Call him Tom #BAM-brick
Hand offensive lineman heading to Coastal Carolina
When Tom Bambrick tweeted out his commitment to Coastal Carolina on July 30, he had no idea he’d be signing with a Top 10 team on Dec. 16.
The Chanticleers keep growing in leaps and bounds … just like Bambrick.
They’re up to No. 9 in the nation.
Bambrick, a senior offensive lineman at Hand-Madison, is up to 6-foot-4, 315 pounds.
#ChantsUp. #BAM. #BallAtTheBeach. #BlackSwarm. #TealNation. #MormonsvsMullets.
We couldn’t have told you a year ago what any of those hashtags meant. That was last year. This is 2020 and, with the COVID pandemic, 2020 has been the most unusual sports year in memory. College football is Exhibit A. Seven teams from outside the Power 5 conferences dot this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll. Cincinnati, at No. 6, is traditionally a strong program and can be explained.
Coastal Carolina, which caught the fancy of the nation by beating BYU on Dec. 15 in the best game of the college season, is a fascination.
“They’re calling them America’s team,” Bambrick said. “I watched the BYU game with my whole family. We had some people come over. It was really exciting.
“I knew they were an up and coming program. I talked to the coaches all summer. Corona hit. The quarantine hit. I didn’t have a chance to go down there, but I did know the coaches. My parents loved them. I started to love them, too. I really loved the O-line coach. I felt at home with them.”
Chanticleers offensive line coach Bill Durkin, originally from Stratford, led the recruiting on Bambrick. Durkin will be remembered as a star at Notre DameFairfield, an All-American at UMass and a member of the Yankee Conference 50th anniversary team. He later played in the CFL and NFL Europe.
Bambrick got one other FBS offer from UMass. He got FCS offers from Monmouth, Elon, New Hampshire, URI, Albany, Central Connecticut and Fordham. Another year of growth and play would have meant more offers, yet seeing the chances were growing slim the CIAC would have a fall season Bambrick wanted to secure his college.
“When he made the choice at Coastal, we thought it would be a good fit for him,” Hand coach Steve Filippone said. “He knew he was a very capable player and thought he’d have an opportunity to play sooner than at some other
schools.
“It turns out somebody down there has been doing an awfully good job of recruiting and getting some of the best kids around the country to play football there. And Tommy’s going to be one of them.” Bambrick.
What a great name for a football player.
Bam! Brick! And who knew the first three letters of his last name line up with #BAM (Be A Man).
Filippone, a Hand legend with seven state titles, coached Tom’s older brother Jim. Replacing Dave Mastroianni, who resigned early in 2020 following two state titles in three years, Filippone didn’t coach Tom in 11 v. 11 games.
“Great football family,” Filippone said. “Their dad (Rich) was a lineman at Rhode Island. Terrific people. Very supportive of the program. Tommy’s a really humble kid. That’s the family he comes from.
“He runs like he’s 6-1, 190 pounds. He has tremendous feet. Great fundamentals and technique. He was trained very well by our coaches at Hand. I think when it’s all said and done, he’ll be a 6-4, 320 kid who can really run. Hey, maybe he’s our second NFL player.”
Filippone coached Hand’s Jack Driscoll, who played at UMass before transferring Auburn, was drafted in the spring by the Eagles, and has started four games at offensive tackle as an NFL rookie.
Bambrick played a multitude of sports as a youngster. He said he was always “the tall kid.” T-ball, baseball, lacrosse and it came to the point in the third grade where he had to pick between soccer and football. He looked at his brother. He looked at his dad.
“I picked football,” Bambrick said. “Still, I was really tall for my age, I considered myself a basketball player. But I also was a fullback.”
His seventh-grade team won a championship. He scored five touchdowns. As
an eighth grader, he played some tight end, some slot. He got to Hand. Again, he looked at his dad and brother.
“I was meant to be a lineman,” he said. “I strived to be like my dad and my brother.”
He embraced it. Freshman year, he went from 215 to 255. Three years later, he’s 60 pounds heavier.
Hand started its conditioning in July. With mandated social distancing, a lot of agility work was done. A lot of footwork was done. Filippone maintained a significant line component even after the fall season was called off and went to 7-on-7 games.
“We made the linemen part of the game,” Fillipone said. “We would start the game with a linemen challenge, play a quarter, have another linemen challenge, play another quarter.
“Tommy was miles ahead of everybody that we saw. We did the 45-pound shuttle, pick up a 45-pound plate, run it 10 yards, run back and get another 45 pounds. Him picking them up was like when you or I pick up a paper plate.”
While he doesn’t have film to show his Carolina coaches, he has been addicted to the weight room. Still, it wasn’t his strength that wowed onlookers most in those linemen challenges.
“Everybody who saw him run was blown away by his agility and footwork,” Filippone said. “He’s a terrific athlete.”
Bambrick played basketball his freshmen and sophomore year.
“It’s funny, I played basketball with Jack Driscoll’s brother (Flynn) and I would play against Jack actually,” Bambrick said. “Before he went to Auburn, he’d come to practices during winter break. He had played basketball at Hand.
“So I have a lot of great memories. I’d play jayvee and Jack would be in the stands yelling my name. I guess we’re both big linemen. It’s not really our sport, but we have the good feet for it.”
By that point, Bambrick said he was already 285 pounds, coming off the rush of starting his sophomore year for the Hand team that beat Maloney for the state title. Basketball? By his own description, he got “a little bumpy.” He concentrated on developing his football skills.
“My goal became D-I,” Bambrick said, although he still plays defense in lacrosse. “Lacrosse did help me develop in football, working on my feet skills and hand-to-eye coordination.”
Who knows what will happen after Jan. 1 with the CIAC schedule? Bambrick is graduating early and plans to head to Coastal Carolina in March, so the way it stands, that would knock him out of playing for Hand football and lacrosse.
Filippone said he never had any players recruited by Coastal over the years. Nick van Dell, who had the Hand record for touchdown passes before surpassed by Phoenix Billings, attended Coastal, but didn’t play football.
“I used to be a frequent traveler to Myrtle Beach and would go right past Coastal Carolina every year,” Filippone said. “I always wondered what the heck was going on there.”
Now he knows. That’s a common theme among folks up North. They drove past the school in Conway, S.C., on the way to Myrtle. Bambrick, too.
“I was like 12-13 and we drove though and I have all good memories of Myrtle Beach,” he said. “I did take a virtual tour of the campus before I committed.”
Hand is currently on a hybrid schedule. Although he was in school Monday, Bambrick does plan to sign his letter Wednesday at home. #BAM #ChantsUp.
“Tommy doesn’t quite have Jack Driscoll’s height, he doesn’t have Jack’s wingspan, but he’s thicker and he’s a lot bigger now than Jack was at the same point,” Filippone said. “If he has the same growth that Jack had in college, the sky could be the limit for him, too.”