Indoor cage dedicated to Rocky Carzo

Retired athletic director and former head football coach Rocco "Rocky" Carzo was honored for his contributions to Tufts athletics on Saturday when the newly-renovated indoor field house and batting cage in his name.

A plaque about Carzo's career and the donors who paid for the renovation was unveiled on a wall of the facility, which is part of the Cousens Gym complex.

Robert Bass, the first Jumbo football captain under Carzo's coaching, was the event's keynote speaker. President Bacow, President Emeritus John DiBiaggio also attended the ceremony.

After the plaque was revealed, Carzo expressed the importance of family relationships and thanked the Tufts family, which he has felt a part of for so many years. Carzo coached Tufts football from 1966 to 1973, and he served as athletic director for next 26 years.

As athletic director, Carzo pushed for renovation of the field house, which had one of the first artificial surface facilities in New England when it was built in 1932 and is primarily used as batting cage. When the project was approved after Carzo stepped down, the Athletic Department decided that naming it after the former director would be an appropriate honor.

Administrators and other members of the Tufts community agreed with the decision. "This cage is a very tangible and longstanding tribute to Rocky," Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Susan Ernst said.

"I love [Tufts] and it loves me back," Carzo said. Calling himself "a Tufts guy," he said he is "enormously appreciative of a college that really cares about its kids. Tufts never forced me to be someone I didn't want to be."

Bacow said that Carzo has "always been a coach" and a leader. "He makes all members of the Tufts undergraduate athletic community part of his team," the President said.

The former athletic director has worked to keep the tradition of Tufts athletics alive. "One of the reasons I didn't want to retire is that I had so many projects to finish," Carzo said. "If you've been here as long as I have, you would understand how inspiring the history of the athletics at Tufts is."

Carzo has worked at Tufts for over 35 years. Although officially retired for the past four years, he has continued to commute from his home in Winchester to work five days a week. He is currently collecting and compiling historical Jumbo records for a book called Jumbo Footprints, which will be available at the University bookstore in six to seven months.

Carzo has also served as Commencement Marshall and Director of the Summer Fitness Program at the European Center in Talloires, France. He was inducted into the National Association of College Directors of Athletics Hall of Fame in 2000.