NM-

Wow-2 sides to every story I guess. I have the utmost respect for the guy, but that's my experience. Was he aloof and unengaged before or after you started ripping him?
Either way, I respect your side of the story. I agree in moving on.

He probably will apply for Polar job- I would welcome him on my staff but he won't get any consideration for a HCOF position.

The speculation begins on candidates so I'll start the dialog for openings at Bowdoin and most likely Colby....


Mike Horan DC Marist
Malik Grove OC Amherst
Ron DiGravio DC Central Connecticut
Eric Ludwig Wesleyan
Greg Debeljac HCOF CWRU
Dave Dunn HCOF Christopher Columbus HS Miami,Fl
Shea Dwyer OC Hamilton
Max Beale OC Hampden Sydney
Jeff Comissiong Lehigh DL

I get all the stuff about Heltons misfortunes as a head coach but how many times can we rip a guy when he's down.
I'll admit to being hypersensitive and bias on the subject. I had a couple of close personal interactions with the guy and all should know he is unquestionably a first class human being. His integrity and character are totally intact.
I know what the W-L record says but in observing the way he comported himself in a  situation that transcended X's and O's I observed a great person with truly Elite character.

Ironically, he was a big Hammer supporter in the process when Hammer was hired as HCOF.

Donors such as Fish

What a folly at Bowdoin..... They gas the Head Coach in early September over an incident and don't tell anyone. They wait 90 days before they issue any communication relative to the "incident". Four weeks of the season progress and people throughout the NESCAC actually still think that BJ Hammer is coaching the Bowdoin team along with recruits, parents and Alums, nobody knows he's no longer with the team....he was gone before the season started!
Now AD Ryan turns the page and says we're starting a National Search.
Where is the Bowdoin president in this, does she know what's going on? Feel bad for my Bowdoin aquaintences I have some old friends there -but they are totally embarrassed. Feel worse for the players.

Quote from: NescacOutsider on November 02, 2026, 01:39:35 PM

Quote from: lumbercat on November 01, 2026, 09:54:29 PM

Quote from: nescac1 on November 01, 2026, 09:35:32 AMOh, and I forgot COTY - whatever happens in the last two weeks, EJ Mills has to be the guy.  For a team with mediocre expectations to be 7-0, with five games that went down to the wire and could have gone either way but where Amherst made all the big plays down the stretch, is super impressive.  No one would say Amherst has more talent than Trinity or Wesleyan ...

Mills, like him or not, has been the best coach in this league for many years.

Congrats to Coach Mills on the lifetime achievement award. I think some might argue that Coach Devanney, and perhaps Coach Dicenzo, have been at/near the top over the past decade as the Mammoths are on pace for their best season since  2018 having averaged less than four wins a season since.

Give Mills the Trinity or Wesleyan personnel since 2018 along with their operating budgets and admissions officers and you would see more championships than either of those great programs.

Quote from: nescac1 on November 01, 2026, 09:35:32 AMOh, and I forgot COTY - whatever happens in the last two weeks, EJ Mills has to be the guy.  For a team with mediocre expectations to be 7-0, with five games that went down to the wire and could have gone either way but where Amherst made all the big plays down the stretch, is super impressive.  No one would say Amherst has more talent than Trinity or Wesleyan ...

Mills, like him or not, has been the best coach in this league for many years.

Quote from: Jonny Utah on October 28, 2026, 02:24:47 PMDon't feel like scrolling through ads for any info on this board but is Hammer out because of Health or an HR investigation? 

I guess you'd call it an HR issue Jonny. Hammer is alleged to have made an ill advised decision in his duties as the HCOF. I now have an eyewitness account of the incident and believe the allegations are accurate and he will be dismissed.
My personal speculation is he may have lawyered up and there is a legal process unfolding but based on my account of the events I think it's unlikely that he would prevail.

The esteemed leader of this forum has censored a posted account of the events so I guess this isn't Radio Free Europe.

Nothing really more than a long awaited press release from Bowdoin - with a couple of notable inaccuracies.

Coach Mac is a great guy and is proving himself as a very good coach/ DC. I'm a huge supporter from his Bates days. However to assume he is the only answer is narrow minded.

Ryans' gotta be the fall guy with the Hammer. From the bushwhacking firing of JB Wells to his folly with the ill planned overhaul of one of the most iconic and historic Football facilities in the country.
He's not a popular guy with influential alums. His stock is at its all time low amid this debacle.
Don't know if the President has a clue- can a grey Polar shed any light on her?

