Monte brings intensity, passion, gratitude to Crusader defense

Every Friday during football season, Frankie Monte finds a moment to sit alone in a pew inside the St. Joseph Memorial Chapel on the campus of Holy Cross. Surrounded by stained-glass windows and embraced by a comforting tranquility, Monte puts on his noise-canceling headphones, listens to an instrumental piano track, closes his eyes, and stays as long as he needs to. 

It’s a moment of solitude and meditation, a stark contrast to the cacophonous nature of the football game that awaits the following day. It’s a reassurance that Monte’s preparation, to this point, has put him in a spot to succeed. And it’s a reflection of the contentment, stillness and harmony in his life — a quiet trust and appreciation that right now, he is exactly where he is meant to be. 

That’s just the opening stanza of a precise yet mellow pregame routine for the senior linebacker and captain. On game day, while his teammates hype themselves up by jumping around and blasting upbeat music, Monte continues to sit quietly amid the madness, with soothing piano music or slow house music playing in his headphones. (He grew up playing the piano for years, leading to a lifelong appreciation for music.) He listens to the same Rüfüs Du Sol song as he heads to the field for the same series of stretches that he’s always done. He doesn’t need to get his adrenaline going early — instead, he relaxes, slows his heartbeat and embraces a natural flow state as the clock ticks down toward game time.

But of course, when the whistle finally blows, it’s a completely different story.

There’s that one Frankie Monte play that everyone remembers. You know the one: a bone-crushing, fourth-down goal-line stop that kept the Crusaders in striking distance during their most recent matchup against an FBS foe, at Army West Point last November. It’s the play that made him a lock for the Crusaders’ renowned “Hammer Award,” presented to the player with the largest number of "big hits" for the year, or the biggest hit overall. 

But to point to that play alone as a highlight of Monte’s success would be a complete oversimplification of just how good, and how effective, he has been through the span of four years on The Hill. He’s a passionate, aggressive, physical player who can cover plenty of ground — he’s fast, astute and difficult to trick. He’s been a mainstay in the Holy Cross lineup since he arrived in Worcester, first as a contributor on special teams before quickly rising as a star in a perennially decorated linebackers room. 

Monte’s 138 career tackles are the most of any Crusader on the 2024 roster, and his 39 career appearances are the most of anyone in Holy Cross’ defensive unit. Much of his ability has been honed throughout his background as a wrestler and as a lacrosse player. And he’s always had an aggressive instinct on the field — when he first began playing flag football around age five, he didn’t quite understand the concept of pulling flags, and he instead immediately jumped on someone to tackle them. (In his head, the point of football was to tackle other people, right?)

And ever since he put pads on, football stuck as the perfect fit. 

When Monte is on the football field, he doesn’t feel like there’s a switch that’s flipped from silent preparation to thrashing aggression — instead, it's all part of the aforementioned flow state.

“When I’m on the field, I just get into a mental state where all other thoughts are out of my head,” Monte said, “and I'm thinking about nothing other than what I have to do, and what the task at hand is.”

Monte could be described as an occasional introvert, but that’s not to say he isn’t a natural leader. And he isn’t a vocal leader, but he’s one of those guys who does things the right way: in practice, in film study, in meetings, on the field. He’s always early, always polite and respectful, and is determined to make sure his actions put others in a position to succeed. 

His “personality shines when he gets comfortable with you,” in the words of his mother, April. He’s always wearing a grin from ear to ear, and loves to joke around with his teammates. He loves spending time outdoors with his friends, and is an avid fisherman. He’s compassionate, warm-hearted and easygoing — always checking on his teammates and friends to ensure that they’re comfortable and have what they need. His highest priority is bringing others along with him, and making sure people feel supported and included. 

“He's the type of young man who’s a champion for the underdog,” said Monte’s father, Frank. “If a person’s the underdog, he's there sticking up for that person. He's there helping that person out. He’s not always going with whatever’s popular — he's there to help everybody out.”

As the middle of three children — the lone boy between older sister Kaela and younger sister Ava — Frankie grew up in a tight-knit family, one that is fiercely loyal and protective of each other. In their northern New Jersey hometown, the Montes grew up sharing Sunday dinners and holidays with extended family — from annual Feast of the Seven Fishes dinners on Christmas Eve to enthusiastic conversations about sports, a sense of togetherness and gratitude was felt throughout all of Frankie’s childhood. 

