FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[lumbercat]

Gridiron-

a sampling of NESCAC coaching staffs-
Colby has 10 coaches, only Tufts has a larger staff at 11.

Randomly other programs:
Amherst Bates Bowdoin Williams have 8
Trinity has 9

[gridiron]

Lumbercat--thanks for checking the websites.  In fact, Colby had eight coaches last season and added a ninth this season.  The director of ops is listed under coaches this season but does not coach.

Cannot speak about how the numbers may have changed for any of the other schools last season to this but do know several schools had more than eight last season.

[polbear73]

There were high hopes among the faithful when Wells was hired, but his results to date are not better than what Dave Caputi was able to accomplish. 

PolarCat,  he's had ONE full recruiting class...  he came in in January the year prior when most recruiting was over with...  have to give the guy at least 3 recruiting classes before comparing him to Caputi...    I would say his results to date far exceed Caputi given that there are 6-7 FY starters and up to 10 getting significant playing time over what Caputi had put in place.

I understand the long, dark history... but, there's some light, let's let it grow...

pbpop20:  Your comments are very refreshing for this football alumnus to hear and verify the statements that we have been hearing from the Head Coach and the AD.  I can tell you first hand that fund raising has been in effect for Whittier Field's renovations but I don't know where they stand.  I believe the intent is there.

I wish your son the very best in his four years at Bowdoin and if his football experience is a fraction of what mine was a long time ago, then he will be blessed with lifelong values, memories, and friends.  That's really why these young men play NESCAC football.

[RetiredMule]

The issue with the Colby coaching staff is that there has been near constant turnover in the Michaeles administration. While yes, the new OC has a very good history and resume, this is the 5th OC under Michaeles in his 6 years. Only Steve Opgenorth held on more than one year before gutting the Colby budget of funds and running to a small Wisconsin school. While the coaching staff may be one of the larger, there are so few who are around for more than one or two seasons. While you can have a larger staff, it disrupts and stunts player development to be constantly changing systems and coaches, even if the shifts are not overtly drastic. Look at how many times in recent years we have seen multiple "Colby Football hires .........". Michaeles is in his 6th year (counting his interim) as HC and 13th overall as a holdover from the previous regime, Tom Dexter has been on the hill for 28 years, 2 coaches are in their 5th seasons, 3 are second years, 2 are first years. We can tout the OC hire (and rightly so), but again Michaeles has retained offensive play calling and Colby runs an eerily similar system to all previous OCs and Michaeles own time as OC. The offense has been rolled continuously under new people each year but has not changed in a decade. I am beginning to think it is systematic.

[amh63]

Some odds & ends.
Speaking about stats and numbers...and the naive trust of them if it is published somewhere.  The attendance numbers on the first Bowdoin home game....over 2000 fans.  Bodes well for the Polarbears support.  Meanwhile on the other end.....Colby's attendance number at last weekend's game...0.  Brought a smile to my face.
Looking at the gametime for the upcoming Amherst game in the land of milk and more milk.  Before the rush of 2nd home buyers in Vt....remember a saying that the state had more cows than people.
Anyway, several posters asked me to be on the lookout for them in the stands...they are two old persons....yeah right . Maybe if they are dressed in neon yellow jackets.
The gametime has a 1: 30 PM start.  Second week in a row that there has been a delay in the start time....Trinity game last week.  Problem is that Middlebury is well North and daynight ends quickly.  Must be a plot to prevent Amherst players to see the football!
Just bought a new car that is considered to be the Best for Winter travel in NE....in the snow, etc. Watch out "old guys"....maybe get up to Middlebury yet.  Your drinks at a brew house awaits in Amherst.  Back to watching dirt being moved around.

[nescac1]

Regarding Williams, the Ephs haven't really deemphasized the importance of athletics across-the-board, but Williams has a different type of emphasis than some other NESCAC schools, which makes rapidly rebuilding the program somewhat difficult without some dramatic changes in admissions philosophy.  There is little doubt that admissions has gotten far more restrictive in terms of the types of athletic recruits they will admit since the Farley years (I think it was soon after 2000 that admissions started to become a lot tougher in terms of minimum requirements for recruits) -- and it's football and ice hockey that typically require the biggest concessions by admissions, so those restrictions have a disproportionate impact on those two sports (although men's ice hockey has managed to be very successful in recent years notwithstanding those restrictions).   I've heard from several pretty good sources that the very lowest Williams will go for football is a bit higher than any other NESCAC school. If that were to change, even for a few years, it would really help jump start the rebuilding process. 

But also, Williams has fewer TIPS -- 66 total, along with Wesleyan and Amherst, whereas everyone else has 72 per year I believe -- to spread among the most varsity sports of any NESCAC school (Williams, unlike many of its peers, has varsity men's and women's golf, men's and women's crew, wrestling, and men's and women's skiing squads to fill).  As a result, some Williams athletic teams have really dropped off from where they were in the 1990s -- in my view it takes a really dynamic, committed coach to find and recruit the type of athletes needed to succeed in most team sports under the current admissions regime (individual sports, it's an entirely different story as there are no shortage of elite tennis players or cross country runners with top-tier academic credentials, it seems).  Some coaches manage to do just great (like women's soccer) but others haven't been able to adapt and the teams' performance has gradually suffered as a result over time.  And it's no coincidence that Williams' Director's Cup success relies primarily on individual sports like swimming, tennis, and cross country. 

Now, all of that being said, Coach Whalen was able to experience great success (even if not Farley-level dominance) that eluded Coach Kelton, and there is no reason that Williams should not be able to attract the sort of talent needed to at least be competitive, most years, with the top tier of NESCAC.  I don't foresee Williams ever having another era like the mid-90s in its future, but there is no doubt that a coach who is a bit more engaged and energized on the recruiting front can bring in a deeper and more talented group of players -- certainly, it's ridiculous for Williams EVER to struggle to fill out a 75-man roster in football. 

