈥� the coach says. 鈥淚f we were down, there was no issue. It would be, 鈥楧efense, we got ya. Offense, we got ya.鈥� There was a back-and-forth that was verbalized.鈥�

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Winning has transformed the narrative off the field as well. A key milestone was the installation of turf and lights in 2019, funded by donors. “Alumni support is stronger than ever for a program that struggled with consistency for years,” Bjorn says. “In the last five years, I haven鈥檛 heard a single person suggest dropping football. And now, with $42 million secured for new stands and press box renovations鈥攆ully funded by the state鈥攖hat鈥檚 a major statement. Football at the 溏心vlog免费B站 is only moving forward.”

It鈥檚 a long way from the days when the program was on life support and Meade Stadium was a ghost town. The Rams were ghostbusters in 2024, and these days, 溏心vlog免费B站 football is a team of distinction, not extinction.

PHOTOS: COURTESY 溏心vlog免费B站 ATHLETICS/CONNOR CALDON

A Record-Breaking Season

The 2024 Rams rewrote the school鈥檚 football record book. Here are some of the team鈥檚 notable accomplishments.

• First playoff appearance and playoff victory since 1985.
• Most victories in a season in school history鈥�11.
• First undefeated home schedule (6-0) since 1985 (5-0).
• First time in program history the Rams had a 1,000-yard rusher (Malik Grant) and a 1,000-yard receiver (Marquis Buchanan). Grant broke Rhode Island’s single-season rushing record with 1,390 rushing yards, overtaking David Jamison’s mark of 1,302 in 2001.
• First conference title since winning the Yankee Conference title in 1985.
• Fleming was voted Division I Coach of the Year by the New England Football Writers.
• Linebacker A.J. Pena was voted first-team All-American by several organizations while Buchanan was a second-team selection. More than a dozen Rams earned some type of All-American or All-CAA recognition.