URI’s Tom Drennan Calling It a Career
Saturday, June 19, 2010
As a student at Providence College in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, Tom Drennan’s dreams and ambitions weren’t unrealistic. He simply wanted to be a high school history teacher and coach upon graduation. He got his wish.
His career started at Wethersfield High School in Connecticut where he did teach history. He immediately became involved in coaching serving as an assistant for football, basketball and baseball. Now, fifty years later, he’s calling it a career. And what a career it has been.
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He didn’t stay in Wethersfield for long. But, as Drennan puts it, “as different doors closed, other doors opened and it always seemed to work out for the better.”
Only five years after graduating from PC, Drennan was named athletic director at Roger Williams where he also served as the head basketball and golf coaches. It was there where he got to know URI men’s basketball coach Jack Kraft. Kraft thought highly enough of Drennan to offer him a position on his staff in 1973.
Drennan worked with Kraft until 1977 when the University of Rhode Island offered him a position in its financial aid office. The timing couldn’t have been better. With four young daughters, he went back into coaching at the high school level by leading the South Kingstown girls basketball team.
“It was an eye-opening experience,” said Drennan. “But it was one of the most fun things I ever did and I got to coach my daughter.”
Drennan’s team won only 3 games in his first year at South Kingstown. In his second and third years as coach his teams made it to the playoffs. He then turned the reigns over to Bill Hodge who won the state championship the following year.
In 1988 he went back to URI to become the men’s golf coach. Associate athletic director John Vanner hired Drennan and had a plan for him and the program. “He said that the goal should be to build up the program by putting together a tougher schedule, building up the booster club, by keeping the best Rhode Island golfers home and by doing some creative recruiting,” according to Drennan. He did all of that and more.
He created the Adams Cup which opened up all kinds of doors for his program. It brought top programs to New England to play golf and resulted in reciprocal invitations to tournaments hosted by some of the visiting schools.
But URI golf was not well known nationally or locally in Drennan’s early years as coach. Central Connecticut and Hartford attracted the best New England recruits because they had athletic scholarships. That changed in 1993 when URI decided to give them as well.
Drennan ‘s recruiting has been outstanding which has been the key to his programs success. Not only was he getting many of the best New England players to attend URI, he also recruited internationally. Players came from all corners of the globe to play at URI. Bermuda, Ireland and Spain all sent multiple student-athletes to Kingston.
Tom Drennan built URI golf into the premier college golf program in the Northeast. His Rams have won 10 of 11 New England intercollegiate Golf Association Championships. They have won five Atlantic 10 titles and made 16 consecutive NCAA Regional appearances.
“I’m extremely proud of what we have been able to accomplish here,” he said. “I’ve had great support from the athletic administration and I am most proud of the fact that we have had nine academic All-Americans over the years.”
He turns 72 years old in December and will have been coaching for a total of 50 years come January. And following the 2010-2011 season, he will retire from his fantastic career.
“I look around now and most of the coaches are in their 30’s,” said Drennan. “It’s time to let someone else take over.”
He says he will miss the competitions with the young men he coaches the most. The interaction with his players is something that will be hard to walk away from. But he has 4 children and 10 grandchildren and is excited to spend even more time with them.
He will still be courtside at the Ryan Center for URI men’s basketball games where he coordinates TV time-outs because he will forever bleed Rhody blue.
But remember this about Tom Drennan. He built a top-notch program the right way. His ethics, integrity and class are a lesson for all who enter the coaching profession. He should be congratulated and most certainly will be missed.
