Dave Patenaude is back home as Buffalo comes to Rentschler

Dave Patenaude’s roots are firmly planted in southeastern Connecticut.

He grew up in Taftville, a section of Norwich.

He attended St. Bernard School where he resides in the school’s athletic hall of fame. His wife Christine, also a former Saint, grew up in Preston.

He started his coaching career as running backs coach at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, the first of many jobs in a 33-year career in football.

He still has strong ties to the area.

“I’m a southeastern Connecticut guy,” Patenaude said on Wednesday.

On Saturday, Patenaude, 56, will return to the state as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the University of Buffalo football team. The Bulls (3-1) play UConn (2-2) at noon at Rentschler Field in East Hartford.

He’s in his first season on Pete Lembo’s staff. He last stood on the opposing sidelines against UConn while at Temple in 2018.

“It’s always great to get back,” Patenaude said. “I recruit Connecticut, so I’m in the state a bunch recruiting. Even when I was kid, I would go to camp at UConn. I still pull for UConn basketball. It’s always been something that I followed when I was a kid.

“Twenty-five or so people that I know, friends and family, will be there. They are a very good challenge for us. Being a prideful football coach, you want to go out and put your best foot forward and have your guys perform at the best level that you can.”

Buffalo is another stop in Patenaude’s long and successful coaching journey.

He previously coached at Georgia Tech (offensive coordinator), Temple (offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach), Coastal Carolina (offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach) as well as Georgetown, Hofstra, Holy Cross, New Haven, Columbia, Fordham, Springfield and Coast Guard Academy. He also was an offensive analyst for Virginia last season.

It’s been an adventure, to say the least.

“If you would have told me as a 12-year-old kid living in Norwich that I was going to live in South Carolina or Atlanta, Georgia, I would have thought that you were nuts,” Patenaude said. “My mom and dad lived in the same house for their entire lives. Their goal was always to be able to get to the point of retirement and be able to get out and do some different things and see some different places.

“My mom passed when I was 22. And I have always said, you know what, if I get an opportunity to live in different places and experience different things and meet different people along the way, that’s what I wanted to do. Fortunately, I have a super supportive family and they’ve all embraced the journey. I’ve been blessed, for sure.”

Patenaude, who played quarterback and free safety at Central Connecticut State University, still carries a little bit of southeastern Connecticut with him. Some of his biggest influences growing up ― Dave Pesapane, Jim Leone, Bob Demars, Art Lamoureux and Rich Pagliuca ― came from his St. Bernard days.

He learned a great deal about hard work from his parents ― his mother Louise worked as a secretary and father Arthur as a corrections officer.

“My dad would work 70 hours a week to make sure that we were able to have things that we wanted,” Patenaude said. “I have two sisters that are much older than me. I think there was a work ethic and a determination that I grew up with. My dad was a Korean War vet and was a no-nonsense kind of guy.

“So I grew up in a very loving family but with a blue collar mentality. The work ethic and competitiveness, the guys that I played for in high school in basketball and football were instrumental in that also. We didn’t have much, but we ground it out. That’s been very instrumental in being able to overcome the things in this profession that come along with college coaching, the highs and lows not only on the weekends on game day, but career wise. I attributed that to my parents and their strong-minded work ethic.”

Patenaude never intended to enter the coaching profession.

A communications major at CCSU, he wanted to be a broadcaster.

While back home bartending, Patenaude received a call from Pesapane, his former St. Bernard football coach, who was the defensive line coach at Coast Guard.

“That wasn’t even on my radar,” Patenaude. “I didn’t have anything going on, so I said I’ll do it. So I went over and got involved with it and loved it and knew I was good at it. … And then it just snowballed from there.”

After all these years, Patenaude still loves coaching.

He enjoys having an impact on young men, both on and off the field.

And, come game day, Patenaude is as fired up as his players.

“There’s certainly a competitive spirit,” Patenaude said. “Even in the opener this year, 33 years into it, I still had that adrenalin, that little anxiousness and competitiveness that is hard for people to replicate. You can go out and play golf with your buddies, and that’s fun. If you’re playing at Missouri and there’s 70,000 people in the stands, I still get fired up to be out there and compete.”

g.keefe@theday.com