Unprecedented aggressive recruiting in the NESCAC--Championship eligibility must be driving this, good to see.
This St Pauls recruit reports 5 offers in a few hours today.

With the official opening of the recruiting season on 7/1 a lot of lot of NESCAC Football offers flying out there already. For the most part all programs seem very active in the early going.

Quote from: SpringSt7 on June 24, 2025, 04:36:03 PMWorth sharing during the handicapping exercise that Williams QB Owen McHugh is out for the season with a torn UCL (Tommy John surgery)

Williams recruited a glut of excellent QBs in McHughs class. I was critical of that on this board largely because I thought some potentially very good NESCAC QBs would never get on the field. The Ephs moved a couple of those QBs to other positions-- one was Johanssen. I thought he would be the Williams QB of the future until I learned that departed Ephs OC told McHugh in the recruiting process that he was their guy at QB. McHugh then decommitted on full Baseball grant in aid to UM Lowell and decided on Williams.
Now the Ephs don't look so bad in view all the QBs they brought in that year.
The only QB in that class they didn't move was Drew Renzella out of Williston Prep. Looks like he might be the guy and has some talent.
As for my guy Johannsen he's one of the best athletes in the conference. They have bulked him up a bit and last year he was in a HBack Slot /TE role where he excelled so doubt they return him  to the QB position.
Either way, watch the kid this year.

....unless terminated for due cause.

Quote from: WUPHF on May 16, 2025, 09:31:03 PMNESCAC coaches have contracts rather than work as at-will employees?

I won't speak for any basketball coaches but I can confirm multiple NESCAC Head Football Coaches are on 3 year contracts.

Quote from: D3BBALL on May 16, 2025, 03:56:56 PM

Quote from: cantdothat on May 16, 2025, 02:07:12 PMStrahorn hasn't resigned yet. Keep an eye on a current Ivy League HC who is a Colby alum.

Maybe this is due to reaching a financial settlement. But he is gone.

Who says he hasn't resigned yet?......He's being fired by all known accounts, the terms of the contract will dictate the financials of the severance. You don't announce you are canning a guy and then proceed with "negotiations"

Unless....he is being let go for due cause which takes Colby off the hook in terms of responsibility for remaining year(s) and future terms of of the contract.

If they need him to resign before they can finalize his departure there may be other issues involved but I will yield to the many barristers on this board who are better schooled than me in employment law.

I love the mystery posts.
The guy cantdothat is referring to is David McLaughlin who the HC at Dartmouth though most on this board probably know that.
McLaughlin has a terrible record but as far as I know he's still got an Ivy League job and is coming off an improved year for the Dartmouth program.

Quicksilver- Agree completely. They didn't built that Athletic Facility to maintain a position of mediocrity in the Athletic program.

Nonetheless I'm still surprised they let him go. The guy who might be worried here is HCOF Cosgrove. Strahorn has been far more successful with the Colby Basketball program and he's  getting fired.

As a basis of comparison Coach Gilbride lasted 35 years at Bowdoin with a winning percentage of .578 compared with Strahorn at .541 as he enters his prime.

Another guy who must be hearing footsteps is Furbush at Bates who is .454 over his 16 year tenure. The Bates AD situation is quite similar to Colby as new AD Stacey Bunting via Princeton begins her Bobcat AD tenure on July 1.

We are seeing the end of the lifelong trend at many NESCAC schools where coaches often  kept their jobs for many years despite subpar records as long as they were well liked, did not makes waves or tick anybody off. Nice guys typically didn't get fired. I think that's pretty much over.

Thanks to Bucket for putting an end to the speculation.
Possibly leaves some other Colby coaches looking over their shoulders.

How so?-
I heard first hand from 2 people close to the Athletic community, both confirmed the rumor but conveyed that any perceived rift between the parties involved is not likely directly related to team performance.
Could be anything from philosophical differences, contractual issues etc.

But still no announcement, so maybe it is indeed a rumor.

Was very surprised to hear of the rumored imminent departure of Strahorn at Colby.
Checked with couple of friends who are pretty closely connected with Colby Athletics (though not involved with the Basketball program)
The rumor is well circulated on Mayflower Hill and acknowledged beyond but I'm hearing it's not a decision based totally on team performance- I infer that it's something away from day to day coaching and maybe off the court.
There may indeed be a press release soon but Strahorn is a fiery guy who could complicate things.
I for one think he's done a decent job though I never liked his game day demeanor always whining and riding the refs though he has toned it down of late.
Very interested to see how this unfolds.

Quote from: Charlie on April 26, 2025, 06:21:38 AMBates transition period. The offensive Coordinator and person responsible for the offensive transformation at Bates is moving on to the Ivy League and this along with loosing there starting center who in this offense is key could mean a huge step back for the Bates program. Do not know if same offense will be run in 2025.

Bates I could be wrong has one the highest turnover of assistant Coaches I think in the league. I don't know of a stat tracker on this but seems like a high transition.

Charlie-
Yes,  you could be wrong. Coach Coyne at Bates has lost 3 of the coaches he brought in a 3 year span. The Dartmouth opportunity for OC Thompson was a no brainer. He leaves on great terms. The Bates offense and overall scheme is firmly intact though we may see some different wrinkles this year.

When you talk of coaching moves in the NESCAC it's not unusual to see multiple moves among assistants. Bowdoin lost their OC a month ago and he was the third OC in 4 years. Colby loses another 2 assistants this year and their venerable Coach Dexter just announced his retirement. Movement in NESCAC coaching staffs is not unusual from year to year but you are incorrect in your assumption that there has been an inordinate amount of movement on Coynes staff. More coaching stability at Bates as compared with their Maine rivals and most of the NESCAC.

Pierotti will be a significant loss on Bates O line which was outstanding last year but they do have depth at that position.

N1
Agree completely and think we are essentially making the same point. I'm just not sure all those on this board and beyond truly understand the realities of D3 football as compared with other sports.
As you point out, just getting there and maybe winning a couple will be a home run for NESCAC programs. Believe this will be adopted eventually by all as the tacit goal and the best possible result for the NESCAC.

Fantastic to see the playoff approval for NESCAC teams.

However, at this point I wouldn't give any NESCAC program even a plausible chance of winning a national title. Numerous additional upgrades and systemic changes will have to me made in NESACAC programs for the conference to be truly competitive with the D3 juggernauts. I don't believe we will ever see those changes in the NESACAC....but that doesn't mean it's not a monumental, great step for the league.

Going forward I think we'll see some NESCAC teams making some fine playoff showings that may surprise many and that will be great to see. At the end of the day I also believe many will see that there is some D3 football being played elsewhere at a significantly higher level. At that point I think a NESCAC playoff berth will begin to be viewed as more of a reward, like a traditional Bowl Game opportunity, as opposed a true path to a National Championship.

I don't think think this change diminishes the importance and intensity of the traditional NESCAC rivalries as teams continue to compete hard for the NESCAC title which now brings a great new added reward for the NESCAC champs.

Quote from: NESCACFball24/7 on March 27, 2025, 01:48:59 PMHe went to the UConn Pro day. It is rare for power 5 programs to allow other schools prospects at their pro days. Makes sense he went to a g5 one instea

24/7 Thanks for the info - good to see Perry did get a Pro Day look.

BC has always had kids from other schools at their Pro Days. This year there were participants from UNH, Bentley and Merrimack among others.