[lumbercat]

Gridiron-

Thanks, you are correct Colby has 9 coaches. Still as many coaches as any program in the conference except Tufts.
My point is it appears to me as a long time observer that Colby is making a much stronger commitment to Football under their new AD.

Retiredmule-
I see your point. While turnover is very common on Nescac coaching staffs your point that turnover has been excessive at Colby is very well taken.

Also, I did not realize that Michaels is still calling the plays. That's surprising- it makes no sense to bring in a high level OC and not give him control.

[quicksilver]

. . .
But also, Williams has fewer TIPS -- 66 total, along with Wesleyan and Amherst, whereas everyone else has 72 per year I believe -- to spread among the most varsity sports of any NESCAC school (Williams, unlike many of its peers, has varsity men's and women's golf, men's and women's crew, wrestling, and men's and women's skiing squads to fill).  As a result, some Williams athletic teams have really dropped off from where they were in the 1990s -- in my view it takes a really dynamic, committed coach to find and recruit the type of athletes needed to succeed in most team sports under the current admissions regime (individual sports, it's an entirely different story as there are no shortage of elite tennis players or cross country runners with top-tier academic credentials, it seems).  Some coaches manage to do just great (like women's soccer) but others haven't been able to adapt and the teams' performance has gradually suffered as a result over time.  And it's no coincidence that Williams' Director's Cup success relies primarily on individual sports like swimming, tennis, and cross country. 

. . 

My understanding is that all NESCACs have the same number of tips for football -- 14 -- and that those slots cannot be assigned to other sports.  Whatever disadvantage that exists in the context of football at Williams would likely be due to internal decisions to establish higher thresholds to qualify for a tip than at comparable NESCAC schools. 

[PolarCat]

I don't believe any school has the ability to set "higher thresholds" (or lower ones).  My understanding is that the Academic Index for incoming athletes must be within a stated standard deviation from the overall student body.  So a kid who could not qualify for a tip at Amherst, Williams or Bowdoin could qualify for one at Trinity.

But it's been three years since my son and daughter went through the process, so maybe it's changed.

[nescac1]

Good point quicksilver.  The issue of fewer tips, combined with more varsity sports, is more of an issue with some of the other team sports.  As much as Williams is considered an athletics powerhouse, in recent years (with a few notable exceptions like men's basketball and women's soccer, both of which have won titles or come very close), almost all of its national success has come in individual sports, not the team sports that typically require more admissions concessions.  In the aggregate, Williams was pretty much middle-of-the-pack in NESCAC last year when you combine all team sports records / relative standings.  Not since the 90s has Williams been a consistent powerhouse in the team sports as well.  The Ephs win the Director's Cup each year because so many of the individual sports are so dominant (swimming, cross country, track and field, golf, tennis, etc.).  This year, women's soccer looks like the only really dominant Williams team once again (although men's basketball will get there again sooner rather than later, I expect).  Of course, football requires a lot more than 14 guys per class to really succeed, so plenty of non-tipped players need to contribute as well -- and I'm not sure how various schools weigh the sort of concessions those football recruits receive. 

I also feel like (other than the fantastic new Weston complex) Williams has really fallen behind many other NESCAC schools in terms of athletics facilities.  Williams has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on state of the art facilities for every other aspect of campus life, but despite a massive ongoing fund drive, there seem to be no plans to renovate the field house (which is in terrible condition), the hockey rink, or the Chandler/Lasell athletics complex (which last received a major overhaul 30 years ago and apparently won't be upgraded anytime very soon).  And Weston was only belatedly redone, after years of delays, after the situation became truly desparate.  So Williams has definitely made a decision to make athletics facilities the very lowest priority in terms of campus infrastructure investment.  And arguably they should be, but still, it sends a bad signal in terms of the relative prioritization of athletics ... especially for a school with a 2.5 billion endowment.

[nescac1]

PolarCat, I thought only the Ivies used a firm Academic Index -- if NESCAC schools use it, I either have forgotten that, or it's news to me.  But I don't recall hearing that NESCAC schools were as rigid as the Ivies in this regard.  I sure hope they aren't because it leads to outcomes in which Ivies notoriously take football or basketball players who they know will likely never play a meaningful minute but who have stratospheric stats just to balance out some major stretch recruits.

For what it's worth, I've always heard that Bowdoin is one of the least forgiving schools in terms of admissions for athletes ....

[PolarCat]

Academic Index s the wrong term, then.  But I'm pretty sure that the tips are limited to a certain standard deviation of the incoming class as a whole.  And yes, based on what we've observed first hand (both with my daughter and with other recruits her coach tried to get accepted by Admissions), Bowdoin is really, really difficult in this regard.

[JEFFFAN]

For those interested in NESCAC athletics and admissions, head to the following link and read the series of three articles written for the Bowdoin Orient.   A terrific collection of articles from a Bowdoin undergraduate.

http://bowdoinorient.com/article/9151

[JEFFFAN]

First article
http://bowdoinorient.com/article/9151

Second article
http://bowdoinorient.com/article/9211

Third and final article
http://bowdoinorient.com/article/9252

[quicksilver]

I don't believe any school has the ability to set "higher thresholds" (or lower ones).  My understanding is that the Academic Index for incoming athletes must be within a stated standard deviation from the overall student body.  So a kid who could not qualify for a tip at Amherst, Williams or Bowdoin could qualify for one at Trinity.

But it's been three years since my son and daughter went through the process, so maybe it's changed.

I am pretty sure that a NESCAC school can be more exacting as to the admissions standards it applies to its tipped athletes even when it is entitled to go lower. .