By Dom Langello
The Western New England University Football team has picked up right where they left off in the spring, beginning their 2024 season against rival Springfield College on Friday, September 6th. Putting up an impressive 8-3 season in 2023, the Golden Bears look to improve upon last season and make a playoff push. This recent success has only been possible with the dedication and passion for the game that head coach Jason LeBeau possesses.
LeBeau’s teams have featured several All-Commonwealth Coast Conference players and racked up a 36-18 record since he became the head football coach in 2018. It’s safe to say that Western New England University made a good decision promoting him to this position.
LeBeau instills an “always on” mentality in his players and stresses this rigorously. This mentality is something that he wants his players to live by in every facet of their lives, whether it’s on the field, in the classroom, or around their families. LeBeau and his staff focus on not just turning every student-athlete into the best player possible, but the best person possible. He said, “You’re always a Golden Bear football player, and you’re always a student-athlete. Make decisions with that in mind.” Mindsets like this are what make the sport of football so powerful. These coaches and players are around each other for so many hours of the week, and the bond formed by all members of the team is truly special.
Coach LeBeau’s path to the head coaching position at Western New England University was shaped by his desire to have an impact on student-athletes as individuals. “People usually bounce from different schools,” he said, “and one of the many reasons I wanted to get into coaching was I was interested in traveling and working at different places and being around different student-athletes. I knew I wanted to get into coaching because being a student-athlete, the time management, the development of the process-driven mentality, all that was so beneficial for me that I figured if I could be a small part in someone else’s journey, it would be a really amazing experience.”
LeBeau became the team’s offensive line coach in 2010, shortly after completing his undergraduate education at Western New England. A year later, he began coaching the tight ends as well, and in 2012, then-head coach Keith Emery handed LeBeau the keys to the offense. Under LeBeau’s leadership, the team’s offense exploded, setting a variety of team records and ranking highly among all Division III offenses nationally. In his first year as offensive coordinator in 2012, WNE ranked third in scoring in the NEFC Boyd division, averaging 32.7 points per game; three years later, the team ranked 24th in Division III in total offense and steamrolled its way to an undefeated regular season.
Anywhere Coach LeBeau left his footprints within the program, good things happened, making perfect sense for him to earn the head coaching position in 2018. With LeBeau at the helm, Western New England University’s success continued. He has a current .667-win percentage and the program continues to trend in the right direction.
LeBeau believes that the Golden Bears are going into 2024 with lots of confidence. “We feel really good about where we’re at,” he said. “We’re bringing back the majority of the group. Next year’s team is one of the largest senior classes we’ve ever had. We’re going to have over 40 Seniors when you include our graduate students, which is a very senior-heavy team,” Lebeau said. “We play a really challenging schedule here, one of the best in the country. We have to bring our best every week, but we’re really taking it one day at a time.” Heavy veteran leadership like this is critical to the development of younger players as they adjust to being collegiate athletes.
As the Western New England University football team begins its season and anticipates the challenges of 2024, they are completely committed to excellence under the leadership of their coaching staff and the numerous veterans on the team. The Golden Bears are poised to continue their winning tradition, with a playoff berth being their big goal. Be sure to make your way to a game this season because you will not want to miss what this team is capable of.
