As far as college football careers go, Ewing High School graduate Andrew Jurzcynski’s had just about the least ideal start imaginable.
Now a senior at Monmouth University, the Ewing alum was forced to sit out his freshman season after an injury sidelined him during training camp.
Watching from the bench, though, ended up being more valuable than he anticipated.
“It was a big difference from high school ball,” he said. “Watching on the sidelines, I noticed that the speed of the game was faster, and the collisions were harder.”
But veteran coach Kevin Callahan, who is the only head football coach in the program’s 22-year history, said the absentee season “stoked [Jurczynski’s] inner fire to get on the field and play.”
“Coming out of high school where he played on the time to being a freshman standing on the sideline watching other people play motivated him to develop his body in terms of strength so that he could be successful,” Callahan said. “He developed an understanding of what it was going to take for him to have success on the field.”
So Jurczynski, a defensive lineman, got to work. Running, strength training and lifting in the weight room were what he focused on to get back in the swing of things come spring training camp.
“I just set big goals for myself to come back as a contributor,” he said. “It was just working as hard as I could to prove myself during camp sophomore year.”
It paid off, said Callahan.
“He understood what he needed to do, so he went to work,” he said. “The opportunity to get on the field again inspired him and left him better equipped to do what he needed to do.”
Come his sophomore year, Jurczynski was back on the field. While he said the game’s pace was much faster than what he was used to while playing high school ball, it was slightly more manageable than he anticipated.
The biggest difference, he quickly learned, was the size and strength of his opponents and teammates.
As a lineman, though, he likes the heightened physicality.
“I just love coming out,” he said. “It’s the most physical part of the game. You’re hitting on every play, getting sacks and tackles for losses.”
That aspect was part of what drew Jurczynski, who has always been a lineman, to the sport when he started in eighth grade with the Ewing Jr. Blue Devils.
“Just seeing the NFL and having the sport all around me made me want to go out,” he said. “As a culture, it was something I just always wanted to play.”
After a quiet sophomore season that included his first-ever collegiate tackle and appearances in all 10 games, Juczynski made his first career start in his junior year’s second game.
He finished the year with 31 tackles, including eight in a single game against St. Francis. He cites a 23-6 win against Wagner — in which he recorded seven tackles and his first career sack — as his most memorable at Monmouth.
While this season has been a little quieter for Jurczynski as far as tackles go—he’s made eight for the 5-4 Hawks so far—Callahan said he’s a key part of his team’s defensive rotation whose impact is felt in more ways than just hits.
“Since he didn’t play his freshman season, there’s been a steady development and improvement in him as a player,” he said. “This year, he’s an integral part of the defensive line. Usually, we have a rotation, and he’s been an integral part of that for the last two seasons.” “
After Jurczynski missed two games near the end of this season with a concussion, he made it back on the field just in time to wrap up his senior year, though he hopes to return for a fifth season since he was redshirted during his first year. Either way, he’s been invaluable to the Hawks’ line, said Callahan.
“We can depend on him to do a good job against the run,” he said. “He’s fairly good against the pass. He’s really helped this defense be successful.”
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