Linebacker Jacob Dobbs cooks up a storm while preparing for Holy Cross football season
WORCESTER — An ankle injury knocked Holy Cross standout linebacker Jacob Dobbs out of HC’s second-round Football Championship Subdivision playoff game at Villanova last December, and, for an ultimate competitor and teammate like Dobbs, it was devastating.
“I was crying my eyes out,” Dobbs said during a media day interview at Fitton Field last week. “It wasn’t crying in pain; it was just so much emotion because I hated not being out there with those guys.”
Dobbs, the heart and soul of HC’s top-ranked defense, preserved the pulse on the sideline as he watched his teammates battle the No. 5 Wildcats before falling, 21-16.
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“I was so proud watching how those guys competed,” Dobbs said. “We were right there. That speaks to our program, how deep we are as a team and that next-man-up mentality. Nobody flinched; they just went in there and competed their butts off until the end of that game.”
During HC’s historic 2021 season, Dobbs, as a junior, continued his emergence as a national star. He was the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year, ranked in the FCS top 10 in solo tackles (75) and total tackles (137), and he was a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award, presented to the top defensive player in FCS.
As Dobbs, who also had 9½ sacks, 6 quarterback hurries and 3 pass breakups in ’21, expanded his skill set and employed the intricacies of HC’s defense last year, coach Bob Chesney believed Dobbs’ growth was limitless.
Indeed, Dobbs, who grew up in Macomb, Michigan, and as a University of Michigan fan, seems primed for a stellar senior season as the Crusaders seek a Patriot League four-peat.
“I’m going to be the best version of myself every single day, so that I can hold up my end of the bargain,” Dobbs, a Stats Perform and HERO Sports preseason All-American, said. “I’m going to do my 1/11th to the best of my ability.”
This summer, following a strict meal plan and training regimen designed by Holy Cross director of football strength and conditioning Chris Grautski, Dobbs further strengthened and sculpted his 6-foot, 232-pound frame, most notably his upper body.
“I feel like I’m in the best shape of my life,” Dobbs said.
During his eight-week nutrition program, Dobbs cooked all his own meals in his on-campus apartment in Williams Hall. He did his grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s, and his parents, Lou and Michelle, gave him some cooking tips.
A sample menu was six eggs and two cups of oatmeal for breakfast, two or four slices of Ezekiel bread with 10 ounces of grilled chicken and two bags of raw vegetables for lunch, and pound of ground beef and two cups of quinoa for dinner.
“I’ve got pretty good at (cooking),” Dobbs said. “At the end of the diet, I made myself a steak dinner with green beans and mashed potatoes.”
Dobbs spent many hours in the weight room this summer, following Grautski’s expert training program.
“Coach Grautski is big on player development and player recovery,” Dobbs said. “He never runs us into the ground. It’s not the old-fashioned, ‘Oh, you’re going to lift seven days a week.’ We’re going to do the lifts we have to do to get better, and on top of that, we’re going to foam roll, stretch and all that stuff, and take care of our bodies.”
Of Dobbs’ physical transformation, Chesney said, “That doesn’t just happen. Jake cooked all his own meals so he could get his body right, got his training, his rest, his recovery. He’s probably as good as anybody out there.”
Last season, Dobbs and classmates Liam Anderson and former St. John’s High star Liam Doran, who are both fifth-year seniors, were a formidable linebacker trio that helped the Crusaders lead the Patriot League in all major defensive categories.
An injury has sidelined Doran, but Anderson, who, like Dobbs was a first-team All-Patriot League selection last year, appears in peak form. Anderson and Dobbs both ran a 4.6-second 40, Chesney said.
The 6-foot-3, 225-pound and very versatile Anderson, who keyed HC’s 2021 defense as a rush linebacker, cover guy, blitzer, and, as defensive coordinator Scott James said, a very tough scout for Holy Cross opponents, ranked second behind Dobbs with 80 tackles, 15 for loss and 7½ sacks. He had three interceptions and a forced fumble last season.
“Jake and Liam are phenomenal, instinctual, tough football players,” Chesney said, and noted they have drawn the interest of NFL scouts. “They are complete football players.”
Dobbs is the voice in the middle of the HC defense, and his energy is contagious.
“I’ve never had so much fun playing with another player,” Anderson said. “Jake and I have a lot of chemistry, and you’ll see us having a lot of fun on the field, whether it’s celebrating after a sack or an interception, or seeing him making a play and hyping me up, or I’m making a play and hyping him up.”
As training camp ramps up for the Crusaders, the preseason No. 16 team in the country, Dobbs said practices so far have been the most competitive of his four years.
“I’m exhausted after practice from a mental and physical standpoint,” he said. “The amount of competition on the field — it’s amazing we get to do that every single day. It is an extremely hard two hours because every guy you’re going against is so good. I think that’s where we’ve grown the most as a team. Every position is deep. Every position guys can rotate through.”
—Follow Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @JenTolandTG.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Linebacker Jacob Dobbs cooks up a storm while preparing for Holy Cross football season