The bright spot on the Bowdoin staff has been DC Kyle McAllister who has been doing a fantastic job with the Bowdoin D as evidenced by a great job against Trinity last week.
I would guess the Bears may clean house but maybe not.
When they cut ties with Hammer it would seem that McAllister should be the guy to take over as HC, but he's not even the interim HC.......they named an offensive guy, a short timer in Brunswick, who is running a struggling offense as the HC.
Either way I think McAllister will be a strong candidate for openings in any program whether they let him go or not.
I think the guy on the real hot seat has to be the AD.

Quote from: ItsATuftSituation on October 25, 2026, 02:04:30 PMI just wanna take a second to shout out Tufts and their coaching staff over the last couple of weeks. It was clear that something wasn't working with the personnel so they have definitely changed where people are being deployed and it's certainly helping. I don't think this Tufts team beats Williams the way they were configured three or four weeks ago.

That's really good coaching by their staff. It also does help getting Shapiro back yesterday, it takes a lot of the pressure off of a young quarterback. I think it also gave the team a lot of confidence. Wanted to shout out Granville Anderson as well, banged up, made an absolute gutsy catch on fourth down in the final drive. Got hit, held on in traffic. He's a kid that wants to do whatever to win.

I'm excited to see how the Jumbos use this momentum into next week's game against an undefeated Amherst team. Mammoths should definitely be favored but who knows.

I wouldn't complicate things- it's the same Tufts staff that perennially encounters more problems on game day than a team with their personnel might expect. The difference is they got the best RB in the conference back from the injured list. Shapiro is a huge difference maker- not sure if NESCAC followers are aware how good this kid is.

Quote from: TheJeff on October 24, 2026, 08:20:29 PMOnce again, I think Amherst is still yet to play their best football.

Amherst does not have personnel that can match Wesleyan (or Trinity) yet they pulled off another huge win today against the Wesleyan arsenal of talent. They always mange to pull off wins like this. Once again I will attribute their success to the best HCOF in the conference year in and year out-- EJ Mills. I gotta take my hat off to him once again. I can only look at the boxscore at this point. It looks like the Mammoths outplayed a Wes team I thought was close to perfect.
Mills finds a way to win big games while the Wes publicity syndicate sometimes has a tendency to look ahead to that "final game against Trinity". Heartbreaking loss for the Cards, I was really pulling for them to get a playoff berth.  This loss makes their path a little more difficult, however, if they can beat Trinity in "that final game" I think they will be  in good shape based on my limited knowledge of the D3 playoff process and criteria.
I think Trinity will snap out of todays slumber and pound the Mammoths next week unless EJ schools Devanney the way he out schemed Dice Baby today, don't think so. Don't think Mills can pull off another coup next week against the Bantams.
I think we are looking at an undefeated Trinity club against a dangerous but unpredictable Wesleyan team in Hartford in the final game.
Lets hope we have 2 NESCAC teams in the playoffs.

Quote from: jmh21 on October 23, 2026, 05:58:57 PMWilliams has really struggled with Tufts the last few years even when having the better team on paper...even the 2021 team needed some late game magic to beat them. Hopefully that changes this year but I would be somewhat surprised if we win by double digits

Can't figure this Tufts program out---great recruiting venue, superb academic rankings, great location, university post grad program, huge enrollment....... but Coach Civetti seldom gets a sniff of the NESCAC Football title. Tufts is dominant in a number of other sports .....why the middling results in football...

Quote from: Trin9-0 on October 21, 2026, 11:42:15 AM

Quote from: Patrick Coleman on October 21, 2026, 11:25:59 AMI am guessing we don't know anything about the process for nomination for such awards.

All it says on the league website is:
"Every Monday during the season, a NESCAC Player of the Week will be selected based on information submitted by the athletic communications offices at member institutions."

I'm assuming these submissions make up the "NESCAC Weekly Honor Roll" which is published along with the Players of the Week selections. My guess is that someone, or a small group of people, at the league office looks at the Honor Roll submissions and then picks who they think is the most deserving that week. Maybe Trinity's athletics communications team doesn't provide a compelling enough case to the league office?

My guess is they get tired of picking Trinity guys over the years which is unfair but may be the case.