Ian McSweeney – A Talent for Tri-County Football

Growing up in the town of Franklin, when it came time to enter high school, Ian McSweeney had two choices: Tri-County Regional Vocational School or the Franklin High School; McSweeney chose the latter. As a three-sport athlete, the now Franklin Panther was looking forward to wrestling, playing baseball and football for his high school, but things didn’t work out as he had hoped.
“My freshman year, I played football for Franklin High, but I really didn’t enjoy myself,” the Franklin native said. “I wanted to be a running back, but the freshman team was loaded with them, and the coach told me that I was going to be an offensive lineman. I was not at all thrilled with the position, but played it for the good of the team.”
Following his disappointing freshman football campaign, McSweeney decided to look into transferring to the other Franklin school. His parents were not too keen on the idea, and his friends thought he had lost his mind.
“My parents were iffy about it at first, as my grades were not the best. Although football was the first reason I wanted to transfer, I did like the idea of academics one week and shop the next,” McSweeney said. “My friends were like, dude, what are you doing, but I welcomed the new situation, something different, and it wasn’t like I was leaving all my friends, as I had other friends who went to Tri-County.”
Upon completion of his first two semesters at Franklin High School, McSweeney changed lockers to one across town at Tri-County at the beginning of the new calendar year. And while it was not set in stone that he would play running back for the Cougars, the Franklin athlete was ready for the new beginning.
“He’s a great all-around athlete that plays three sports, has a great work ethic and always puts his team first,” TC Football Coach Tony Mazzola said of McSweeney. “After he transferred, we were able to have some good conversations. However, I told him that I would give him the opportunity to play where he wants, but at the end of the day, I am the coach, and I have the final say.”
Being that it’s tough to get talented athletes to stray away from their home towns, especially if they have a well-established program that is continually advancing into the tournament year after year, Mazzola likes to give kids a shot. Needless to say, he liked what he saw in McSweeney.
“I saw that Ian had really good vision with potential. He saw some JV action at running back, but he primarily played outside linebacker for us as a sophomore,” the Coach said. “As a junior, he was our go-to back and rushed for 956 yards and 10 touchdowns. It happened to work out for him, but for every Ian, there are many other athletes that just can’t play the position that they think they can. At the end of the day, they can play the position that I think is best for them or they can walk away, it’s their decision.”
As a sophomore, the transfer student had to adjust to an entirely new offensive and defensive philosophy at Tri-County and found things rough going at first.
“It was definitely tough at first, trying to learn the Tri-County mentality on both sides of the ball,” McSweeney said. “When Coach Mazzola saw how hard I was working to develop my game, he told me that I would be the next guy in line. Although I had a great junior year with the varsity team, I feel my sophomore year was my best year as I averaged 10 yards a play.”
As a senior this fall, McSweeney is expected to contribute at both his running back position as well as his outside linebacker position on defense instead of focusing on the production aspect of the game. TC will probably rotate three different backs this year depending on who has the hot hand. McSweeney was given the game one duties and proved he can still produce. During the Cougars opening day victory over Marian Keefe Tech (18-6) the senior back ripped off 100 plus yards and found his way into the end zone.
“The biggest thing is finding out if he’ll be able to check his ego and watch as others run the ball while he does what it takes to help the team win,” Mazzola said. “He’ll be a big part of this team one way or another.”
McSweeney has no issues about his shared responsibilities this fall, as a senior he’s looking to be that leader on the field.
“We are a band of brothers, and I want to lead this team into the playoffs,” he said. “I am looking for nothing less than a league championship; something this program hasn’t had since the 2009 season. I not only want to get Tri-County back into the tournament, I want teams to fear us.”
As the team looks to move closer to a tournament berth with each and every victory, McSweeney would like nothing more that rushing for another 1,000 yards this fall. In fact, the senior back really would like the school’s rushing record that belongs to Tyler Koffman.
If he stays healthy and continues to produce, he should be the featured back in Mazzola’s offensive scheme game in and game out, and if that happens, who knows? McSweeney just might be able to topple the school record.