Pandemic Papers: An interview with Pat Driscoll

For one loyal follower of this blog and this Pandemic Papers series, the date of graduation of our Forever Foxes has always been a bone of contention and of keen interest to him. No one reads these posts more closely than Peter Van Aken, who was featured early on in the Pandemic Papers, and we greatly appreciate that loyalty. Peter always wants to know what year these Forever Foxes graduated from Marist. It’s a reasonable request, one that I have failed to meet on more than one occasion. This is due mostly to laziness (it would be easy enough for me to look it up) as well as the blending of the years and generations of the teams. Translation: I simply forget the exact year that men and women graduate, as well as whose careers overlapped. Happens after nearly 30 years at the helm, I guess. In fact! In the recently completed interview with Mike Bamberger, I initially had the WRONG YEAR for his graduation (since fixed)!

Today’s Pandemic Papers interview subject is Pat Driscoll. He graduated from Marist in 2002. I say that with clear, absolute certainty. That year’s class, I never ever forget, for so many reasons, most of which are mentioned here. We will get other members of that illustrious class on this blog and this series for sure. Nearly 20 years after they ran their last race in the red and white, I remain exceedingly close with several of these men. Pat (also known as Pdiddy) was the quintessential Red Fox -- a fierce competitor, great leader and gentle soul. He has forged an amazing career as a coach at Tappan Zee High School in his native Rockland County. One of the coolest moments through the years was having the honor of coaching one of his finest pupils, Matt Panebianco, who developed into one of our best middle distance guys. A true second-generation Running Red Fox. So cool. One of the more memorable moments we have is when our men’s cross country team won the IC4A University Division title at Van Cortlandt Park in November 2020, and we had a nice post-race party at his parents’ house in Rockland County on the way home. Pat was a key member of that team. Also, Pat is the first person I think of every year on 9/11. As he recounts below, he had a harrowing few hours of uncertainty about his father (himself a loyal Marist alum), who was one of the last people to get out of the Twin Towers alive. And lastly, that poor class had the bad luck of having one of the worst graduation ceremonies in Marist history – a rare May snowfall forced a poorly organized Plan B commencement into the McCann Center. But one lousy weather day cannot spoil four years of fond memories bridging the millennium.

It’s fitting that all the pictures Pdiddy sent from his Marist days are group shots. He was, is and always will be – Team First. Thank you, Pat, for your loyalty and for reaching out to be part of the Pandemic Papers.  

Take us back. Waaaaaay back. When, where, how and why did you start running? Did you play other sports before/during you became a runner?

My parents are very close to retired Pearl River AD (and current College and HS track announcer) Tom Doherty.  Tom ran a summer track series and I started running in those in 6th grade with some success.  I was a ball sports kid and played on multiple basketball and baseball teams.  I didn’t run for a team until my freshman year of XC.  

You come from Rockland County, which has a long and rich history of XC/track. Tell us about your high school career as a cross country and track runner. What are some of your fondest memories and highlights?

As a proud athlete and now coach in Rockland County, I love to tell people that Rockland is the smallest county in the state BUT has some of the best athletes in XC and track in the state. I ran for Clarkstown North, which had a lot of success in the 90s.  We were fortunate to have a great coach and a tight group of hard-working athletes.  We ran at the Federation meet my sophomore, junior and senior years.  My biggest memory was when we upset #1 state ranked Arlington at the section meet (at their home course, Bowdoin Park) and qualified for the state meet.  My best individual moment was finishing 30th at the Federation meet my senior year.  Our team finished 10th at Feds that year.  In track, I was fortunate to run at the National Indoor Meet in both the 4x8 & DMR my junior and senior years.  

It was more than 20 years ago, but please refresh our memories on the recruiting process. How did you choose Marist and what other schools were in consideration? 

When it came time to start looking at colleges, I knew that I wanted to run.  I wasn’t heavily recruited but Marist, Manhattan and Albany were schools that I went on recruiting trips to.  My hosts for my recruiting trip were Joe Scelia (Section 1 alum) who I knew and Anthony Nero (Section 1 alum). In the end I was between Manhattan and Marist but it was the connection I made with the guys and Coach Pete that made my decision to come to Marist.  

It actually was a phone call with the Manhattan coach toward the end of the recruiting process that made helped my decision to Marist even more. He said something to the effect of “we can turn average runners like yourself to good runners.”  I hung up the phone and said to myself “I’m not an average runner and I’m gonna prove him wrong. I’m going to Marist.”

Your father is a Marist alum from a long time ago (1965). How much of a factor (if any) did that play in your decision to attend Marist?

