Freiermuth a familiar talent
It’s safe to say Brooks football coach Pat Foley had a pretty good idea of what he was getting when he rolled out the welcome mat for a promising transfer from Pentucket two years ago.
Foley is not only a first cousin of Penn State-bound tight end Pat Freiermuth, he happens to be the 6-foot5, 240-pounder’s namesake and godfather as well.
“I can remember babysitting him when his sister was born,” Foley said of the then-toddler Freiermuth, who was already favoring a Nerf football ahead of a pacifier. “He was a kid that was always into sports.”
Freiermuth, who will kick off his senior season for Foley and Brooks this Saturday when the Bishops host Governor’s, said his cousin/coach made the transition to the private secondary school in North Andover a simple one.
“At first I really didn’t know what to call him — Pat or coach,” Freiermuth said. “He’s someone I always looked up to.”
Freiermuth grabbed 26 passes last season for 537 yards and five touchdowns, all from North Andover High transfer Seamus Lambert. The Bishops finished 7-2 after losing to Hamden Hall in a NEPSAC bowl game.
“I think Seamus is one of the most underrated quarterbacks in the state, and we’re really a dynamic team, so if you try to stop me then you’re going to have to worry about five other people,” said Freiermuth, who also is a devastating blocker and a veritable black hole for running backs from his spot on the defense at outside linebacker.
It was the summer before his junior year that Freiermuth’s name went viral on national scouting sites. Boston College, Notre Dame, Michigan and many others came calling. While it was the impressive size and speed that undoubtedly helped spur those initial looks, Foley said an unyielding dedication to improving as a player ultimately made Freiermuth a four-star recruit.
“You need those immeasurables — the size and speed — and that was there early on,” Foley said. “There are a lot of kids blessed with size and speed who don’t have the work ethic like Pat has to get the most out of it.”
If Freiermuth doesn’t have his own key to the weight room at Brooks, he probably should, and he said you need look no further than the dining room table at his Merrimac home for the genesis of that commitment. His parents Diane and John, a former basketball standout at St. Anselm’s, and older brother Tim, who starred on the gridiron at Pentucket and later at Springfield College, all instilled the mindset that there’s no such thing as too much extra work.
Ultimately, Freiermuth credits the straight-forward, family approach of the coaching staff at Penn State in convincing him to commit to a scholarship before his junior season.
“They were not telling me that if I went there I would automatically become an NFL tight end, but that I would have a strong future academically and on the football field,” Freiermuth noted of his initial trip to Happy Valley. “When I visited there, they treated my family like they were their family, and that meant a lot.”