Marty Doggett '73

Despite this photo, Marty Doggett was not Superman. He did, however, sometimes play like a super hero.

"Marty was a 190 lb. defensive end in the early 70s and there were not many of those around," remembers current Eph Head Coach Dick Farley. "He was tough and tenacious and the younger players looked up to him, mostly because they were afraid of him, but he was a fine leader."

Doggett played both football and lacrosse during his four years at Williams and he loves and admires the Williams of today even though he did not know of its existence until the fall of 1968.

Doggett remembers that early in his senior year he and his father had a conversation in which his dad told him he should start thinking about colleges. A day or so later Al Kluck, the football coach at North Plainfield [NJ] HS, stopped Doggett in the locker room. "Marty I just got a notice that Williams College is having a reception over at the Westfield Country Club and I think you should go," said Kluck.

Doggett remembers that when he got to the Westfield Country Club there was a slide show by a Williams admissions representative who also answered some questions. "I remember they asked everyone there to fill out a pre-admission form so I did, but I didn't think much of it," said Doggett. "Williams seemed like a fine place, but I really had nothing to compare it to."

Later in the winter Doggett got a phone call from assistant football coach Carl Falivene, who asked him to come visit Williams. An eight-hour bus trip deposited Doggett in Williamstown.

"It was Winter Carnival Weekend and I had a great time," remembers Doggett. "Everyone was so nice and I was impressed with the quality of the people I met." Doggett was hooked. If he were admitted, he would go to Williams.

A few days after he was admitted, a friend of the Doggett family jolted Marty when he asked, "So Marty, how do you feel about attending an all-male school?" Coming from a public high school and being on the campus during one of the busiest social weekends, Doggett never considered that Williams was all male.
As it turned out, Doggett was at Williams when the college went co-ed in 1970.

In the days before ESPN, football files in the nation's smaller colleges were somewhat sparse. Defensive statistics are the most glaring omissions. That Marty Doggett was a significant player for the Ephs still comes through. A pre-season write up Doggett's senior year referred to him as "the finest athlete on the team" and it also mentioned that he averaged 11 tackles a game.
Doggett's football career spanned the end of Larry Catuzzi's years as head coach at Williams and included the first two years of Bob Odell's.

Through it all a constant was Renzie Lamb.

"Renzie was the perfect guy to coach the freshman team," said Doggett. "He would make you laugh and he would get you motivated." The first freshman game Doggett played in was against Andover. "I think we had one running play and one passing play, no make that two of each as we could go right or left," said Doggett. "We won because Renzie kept it simple and he got us fired up."

The first two years Doggett was at Williams the football team was 4-4 and 3-5, but that changed in 1971 when Bob Odell arrived. "Bob Odell spoke at my high school football dinner and my dad was impressed with him," said Doggett. "My dad said I hope you get to play for someone like him some day."

For Marty Doggett and the rest of the football Ephs, Bob Odell was just what the doctor ordered. My junior year we went 7-1 and beat a great Amherst team with basically the same talent as the team that went 3-5 because Bob Odell brought out the personalities on our team," said Doggett. "I remember running up Spring Street on our way back to Cole Fieldhouse after the Amherst game because the bus driver got tired of waiting for us. That may have been the start of 'The Walk.'"
Even though he was busy with football and lacrosse, Doggett took time to sample the academic buffet that is Williams College.
"In high school it was definitely not cool to get to know the teachers," said Doggett. "At Williams that was not only encouraged, it was truly enlightening. I was a horrible Spanish student, but Professor Anson Piper was the best professor I ever had. He made me want to come to class."

"Professor Fred Rudolph and Dean John Hyde also were instrumental in shaping my love of learning and greatly broadening my horizons," said Doggett. "Williams was great for me, even though I doubt I could get in today."

"We had all heard about Dick Farley and what a great athlete he was, but what really impressed us was when he joined our preseason running drills [1972] and just blew us away," said Doggett. "Dick was driven, but compassionate and he brought a certain esprit de corps to the defense that really helped us establish our identity."
Farley drilled into the defense before the 1972 Amherst game that although Freddie Scott was an outstanding receiver, the guy that made them go was their QB Rick Murphy. The Ephs had denied the Amherst juggernaut a perfect season in 1971 with a stunning 31-12 win on Weston Field. It was up to the defense to make it happen again.

Doggett does not remember a lot of individual plays from the 1972 game, but he does remember one in particular. Amherst was driving but had a third and long. Murphy went back to pass and Doggett and Steve Creahan were in hot pursuit. "When Steve and I sacked Murphy we just looked at each other and we knew, we knew we were going to win -- that was a great feeling."

Doggett was at The Lawrenceville School from September of 1974 until June of 1999. At Lawrenceville Doggett taught AP US History and AP Economics, ran a dorm, coached football and lacrosse and was the dean of students and associate headmaster. Doggett, his wife Patty, and their five sons moved to Byfield, MA in June of 1999. Doggett is currently the Headmaster at Governor Dummer Academy.

Doggett remains immensely impressed with Williams College today. "I've had the good fortune of sending many kids to Williams over the years and I can tell you that the ones that we have sent have been the creme de la creme," said Doggett. "Some of the kids I've coached or taught or have known well that have gone on to Williams include: Kamal Tolbert '95 (track), Mike Hickey' 95 (football and track), Ted Grannat '94 (swimming) Lauren Jones '90 (field hockey), Perry Kalmus (soccer) and Stephi Hall '04 (tennis). These kids are true examples of scholar-athletes and not everyone we have sent has been an athlete. Every student we have sent, though, has been an outstanding person and student and has had at least one remarkable talent outside of the classroom."

Doggett treasures the friendships he made at Williams and is proud of how many teammates and friends he has kept in touch with over the years. "I am very proud of Williams and I continue to be impressed what with the new interdisciplinary studies and the new science center is which wonderful. The beauty of Williams is the balance between academics and athletics."