My dad is a proud alum of Marist College and was very excited that I was interested in Marist. However, there was no pressure to go here. My parents were very supportive of my time at Marist and attended many meets during my collegiate career.  My sister also was a Running Red Fox who graduated in 2006.  My dad still follows Marist athletics very closely and visits the campus frequently.  

You had a great running career at Marist. For our younger readers, tell them what it was like to be on the team from 1998-2002. What are some of your fondest memories and highlights of your time as a proud Running Red Fox?

I loved every moment of being a Marist Red Fox.  My freshman year we had a great team and finished second at MAACs behind Iona.  I looked up to guys like Mike Melfi, Tom Henry, Pete Startz, Ned Kenyon and Chuck Williams.  They guided us younger athletes both in their words and also by illustrating that it took hard work to be successful.  I struggled my frosh year of XC with plantar fasciitis and missed a handful of meets.  Pool running in that McCann pool was something I didn’t wish upon anyone, but it got me healthy.  I was an 800 runner on our DMR teams that qualified for IC4A’s in track and loved training hard with my teammates in that small McCann gym. We had some great workouts at Vandy, Roosevelt and North field.  My highlight at Marist was being the 5th man on our cross country team that won the IC4A Championships in 2000.  That was such a great day for our program and I was so happy for Coach Pete. 

The 9/11 attacks occurred at the very beginning of senior year and it had a profound impact on all of our lives. That day was extremely emotional for you. Take us back to that day and time and what those few hours were like, not knowing the fate of your father, who worked in the Twin Towers?

It was definitely the craziest day of my life. So many emotions and so much unknown.  I’m a huge Giants fan as you know and the GMEN played on Monday Night Football so I was up late watching that.  I slept in and got awakened by my roommate that a plane hit the WTC. My dad worked in the South tower on the 101st floor.  The North tower was hit first.  So we are watching this all unfold on tv and I’m nervous but I knew my dad’s tower was the other one. Then the 2nd plane hit the South tower. That’s when I became extremely concerned. From 9:03 to 10:31 I was comforted by my housemates and Coach Pete who came over to be with me.  One of our teammates Jamal Padgett who didn’t say much was a great friend that day in a calming way.  I will never forget that.  At 10:31 the tower collapsed and my heart sunk fearing the worst.  Gilby Hawkins then drove him and I home to Rockland County to be with my mom and my sister.  We were home and then around 3 pm we got a call from my dad.  He was at the Suffern train station ALIVE and needed to be picked up.  It was incredible. 

What happened was when the first tower got hit, a guy on his floor said to everyone to leave.  Some people listened, others did not.  My dad believes he was on the last working elevator.  When he got out, he dodged debris, hid under some canopies with a couple of his friends and just ran. I can’t thank my teammates for all of their prayers and support that day. We as a family get together every 9/11 to remember that day. 

What was your major at Marist and tell the young readers what it was like to be a student back then?

I majored in psych/special ed and I learned so much from my professors at Marist in the field of psychology and education.  I took a lot of morning classes to avoid missing practices and I usually took a night class. Our major was mostly girls and maybe 10 guys in the whole major. Mike Nehr, Gilby Hawkins and I were three of them!  The library was brand new my junior year and was amazing.  Marist and my student teaching experience at Poughkeepsie High School prepared me so well for my teaching career. 

Your graduation day ... SUCKED (weather wise). It snowed. People still talk about that as the "worst weather" for a graduation in Marist history (although some recent alums might dispute this!). What are your memories from that day!

It was crazy!  That whole senior week the weather was cool- High 50s and rainy but waking up early on that Saturday morning to snow and freezing rain was unbelievable! My parents were driving up from Rockland and said that Exit 18 on the Thruway was completely snow covered.  Marist didn’t really have a plan B and last minute they are handing out 2 tickets for us to give to our family.  It was nuts!  So graduation was in McCann, two guests per graduate. and the rest of the audience could watch it live-streamed, I think the Caberet or student center.  But we had a graduation and it is one that we will all remember. That afternoon we hosted our families and Coaches for a small get together in our on campus house and it was great.  

Tell us about your post-collegiate career path. We are very proud of you as a teacher and as a coach at Tappan Zee. What was it like going back home and coaching against your old school? What are some of your coaching highlights at TZ?

Right out of Marist, I got a job as a long term sub at Hendrick Hudson in the Peekskill area and taught there for two years.  After that I got a job at Tappan Zee and have been there ever since (16 years)!  I have coached at Tappan Zee, all three seasons both boys and girls for 14 years.  This past winter I took a break (40 straight seasons) and didn’t coach.  I wanted to spend more time with my family.  I was back in the spring until the pandemic hit.  

