Holy Cross’ Comeback Kid

In 35 years of coaching football at Holy Cross, Tom Pugh has seen just about everything.
He has witnessed hundreds of comebacks - some unlikely, others predictable. He has presided over championship teams and underwhelming ones. The evolution of his star running back Daryl Whiting - from Holy Cross flunky to team leader - in the past year holds a special place in his heart.
“This,” Pugh said, “is a great success story.”
When Whiting was dismissed from Holy Cross for fighting last October, his return was uncertain. He nearly became a cautionary tale for other gridiron stars at the Flushing school.
Now a senior, Whiting said the incident, in which a food fight escalated into him punching a fellow student, was overblown. Whiting was surprised when he was kicked out. Sure, he was not a perfect student - Whiting had served detention from time-to-time for chewing gum or acting out in class - but he was not a troublemaker.
“That’s not the Daryl I knew, to hit somebody like that,” good friend and teammate Rodney Robinson said.
“Our guidance counselor said it best,” Pugh recalled, “it was impulse driven.”
Holy Cross Principal Joseph Giannuzzi told Whiting he would consider reinstatement that summer, depending upon him keeping up his B average, staying out of trouble, and taking anger management classes. Whiting followed orders while at Francis Lewis, a public school in Fresh Meadows, and was reinstated. Upon his return, Pugh was not sure what to expect.
What the coach has received makes him smile - less for what Whiting has brought to Holy Cross on the football field than on school grounds.
Once an aloof youngster the coaches could not figure out, he is now all smiles. Whiting and Pugh have forged a close bond this fall. They banter back and forth on the football field and in the classroom, where Pugh teaches Whiting in a psychology course.
“He’s doing everything right in school,” Pugh said. “He’s in senior service, he’s helping out at St. Joseph’s School for the Deaf.”
“He’s matured a lot, definitely,” Robinson said. “He’s always doing his work, always serious in the hallways. … He’s motivational and somebody you could talk to about anything.”
Pugh, of course, cannot help but hide the joy in what the discipline has done for his best player on the field, either. At 6-foot-4 and 202 pounds, Whiting is a blend of strength and speed. The coaching staff knew of his natural talent when he first arrived as a freshman, but the backfield was crowded.
This fall, finally given the chance to shine, Whiting is making up for lost time.
He has scored touchdowns in five consecutive games, including the first play from scrimmage in the first three, and has led the Knights to five consecutive wins and into a four-way tie atop the CHSFL “AA” standings. His 652 yards rushing, at 7.5 yards per carry, are fourth in the division. A Division I scholarship may follow. He has taken official visits to Temple, Boston College, UConn, and Syracuse.
While he says the punishment did not fit the crime, it helped him immeasurably. It is impossible to ignore the irony of one error in judgment that at the time seemed to derail Whiting’s life but has instead served as a blessing.
“It made me appreciate what I had,” he said. “It was bad, but it was the best thing that happened to me. It changed my attitude; it made me grateful, it made me grow up.”