ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Paul Fricano fell in love with football as a youngster growing up in Chili.
Fricano started out playing for the Chili Lions and went on to excel as a kicker at Churchville-Chili High School prior to his graduation in 2014.
Fricano went on to kick at Eastern Michigan University, where he walked onto the team and made 34 field goals and scored 178 points in two seasons while earning Second-Team All-MAC honors in 2016.
An Academic All-MAC honoree, Fricano graduated with a degree in Exercise Science and came to Roberts four years ago to pursue his doctorate in Occupational Therapy.
Fricano completed the three-year program in June and is working as a Resident Director on North Campus and also has a per diem job in the healthcare industry.
He and his wife, Kristen, who is a wellness coordinator at Roberts, were married in October.
Fricano realized one of his dreams of being a football coach last spring when he was announced as the first head coach in the history of the Roberts Wesleyan University flag football team.
Fricano sat down to answer a few questions before Saturday's season opener against Geneseo. His responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
How do you explain flag football to somebody that hasn't seen it before?
"It's a 7-on-7 game in comparison to the 11-on-11 game that you see in the NFL. It's so fast-paced and quick-moving, it's not stand in the pocket all day, observe the field and read the defense. It's a make-a-decision quick, fast-paced basketball style game. You want quick athletes who can get in and out of a route with good hands and good ball skills. If you're not able to run, throw, catch, and pass the ball, then you are in a bad spot. The best way I could describe it is fast break basketball – you get the snap off, get the ball in the quarterback's hands, one read, and get the ball out of her hands quickly and have athletes just go and be athletes."
What has been keeping you busy since you were named head coach of the Roberts Wesleyan University women's flag football team?
"It was last spring when they announced the team coming to Roberts, and I was kind of like, 'All right, now what do I do?' And I just went to work recruiting. The lifeblood of a program is the people, so I just got going with recruiting. I started going to games, meeting high school coaches, meeting kids, meeting parents, giving kids tours on campus. I made myself very available from April through the summer and even into the fall. I just dove completely headfirst into it and recruited my butt off and made connections and made relationships happen in the area and we were fortunate enough to build a team of 16 girls right now."
What is your basic recruiting philosophy?
"I always tell people that the idea is to have a Section V All-Star team, but we're not going to limit ourselves. We will go into Buffalo, we will go into Syracuse, but if we can't keep our homegrown talent in the Rochester area, I think we're setting ourselves up for failure. So, step one for me was to just get as ingrained as I could into the Section V region."
Did you play positions other than kicker?
"Yep, so I played offense and defense up until I joined varsity to be a kicker because I was just so passionate about it. I was a running back, fullback, and linebacker, and just stayed a student of the game. I always kind of knew I wanted to stay involved in football as long as I possibly can, even when I'm done playing so, that was my opportunity to say even if I'm not going to play in the NFL, I'm going to take these opportunities that I have playing football to learn the game as best as I can. Instead of goofing off as a kicker off on the side, I'm going to pay attention to offensive and defensive drills. So, it was an internship as much as it was my position as a kicker. It was a chance to absorb the game and really learn it."
It seems like having a desire to help people is a big part of who you are and what you do, where does that come from?
"I'm sure there's a natural part of it that's a part of my upbringing and the values that were instilled in me growing up as a kid and the way that my parents raised me. I always have had a desire to use whatever God-given abilities I have to help other people. With football, coaching just makes me feel like I'm gaining a relationship with these individuals in a way that's going to usher in success with what they're passionate about. With my Exercise Science and Occupational Therapy there's very few things in this world better than seeing someone's quality of life improve. We're changemakers as healthcare providers, so something that I really, really pride myself in is just having a demeanor that makes people feel safe, and comfortable, like I'm on their side. We call that therapeutic use of self in occupational therapy, but I don't think it just stops at occupational therapy. I try and use that same kind of idea of therapeutic use of self in my coaching to understand what kids need."
What's your favorite food?
"I like to stick to my roots with Italian food. My family is big into cooking. I love to cook, and if I ever have the chance to stick to that genre of food, I will, but I also love barbecue. Me and my wife had barbecue food at our wedding, and I appreciate her being cool with that. Those would be the two big ones for me, Italian food and barbecue."
What does being a Redhawk mean to you?
"Growing up in North Chili but never having really been affiliated with Roberts until I went to graduate school, it was kind of just that place that I always drove by when I was going to Churchville-Chili for high school. It's just that place that I would just always know it was there. Once I became ingrained into this community, it's kind of my whole identity in a lot of ways. It's where I live as a Resident Director, it's the people I'm around every day. I have so much pride in trying to just push this this university along however way that I can and with the role that I have as a coach, I want to give them something to be proud of with a new sport. I take so much pride in that and giving them the opportunity to be prideful in our program. Our soccer teams just won both conference championships for the ECC, and that brings a lot of pride to this school and a lot of passion for being a Redhawk. That's the same thing that I'm trying to build with this program, to be something that everyone can wrap their arms around, get behind, and we'll all be rowing the boat in the same direction. I think that's the beauty of sports. Athletics is something that can really bring you together and I hope that's something my identity as a Redhawk is providing."