It was cool to coach against my old school. My coach has since retired but I still will talk to some kids from Clarkstown North and tell them I’m an alum and I’m proud of them. 

In my time coaching, I have been fortunate to have such hard working and dedicated student athletes.  Our teams have had success along the way and both our girls and boys teams have won sectional championships in XC, winter and spring track and field.  Some highlights have been that we had a young man win the Millrose Games and the Penn Relays in the same year.  We had a three peat in XC from 2012-2014 on the boys side and most recently we had both a Girls 4x4 and 4x8 qualify for states in the spring of 2019 in the same meet.  

I’m also very proud of one specific TZ athlete that went on to become a running Red Fox and that is Matt Panebianco.  Matt was on my first teams as a coach at TZ and I can’t thank him enough for buying into our system and working so hard and was such a good leader for our young team at the time. 

Several of our alums and your former classmates are coaches in Section 1. What is that like?

It is so cool to go to a meet with your team and spend hours with some of your best friends that you went to college with.  They are great sounding boards for me and have helped me so much in the field of coaching. Gilby and I actually coach at rival schools and see each other weekly throughout all winter and spring.  It’s been really cool to have one of your best friend an opposing coach. I think at one point Jason Grady (Rhinebeck), Joe Scelia (Brewster), Gilby Hawkins (Pearl River), DJ Paulson (Beacon) and Coach Horton were probably all at the same big meets! They are unbelievable coaches and I really look up to them.  

Tell us about your post-collegiate running. You've done some good stuff and also battled injuries. How has it all been?

I ran a lot and had pretty good success right after college.  I have run 6 marathons (4 NYC, 1 New Jersey Shore & 1 Boston).  My best is a 2:43 in NYC. Unfortunately I have had a lot of Achilles issues along the way and because of that I really can’t run too much in terms of mileage.  I run around 4-5 a day at a pretty good clip and this time away from coaching has gotten me back into running a lot more which has been a lot of fun.

You have a beautiful, young family. How has the pandemic affected you professionally and personally? Distance teaching has to be a challenge with young children!

My wife Kristen and I have 2 children, Ryan who is 3 and Madison who is 10 months old.  My wife and I are both teachers at Tappan Zee High School so life was busy at home with Google Classroom, Google Meets and Zoom classes but we were able to off our school responsibilities and parenting responsibilities throughout the day.  We would grade and do a lot of that when the kids went to bed, usually from 9-11 pm but that was ok.  The time with our children has been special as we have taken many family walks in our neighborhood.  It is a time that we will never get back and to be there for all of their milestones has been incredible.  I guess you can say it was a blessing in disguise.  It has been tough for their grandparents who until recently hadn’t really seen Ryan and Madison except for FaceTime.  They both live close which has been really great for them to get to see them in the past month or so. 

Where do you see this going short- and long-term? Are you hopeful for the future? Where do you see interscholastic athletics for 2020-2021?

I’m hoping that things will continue to improve in the New York area, although with the recent increases throughout the country I don’t know what to think.  I’m hopeful we have a vaccine early next year and things will improve.  School is tough- we don’t know what the plan will be. I think it will be some form of hybrid (half at home/half at school) with social distancing and masks being a priority.  It’s so hard for kids in terms of their learning and social emotional stuff. 

 We coach a sport that has a shot. It’s considered low risk so that helps.  I think if we are in school and things keep improving we can have an XC season.  My kids are training and I’m very excited for the possibility of a season.  Winter I’m not as positive about especially the meets at the Armory and Ocean Breeze.

Reflect on your final few months at Marist and what can you say to our recently graduated seniors who lost their final few months?

I’m so sorry for everything. I have had a lot of conversations with my high school seniors about the same type of stuff.  What I can say to the Marist Graduates is Congratulations.  You are now a “Forever Fox”. You have been through a lot more than any of us ever had and you came out like champs.  I know that this pandemic has taken a lot your senior season, your senior events and your graduation, but it cannot take away the friendships you made along the way and the experiences you had born on and off the athletic field. If this has taught us anything it is that can get through anything and you are going to come away stronger and more prepared for the real world than a lot of previous graduates.  Going through this with your fellow seniors is an experience and bind you will always have with each other.  Congrats and best of luck!

Anything else you'd like to add ...

I would like to add that as an alum if 2002, it has been amazing watching both the men’s and women’s teams of Marist improve and get to such a high level in both XC and track & field.  It has been so cool to check out results and read race reports and see such amazing accomplishments.  I’m so proud to be a running Red Fox and honored to be a part of the Pandemic Papers. Be well everyone!