Prologue

Jared Winslow went to West Virginia University on an Athletic Coaching Education Scholarship after graduating from Central Vermont High School. Jared's father Edwin coached CVHS to 12 State Football championships in 15 years. Jared worked with his father on the bench for 8 of those until he went off to college. Upon graduation from WVU he got a job as an assistant for Vermont Valley Tech, a school known more for its nationally ranked Division II Soccer and Hockey teams. After 2 years he landed the interim head-coaching job by default when the head coach was fired in a gambling sting. They finished 5 — 0 under Jared and was given the job on a permanent basis the following year. Many thought he was given the job over other tenured coaches on the strength of his father's reputation. Whether that was true or not, within 2 years he started winning championships with his own recruits. In his 9 years as head coach he had won 7 consecutive championships. He turned down offers to move up the coaching scale because they were not the fit he wanted. He demanded to be the head coach with full reign if he went to a Division 1 school. New England Ag & Tech had been Division 1 for three disappointing seasons and was beginning to lose fan base as well as alumni money because of the lack of TV interest and Bowl bids. That was all about to change as Winslow got permission to talk to NEAT. Valley Tech never really thought Winslow would leave because of the challenge NEAT would be. They were poorly recruited and demoralized with a 7-29 record over the first three years as a Division 1 school.

Valley Tech only had one stipulation on the permission to talk; it must go unpublicized by mutual agreement of Winslow and NEAT. On a supposed recruiting trip in mid-December Jared met with the NEAT AD (Athletic Director), Joe Barber and spent two 12-hour days with him. Barber sold him on the "family" style that the department ran, emphasizing that his sister-in-law was the Sports Information Director and there were 2 other father-sons on the 42 man football, baseball and hockey staffs. Soccer, Lacrosse, and Rugby were "club" teams and did not fall under Barbers realm.

Jared insisted on having free reign on recruiting and had his own guidelines on scholastic requirements. "If I think a student-athlete has the ability to graduate, I can recruit him. Once it becomes obvious that the promise is lost, he's gone, no questions asked. Alumni and fans be damned. No student-athlete has a guarantee." Barber liked the simple philosophy and planned to sell that to Dean Crawford in wanting to expand the football budget to turn a profit.

Meredith Crawford was a bottom-liner and she wanted to forfeit their Division One status for football. The program had made little progress and was entering the fourth year of a 5-year commitment to the NCAA. In final negotiations Dean Crawford was dead set against hiring Winslow. Surprisingly, it was when he said that he needed THREE years, bringing them to a 6th total year at NCAA Division One, and the way he said it that flipped her over.

"If you give me three years and end up losing money and you're unhappy, I'll pay you back the negotiated signing bonus and move on. You can hold it in escrow if you like. I'm THAT sure we can turn this around. The 40,000 seat stadium will be too small by the time I finish." Jared promised.

Doubling the budget of a failing program was against any principles Dean Crawford had, but Jared Winslow's cockiness and utter confidence swayed her to offer $800,000 for signing, and $800,000 for each year. It amounted to a giant raise from his current $150,000.

It was to become an even more significant change in his life than either AD Barber or Dean Crawford had imagined. "Winning" Winslow, or "Winnie" Winslow, however the papers wanted to personify him, was moving to the big time.