“Those morals of being respectful and grateful for everything we have…we're always saying, look at your plate and what you have, and be grateful for that,” April said. “Don't look at other people's stuff, because comparison is the thief of joy.” 

Frankie has always been concerned about others, with a trademarked heart of gold. When he was around 11 years old, he and his mother were driving to his grandmother’s house, and drove past a man on the street asking for money. April dug through her purse, unable to find any spare cash or change — and a distraught Frankie insisted that they turned around to go home to find some money. 

In his room, Frankie had an envelope where he saved every bit of cash and every coin he had ever received in his life, and he ran to grab that envelope and bring it to the man. His parents cautioned — are you sure you want to give him everything you’ve ever saved? But Frankie asserted that yes, he was going to give him the full envelope.

Early in his time at Holy Cross, Monte was more than prepared to earn significant playing time on defense, according to defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Brian Vaganek, who recruited Monte and has coached him each of the last four years. It was a matter of depth, and Monte was waiting in the wings behind two veterans — a pair of All-Americans, and some of the greatest linebackers to play in the school’s history — in Jacob Dobbs and Liam Anderson. 

Monte first found his way onto the field via special teams. One of his favorite memories from his entire career came in Holy Cross’ playoff game against Villanova in 2021 — while running down the field on kickoff, he forced a fumble in the third quarter that flipped the field and put Holy Cross in position to score. 

“It really came full circle — I'm going to be the best I can be in this role, so I can help my team,” Monte said. 

During his sophomore year, Monte’s role expanded significantly, but not by the most straightforward of circumstances. In Holy Cross’ fourth game of the season at Colgate, a season-ending injury to Dobbs accelerated Monte’s path to playing time. In that game, Monte was “thrown into the fire” and slotted in on Dobbs’ reps, and secured a tackle for loss. 

With an undefeated season on the line and a daunting matchup set for the next week at Harvard, Monte felt the nerves sink in — it would be his first time starting a collegiate game, and he felt immense pressure to impress. After all, if Holy Cross lost, then the narrative could very well become: well, Holy Cross wouldn’t have lost if Jacob Dobbs hadn’t gotten hurt.   

Determined not to let that be the case, Monte refused to let stress or doubt take over. And in the end, Monte delivered the best game of his career to that point — and confidently embraced the starting role for the remainder of the year in the Crusaders’ undefeated campaign.

Monte has refined his leadership skills thanks to the positive influence of leaders like Dobbs and Anderson. Throughout his junior season in 2023, Monte started every game, working in tandem with Dobbs and observing his ability to be a coach on the field. 

With Dobbs again sidelined due to injury in Holy Cross’ matchup at Army last year, Monte stepped up and turned in the best performance of his career to that point — 13 tackles, and an ensuing Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week honor. 

After ranking second on the team last year with 66 tackles, Monte hasn’t skipped a beat entering his senior year. Following a 17-tackle performance against Yale last Saturday (and another Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week nod), Monte enters Holy Cross’ FBS matchup against Syracuse ranking in the top 10 nationally with 40 tackles so far and a pair of forced fumbles. 

And while his on-field success is one thing, his preparation and his resulting leadership by example is what has made him indispensable to the Crusader defense. 

“Just how conscientious he is about everything off the football field, just his attention to detail in football and away from the game,” Vaganek said, “is how he’s grown the most.”

One of Monte’s favorite words, undoubtedly, is gratitude. Monte points to his late friend and high school teammate, Cyrenius Menard, who died in a car accident before he was able to live out his own dream of playing collegiate football at Sacred Heart. Monte thinks of him regularly when he takes the field — Menard was a player who always worked hard to earn his opportunities, and did so with a smile on his face. 

“He always wanted to be in the position that I'm in now so badly,” Monte said, “so I’ve learned to just be grateful for the moment and the things that you have. Because a lot of other people would be really happy to be in the situations that you're in.”

For Monte, the pregame jitters have subsided over the years. No moment is too daunting — he trusts his hard work and preparation to know that no matter the record, and no matter the circumstances, he’ll have the ability to succeed. And he’s happy to be there. 

“I'm in the exact spot I'm supposed to be in, in the exact moment in time that I'm supposed to be in,” Monte said. “That’s just how it always is. There’s a reason for everything.”

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