FB: Conference of New England

[ExTartanPlayer]

1. Nobody "settles" for the Ivy League, dude.  The bluster I occasionally hear (on these boards and in person) from parents and/or students of athletes at NESCAC schools, or MIT, or UAA schools saying that kids X, Y, and Z all had "offers" from the Ivy League is mostly just that - bluster,

There is a difference you are missing. All the NESCAC and UAA schools you mentioned are similar to the IVY schools, so if all things were equal you would go play the higher level. MIT, academically, is not "similar" to the IVY's. MIT is the #2 ranked university in the world: http://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/rankings?int=9cf408 and the #1 ranked engineering school in the world.

A fair point and one that I did gloss over.  You are correct.

I stand by my point that there are probably not many kids on Ivy League football rosters who really wanted to go to MIT, but "settled" for the Ivy League school because the MIT football program wasn't competitive enough for them.  Thus, I do not expect a sudden shift in recruiting whereby prospects that harbor serious hopes for playing time in the Ivy League bypass that opportunity to play at MIT.

[rlk]

I stand by my point that there are probably not many kids on Ivy League football rosters who really wanted to go to MIT, but "settled" for the Ivy League school because the MIT football program wasn't competitive enough for them.  Thus, I do not expect a sudden shift in recruiting whereby prospects that harbor serious hopes for playing time in the Ivy League bypass that opportunity to play at MIT.

Perhaps not as many as I'd like to think, but two of our former basketball players come to mind: Jimmy Bartolotta, who was D3 national Player of the Year in 2009 (read what he has to say: http://mitbasketball.blogspot.com/2010/02/former-mit-star-jimmy-bartolotta-talks.html) and Noel Hollingsworth, who went to Brown and transferred to MIT after a year.  There were circumstances in each case -- Bartolotta had to be coaxed by his parents to look at MIT, and Hollingsworth left Brown because the coach (Craig Robinson) decamped to Oregon.  I don't know if Bartolotta's decision would have been easier had MIT already had the success in basketball it has had over the past 6 years and I never thought to ask him about it, but reading between the lines, it might well have made his decision easier.

I suspect that really top tier Ivy prospects -- not to mention legitimate FBS prospects -- would likely take a pass unless they really, really wanted to go to MIT.  But someone who's a more marginal prospect, looking at a few years of very little playing time, might find the opportunity to be an impact player on a program that's going somewhere to be very appealing.

[jackson5]

This is why I don't get why people act all shocked that MIT made the tournament in the big media. You have a D-3 school, in one of the weaker conferences, who is able to go to D-2 and low D-1 athletes and say "Hey, you want a MIT education?" You're telling me that Curry or Endicott can step into a kids living room in Minnesota and say yeah I know you're looking at Carleton and Bemidji state, but you should come to Massachusetts to play for our D-3 school?

[wcrosby]

This is why I don't get why people act all shocked that MIT made the tournament in the big media. You have a D-3 school, in one of the weaker conferences, who is able to go to D-2 and low D-1 athletes and say "Hey, you want a MIT education?" You're telling me that Curry or Endicott can step into a kids living room in Minnesota and say yeah I know you're looking at Carleton and Bemidji state, but you should come to Massachusetts to play for our D-3 school?

No -- but they do that with Florida kids all of the time now.

[rlk]

This is why I don't get why people act all shocked that MIT made the tournament in the big media. You have a D-3 school, in one of the weaker conferences, who is able to go to D-2 and low D-1 athletes and say "Hey, you want a MIT education?" You're telling me that Curry or Endicott can step into a kids living room in Minnesota and say yeah I know you're looking at Carleton and Bemidji state, but you should come to Massachusetts to play for our D-3 school?

A lot of it, of course, was the seeming novelty of nerds playing -- and being very good at -- sports.  And not just any sport, but football.  A lot of the coverage -- even the local coverage -- was superficial, albeit complimentary.  Some of it, however, really did take a closer look.  Sam Gardner's piece on Fox Sports was really, really good.  He spent a lot of time researching and understanding the program, speaking with team members and the coaching staff, and it showed.

The reality is that MIT has a very extensive athletics program -- at varsity, IM, and completely unstructured levels -- for a very long time.  25% of the undergrads play at least one varsity sport.  We regularly place very high in the Learfield Directors' Cup standings.  Our men's basketball team has had 6 straight NCAA appearances and 20 win seasons, capped by a Final Four run in 2012.  Still, even if the NEFC isn't a very strong conference and New England D3 football in general doesn't match up to the midwest, 9-0 plus a postseason win isn't something that should get taken for granted.

One thing that our coaching staff cannot do, though, is make any kind of promise of admission.  The admissions office isn't going to bend the standards for anybody, and I doubt very much that even the most hard boiled supporter of MIT athletics would want that.  That said, MIT already has far more applicants who make the academic cut than there are slots, so it comes down to what else someone can bring to the table, and that something else can certainly be athletics.  But it's still a hard limit on who we can recruit.

[JS342]

What is the best conference in New England? (NESCAC not eligible because who knows?)
NEFC - MASCAC or ECFC

[NED3Guy]

Congrats to JB Wells on his new opportunity at Bowdoin. He'd done a terrific job at Endicott and literally built the program to where it now stands.

"Where it now stands" brings up the question of where the EC administration looks for the new leadership of the program. With two relatively young first year coordinators having just come in last year, one assumes they'll have to bring somebody in.

Any thoughts or rumors circulating close to the program? 

[ITH radio]

Endicott couldn't have hired a better guy than Coach DeWall.

I'm surprised they got him honestly, especially after his grooming a future NFL draft pick, but am excited for Coach and the EC fan base.

He's going to do to great things in Beverly.

http://hwsathletics.com/news/2015/2/24/HFB_0224154932.aspx

[D3MAFAN]

Endicott couldn't have hired a better guy than Coach DeWall.

I'm surprised they got him honestly, especially after his grooming a future NFL draft pick, but am excited for Coach and the EC fan base.

He's going to do to great things in Beverly.

http://hwsathletics.com/news/2015/2/24/HFB_0224154932.aspx

Indeed a great hire. They need someone of this caliber to keep the program going in the right direction, which I think Coach DeWall will do.

[Pat Coleman]

The NEFC is going to look a little different in 2017. For now, it'll look a lot like the Commonwealth Coast Conference: 
http://www.d3football.com/notables/2015/04/newmac-adds-football

[jackson5]

The CCC commisoner just took over as the NEFC commissioner. Looks like to me that the CCC is going to abosrb the NEFC. If that's the case I'll stick with my original prediction of the league inviting a former member like Anna Maria back in.

[fulbakdad]

The CCC?  Do you mean the ECFC?

[jackson5]

The CCC?  Do you mean the ECFC?

No, Kaye's been head of the CCC for awhile.

[fulbakdad]

Anna Maria has only been in the ECFC.....

[NED3Guy]

I think there's some confusion....

All of the schools who will remain in the nefc are also members of he CCC for their other sports. The hiring of the CCC comish plus UNE starting football lead many to believe that the CCC will sponsor football / take over the ecfc.

Anna Maria used to play all their non football sports in the CCC....would the CCC try to get Anna Maria to come back into the conference, to ensure an AQ for football?