Gridiron Classic - Dave McAnaney

As high school standout in New York, Dave McAnaney was supposed to play quarterback at Notre Dame or Boston College, but instead decided to attend the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.
 
"I got accepted and then I failed the physical," McAnaney remembers.

He ended up in Caldwell, Idaho because the brother of his high school football coach was an assistant for the Coyotes.  McAnaney thought he'd play for C of I for one semester and then transfer to Boston College. He wound up staying.
 
As quarterback and captain of the Yotes, he was impressed by the athletic ability at the College.

"Remarkably for a small school like [The College of Idaho], our football teams were always very competitive and just a great group of people," he said.
 
McAnaney received his business administration degree from C of I in 1977 and went on to earn his law degree in 1985. He now runs a law firm in Boise that specializes in business and estate planning, real estate counseling and taxation. McAnaney says he learned a lot about leadership and responsibility while he was at the College.
 
"It wasn't like you could miss class and you had tutors," he said. "Here, you were expected to participate in your education just like everybody else."
 
He also learned that even his tough professors cared. During one fall semester he took an economics class from Lamar Bollinger that overlapped with the start of football practice.
 
"I was always sneaking out early and Professor Bollinger always knew I was sneaking out early 'cause he'd be up on the board and I'd be running down to throw to the wide receivers."
 
Years later, just after McAnaney received his law degree, he came back to a function on campus. Professor Bollinger presented him a scrap book with clippings of all McAnaney's achievements at the College.
 
"I always thought we were kinda adverse. Yet at the same time the memory was how much he cared about me. That's what it was about the College. It was about people who cared about other people."
 
McAnaney has been involved with the idea of bringing back football to C of I since the late 1990s. He believes that academics and football can mix well at a setting like C of I, where student-athletes are held to high standards and are part of a close-knit community of students, faculty, staff and alumni.
 
"My thoughts are this: If (C of I) continues to do what they're doing, this program will be successful; it will make this College more successful and make this whole community better."