On the first day of camp in 2005, Thiel football coach Jack Leipheimer stood in front of his players and laid out the expectation for the season. Dan Hess, then a freshman tailback, remembers the moment vividly.
The Tomcats were coming off a 7-3 season (4-1 in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference), and many of the key players were back, including several who were named All-Americans by various outlets — offensive lineman Dave Hendricks, receiver Brandon Chambers and defensive back Darious Thompson — as well as veteran quarterback Darrell Satterfield.
Leipheimer’s words made an impression on Hess.
“He said, ‘You need to crawl before you can walk. You need to walk before you can run, and, boys, we’re running,’ ” the Kiski Area grad said. “The stars jut aligned in 2005 between the players and the coaches and the timing of everything.”
That “alignment” produced the best season in program history. Thiel went 10-0 in the regular season, winning the PAC, and won its opening-round NCAA Division III playoff game before losing to Bridgewater in the second round.
Thiel will honor that team during its Oct. 11 home game against Geneva.
Hess wound up playing a larger-than-expected role in ’05. He finished the season as the Tomcats’ second-leading rusher (635 yards) and scored four touchdowns, one of those in the NCAA victory over Johns Hopkins.
Hess (5-foot-6, 181 pounds as a freshman) said a combination of him picking up the offense quickly and an injury to featured tailback Steve Minton — the program’s second all-time leading rusher — led to the increased responsibility.
“Really I just wanted to learn as much as possible and as quickly as possible and contribute in any way,” said Hess, now a project manager for PNC Bank.
Hess’ big chance didn’t come until the final regular-season game against Carnegie Mellon. In his first start, he responded with 169 yards and a touchdown in a 50-48 triple-overtime win over the Tartans. It was one of three games the Tomcats won in overtime that season.
“Carnegie Mellon, in particular, was special to me,” Hess said. “There were a lot of turnovers in that game. There were a lot of lead changes. Probably the most exciting game I have ever been a part of at any level.”
In the 28-3 playoff win over Johns Hopkins, which the Tomcats hosted, Hess had 147 yards and a touchdown.
The season ended the following week — Hess rushed for 73 yards in the loss to Bridgewater — but Hess went to accumulate more highlights.
Despite his senior and redshirt senior seasons being hampered by injuries, he finished as the program’s sixth all-time leading rusher (2,194 yards). He still holds program records for carries (43), yards (327) and touchdowns (5) in a game, all amassed in a 2007 win over Saint Vincent.
But Thiel hasn’t had a winning season since 2005. Between 2017 and 2022, the Tomcats lost 41 straight games.
For Hess, who said he remains closely connected to the program, it has been difficult to watch, but he said he believes better days are ahead.
“It’s been a rough few years, I’m not going to lie,” he said. “I’m very happy with the progress the current head coach, Sam Bauman, has made … and I really hope he sticks around for a few more years, and they’ll turn the corner soon.”
Maybe in the near future Thiel will produce another team that is celebration-worthy. In the meantime, Hess will enjoy reconnecting and reminiscing with his former teammates during the October recognition of the ’05 Tomcats.
“I didn’t expect, I don’t think, to contribute as much as I did that season,” he said, “but was happy to do so and happy to play a small part in that success.”
