Riegel Walks the Line

When the clock ran down in the fourth quarter and students poured out of the stands and onto the field after Harvard defeated Yale in The Game on Nov. 17, senior defensive tackle Adam Riegel rejoiced at midfield with the rest of his jubilant teammates.

Although the team celebrated the victory together, Riegel’s path to that moment was one that few teammates on the over-100 man roster shared. While the vast majority of the football team was recruited to play at Harvard, Riegel—and roughly 11 other players, according to his estimate—walked on to the team over the past four years.

Once the walk-ons have successfully made it onto the roster, they are treated like any other member of the team. During the fall season, every player endures two-a-days composed of early morning lifts and long afternoon practices, and training stretches on throughout the winter and spring.

But walk-ons such as Riegel cannot expect to receive much playing time, and they often end up spending the vast majority of seasons on the sideline. Riegel has been an exception and has seen a decent amount of action, as he appeared in the final six games of last season and every game this year. But before his junior year, Riegel only appeared at the very end of two blowouts, an allotment more typical for a football walk-on.

Even though the walk-ons may not contribute as much as the team’s highly recruited players on the field, players such as Riegel nevertheless hold an important position on the team.

“The walk-ons are guys that probably are respected as much or more than any of the other guys simply because they weren’t recruited, they have not been the marquee players, and yet they come to work every day with pride,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. “I think you appreciate those guys as much or more than our highly recruited guys who are great All-Ivy caliber players.”

For Riegel, his four years on the team have been part of a long journey, one he believes was still worth all the time and effort.

“I wanted to see how far I could push myself and how good I could be football-wise, and that’s exactly what [the program] has given me the opportunity to do,” Riegel said. “Competing with the best competition in 1-AA and really challenging myself and being part of a winning program…. I have nothing but great things to say of my experience.”

ROAD TO HARVARD FOOTBALL

Riegel played high school football less than an hour from Cambridge at Walpole High School in Walpole, Mass. Playing on both the offensive and defensive lines, Riegel served as captain his senior year and guided the team to an undefeated 13-0 record to finish second in the state.

The lineman was in contact with several Division III schools, mainly in the NESCAC, during the recruiting process throughout his junior and senior years in high school.

But once Riegel was admitted to Harvard in the normal spring admissions process, he knew he wanted to come to Cambridge and join the Crimson football team.

“When I came in to talk to the coaches about walking on in my senior spring [of high school], I went in and met with Coach Murphy, and he was very honest,” Riegel said. “[Murphy told me that] very few walk-ons come here and play, and it’s a very long road. And that really made sense to me.”

Since the roster was under capacity during Riegel’s first year, he did not have to go through the normal tryout process of drills and sprints that is typical for prospective walk-ons. As he had already provided the coaches with his recruiting tape, Riegel was offered a spot at the preseason camp.

According to Riegel, a total of five players walked on to the team his freshman season. Three of those players stuck with the program all four years: Riegel, and senior offensive linemen Jim Deng and Chase Sippel.

A MEMBER OF THE CRIMSON

Playing time for most Harvard football players is hard to come by during their first few seasons on the team, but it is even harder for walk-ons to see action, let alone for more than just a few plays.

“Obviously pride-wise, I thought I was capable of playing here, but I also grasped the notion that there were guys who were recruited ahead of me,” Riegel said. “I knew I had that much more work to do. So I really always took that mentality of, I needed to do that much work to get to where those guys were, and if I wanted to play, be above them.”

Indeed, since Riegel started near the bottom of the depth chart, he knew he needed to grasp the details of the playbook, work hard in the weight room, and contribute positively during practice to see significant time on the field.

When Riegel received the opportunity to play in the fifth game of the 2011-12 season against Bucknell, the then-junior took advantage. He made perhaps his play of the year against the Bison, deflecting a pass from Bucknell quarterback Brandon Wesley that resulted in an interception in the Crimson’s emphatic 42-3 win.

Following that victory, Riegel played in each of the team’s remaining five games.

“I’d been ready, and I was able to perform up to expectations and really help the team out,” Riegel said. “I think that’s my biggest role, is always being ready and helping the guys around me when I am in. Some of the younger guys have worlds of talent but might not always understand the intricacies, [so I make] sure they’re doing everything right so they can go make plays.”

But even in their senior years, most walk-ons still do not see significant time on the field. Although he did appear in every game, Riegel was credited with only six tackles on the season.

LOOKING BACK AND LOOKING FORWARD

In his four years at Harvard, the defensive tackle—who, following graduation, plans to pursue a job in finance—has been part of a football program that captured one Ivy League Championship and emerged victorious from the Harvard-Yale matchup all four times.

Even though Riegel never played as large of a role on the field as some of his recruited teammates, he has contributed to the team in a unique way and remains an integral part of the program.

“You just can’t say enough good things about [Riegel], how highly respected he is by our football team,” Murphy said. “He’d probably be the first guy we’d hire if we were hiring somebody…. He’s as humble as they come, and he’s just so important to the fabric and dynamic of our team in almost an unexplainable way.”

If Riegel had gravitated toward some of the smaller, Division III schools that recruited him in high school, there is no doubt that his college football experience would have been filled with much more time on the gridiron.

But Riegel harbors no regrets about his decision to come to Harvard and play football for a large program under the direction of Murphy.

“I think [this experience has] just been really formative for me,” Riegel said. “It’s really taught me a lot about myself. I think coming to Harvard as opposed to going to some of my other options was really choosing to be a small fish in a big pond, as opposed to a big fish in a small pond, and I think that’s really helped me develop a lot of my skills to make me the person that I am today.”