Hamilton scrimmaged at Cornell on Saturday. The mood on the team was VASTLY improved over past years.

Well, it wasn't just that he was 1-15 in his 2 years there - nobody expected instant success. I think he built up a very large reservoir of dislike in the short amount of time he was there. Apparently there was some dissension on the team, a couple of players quit during the season and several more were not going to return - including some significant contributors. Players felt that those recruited under the new coach were given vastly more preferential treatment than the players from the old regime. 

For example, a decent quarterback transferred from Trinity for the '12 season and was in the running for the starting position against a senior. This past season that QB got a lot of reps in the scrimmage against Cornell and looked pretty good, we all assumed he was the starting QB. Then, at the first game 2 weeks later... he was starting at SAFETY and a new recruit freshman was starting at QB.

Now I really do understand that every team has holes to be filled, and the (former) QB is a really good athlete who did a decent job at safety (plus earning a lot of style points for sucking it up and playing the role assigned to him)... but the freshman simply was not ready to play NESCAC ball and there was no Plan B.  The kid shows promise, but he completed 118 of 207 attempts, and threw 5 TDs and 15 interceptions. That's tough to recover from.

A lot of parents were very frustrated. I think we are all pretty realistic... nobody's sending kids to play football at Hamilton thinking of NFL careers.  The kids are all volunteers, and they have to feel like they're valued, they can be competitive, and they have a fair shot at playing based on their individual merits. The kids were frustrated, the parents were frustrated, who knows what the administration was feeling - but obviously nothing good.

Quote from: oldhamfan on September 23, 2012, 11:02:10 AM
Speaking of injuries, anyone know why fifth year senior QB Jordan Eck didn't play for Hamilton? If he's gone before the season even starts, ouch, some long bus rides ahead.

I believe Eck started the game (a nice gesture for the Senior) but then they went with Hopsicker, a sophomore transfer from Trinity. He's has a decent arm, and is perhaps more comfortable with the option style offense Hamilton went with. It could also be that they wanted to give him some seasoning against a tough opponent. I'd say Hamilton has two quarterbacks of roughly equal quality - a real luxury in NESCAC.

I thought Hamilton played well against a better team. Amherst was a bit flat in the first half, and Hamilton in the second. Plenty of sloppy play on both sides, so it's tough to draw a lot of conclusions but the Hamilton squad seems to be responding well to the new head coach/defensive coordinator. The offense has gotten away from last year's habit of throwing 30 one yard passes every game, and seems more balanced.  The O-line, while definitely on the small side, did a reasonable job against a good Amherst D-line.

All in all, I came away reasonably optimistic about Hamilton's prospects this year. The most serious injury problem might be Coach Cohen's voice - he is very, er, energetic.

Hamilton will scrimmage the Colgate JV on Friday.

Hamilton will scrimmage Yale's JV on September 11th.

Here's a link to the schedule:

http://www.nescac.com/sports/fball/2011-12/schedule

Quote from: Jonny Labcoat on November 21, 2010, 08:36:41 PM

Ok then, how many New England kids are choosing to go to Whittier, Pomona or Claremont over NESCAC schools because they want to go to the playoffs?  Not many. ... They choose nescac schools because they are great schools and they are 2-4 hour car drives.....

I absolutely agree.  My son was offered a "slot" at a NESCAC school and at Washington & Lee.  Academically, both are excellent schools but W&L offered a slightly better football program INCLUDING playoffs.   That had zero impact on my son's decision - he preferred the NESCAC school for reasons other than just football. The shorter season was actually a plus - he also wants to play lacrosse, and he is concerned with balancing sports and school.  Ultimately, his decision came down to which school "felt" right, not which had a more serious or challenging football program.

Quote from: Doid23 on October 18, 2010, 10:27:59 AM

What??? NESCAC and 1 or 2 other schools? I hope that you really don't believe that. There are hundreds of schools where that is possible.

There really aren't "hundreds" of schools that have the academic quality of the NESCACs AND where he can play both football and lacrosse. I was talking only about one kid's particular search, and why NESCAC's approach makes it an attractive league for that one kid.

Just to name a few possible choices - D 1 schools like Bucknell and Georgetown run full year programs and don't really love the idea of kids playing two sports - and GU lacrosse is above his skill level. Schools like F&M, Union or Gettysburg are good, but they aren't quite NESCAC.  Davidson and Macalester don't offer varsity lacrosse.  Some great schools are farther away than he's looking to go.

Sure, there are TONS of great schools with amazing things to offer. No argument there.  I just like the fact that there are 10 schools in one league where my son can "get it all."

So, that's all I meant to say.  We've looked at a lot of schools, and there really aren't many that offer my kid as much as the NESCACs do.

The "recruiting" issue is an interesting problem... I know NESCAC pretty well, my oldest son swims at a NESCAC school and my middle son is a HS senior, playing football and lacrosse.  He's being recruited by several teams, including a couple of NESCACs (he should know for sure in a week or two where he's going!)

The fact that NESCAC schools play a shorter season and DON'T practice all year is a huge plus for him.  He wants to play both sports, but he knows his primary mission is to get an outstanding education.  His grades and scores are good enough to get into most NESCACs even without sports, but he LOVES football and lacrosse.  He's going to choose a school where sports and education line up, if possible.  That's only going to happen at a NESCAC, and one or two other schools (Washington & Lee, for example.)

So I think it's a smart positioning move on NESCACs part.  They get a lot of very good and very smart athletes, who can really contribute to the overall school atmosphere. Niche marketing at it's finest.

NESCAC swimming not only has its own 3 day conference championship, but the best individual swimmers go on to the NCAA division III championships.

"On the men's side, Kenyon won its 31st straight national title. Amherst finished fifth, Middlebury in seventh, and Williams in ninth. Tufts tied for 18th, and Connecticut College tied for 39th."

http://www.nescac.com/sports/swimdive/2009-10/NCAA/NCAA-dayfour