FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[Scoops]

True that stars aren't an indicator of talent, but if a kid is rated that highly you have to assume he had some national D1 interest. At least D2/FCS. And if he has grades for this league, how did the Ivies not grab him? Not like those kind of kids end up in the NESCAC every year. Makes the kid interesting at least.

Stars are a joke as we all know. And I don't know the kid ( so not fair for me to make any judgement there).....but I know the program very well..Nobles football kids are hardly a force anywhere;)

[Charlie]

I watched the tape on the Trinity kid. Really not impressed. Convinced if he played in a better league, he wouldn't have looked nearly as good. I think Trinity did get a good player in that safety from the Hun School in NJ. Definitely agree about the Nobles kid.
He could be a hell of a player. Hard to find size like that with athleticism. Talking to coaches in the league, they just think he's very very raw but huge upside.

Been looking into some of the recruiting classes around the league. Bates and Tufts seem to be the only schools still filling out their classes, which makes sense given Bates new staff, and Tufts late start. Really impressed by the seemingly strong class the mules are bringing in. Williams brought in a couple of Nice players, including the giant OL from nobles school in MA. Amherst looks like they had another tough year. Has anybody been able to confirm that Tufts actually brought in a 3-star?

The kid from Nobles could be a force although injury plagued High School career. Huge upside if coached up ,  talented. Bates is still recruiting but not just filling up roster spots. I believe they understand that in a year or two they like all other schools will have to get back down to the 75 man roster which I heard could be expanded to 80. The motto up there is that they will play tough  regardless of wins and losses. I did not officially hear about the Tufts recruit. Rumors but nothing concrete. the only top star recruit I heard for the 2022 NESCAC class was the kid Trinity picked up an Under Armour selection who broke all time sack record in Massachusetts. Trinity keeps stockpiling.

Where did the kid going to Trinity play do you have a school would like to check him out ? I also heard Trinity landed a great WR from Scituate a Edelman type of player. I have not checked him out either.

[Scoops]

He went to Newton South. Joe Toyias. There was an article in the paper about him committing to Trinity that I saw a while back.

I watched the tape on the Trinity kid. Really not impressed. Convinced if he played in a better league, he wouldn't have looked nearly as good. I think Trinity did get a good player in that safety from the Hun School in NJ. Definitely agree about the Nobles kid.
He could be a hell of a player. Hard to find size like that with athleticism. Talking to coaches in the league, they just think he's very very raw but huge upside.

Been looking into some of the recruiting classes around the league. Bates and Tufts seem to be the only schools still filling out their classes, which makes sense given Bates new staff, and Tufts late start. Really impressed by the seemingly strong class the mules are bringing in. Williams brought in a couple of Nice players, including the giant OL from nobles school in MA. Amherst looks like they had another tough year. Has anybody been able to confirm that Tufts actually brought in a 3-star?

The kid from Nobles could be a force although injury plagued High School career. Huge upside if coached up ,  talented. Bates is still recruiting but not just filling up roster spots. I believe they understand that in a year or two they like all other schools will have to get back down to the 75 man roster which I heard could be expanded to 80. The motto up there is that they will play tough  regardless of wins and losses. I did not officially hear about the Tufts recruit. Rumors but nothing concrete. the only top star recruit I heard for the 2022 NESCAC class was the kid Trinity picked up an Under Armour selection who broke all time sack record in Massachusetts. Trinity keeps stockpiling.

Where did the kid going to Trinity play do you have a school would like to check him out ? I also heard Trinity landed a great WR from Scituate a Edelman type of player. I have not checked him out either.

[lumbercat]

Bates had 14 commits when Matt Coyne hit the ground running 45 days ago. They currently have 26 with the possibility of another couple by 5/1 with the further possibility of a very good transfer.

The Scituate kid is Keegan Sullivan. The propaganda line says 5'10" 170 which is generous. He is a skilled player with some speed but hold off on Juilian Edelman call.  Probably will not get on the field next year in Hartford.

[Charlie]

Bates had 14 commits when Matt Coyne hit the ground running 45 days ago. They currently have 26 with the possibility of another couple by 5/1 with the further possibility of a very good transfer.

The Scituate kid is Keegan Sullivan. The propaganda line says 5'10" 170 which is generous. He is a skilled player with some speed but hold off on Juilian Edelman call.  Probably will not get on the field next year in Hartford.

Oh I totally get not like Edelman just meaning he is not that tall receiver like a Gerard but small shifty type of guy. Trinity also picked up similar type player from Lincoln Sudbury WR.

I totally get this is all speculation. I checked out that DE from Newton he looks legit. Looks like around 6"0 Definitely a speed rusher with bull rush power. I tend to think he would be productive in Trinity's program if not an A lister. Checked out the Nobles kid again while I like his size really has not shown shown much since he has been injured and do not know work ethic in weight room and if that is not contributing to injuries. Sometimes in this speculation you want to go with kids with track history who have at least proven themselves albeit no one can speculate on talent level of competition. I would think a kid with over 64 sacks in career is coachable and would want to improve at next level. I think sometimes easier to teach those kids than kids that are totally raw. At the NESCAC level especially unless really committed not a great deal of field time to develop these kids especially with their being no type red shirt year.

[nescac1]

The biggest question in NESCAC next year is, who throws the ball in Williamstown and how effective will he be in stepping in for Maimaron?  But the second biggest question is, who catches the ball for Trinity?  Fetter is a great QB, obviously, but he also benefited from a stacked, veteran receiving core with massive size advantages over everyone they played against, plus an elite speed receiver in DeVante Reid. 

If Reid does not return, and I believe he is not, Trinity graduated nearly all of its receiving yardage and TDs.  The top returnee at WR/TE is Mathew Laughlin, who looked good and certainly will have one spot locked down.  But after him, it's wide open.  Max Roche is another Scituate grad who might give Fetter the sort of big target he is clearly most comfortable throwing to.  But if there are young guys who is really talented, they certainly will get a shot, especially at TE which looks wide open after two very productive fifth-year guys depart.  No matter what, it's hard to imagine Fetter putting up QUITE as ridiculous stats without the dominant receiving core he had to work with last year. 

Because Williams has such a huge question mark at QB and Trinity at WR, I think those two, plus Wesleyan, are basically dead even going into the season.  Williams returns a crazily stacked defense (the DL and defensive backfield both return the entire two-deep that completely shut down both Trinity and Wesleyan) and TB group; Trinity is still loaded with talent almost everywhere (though does lose some really key defenders) and has the advantage of several 30-man recruiting classes to cull talent from; and Wesleyan, which looked pretty far behind Williams when they played last year, returns nearly everyone including some key guys who were injured, so should close the gap behind the top two (even despite some key coaching losses). 

[Charlie]

The biggest question in NESCAC next year is, who throws the ball in Williamstown and how effective will he be in stepping in for Maimaron?  But the second biggest question is, who catches the ball for Trinity?  Fetter is a great QB, obviously, but he also benefited from a stacked, veteran receiving core with massive size advantages over everyone they played against, plus an elite speed receiver in DeVante Reid. 

If Reid does not return, and I believe he is not, Trinity graduated nearly all of its receiving yardage and TDs.  The top returnee at WR/TE is Mathew Laughlin, who looked good and certainly will have one spot locked down.  But after him, it's wide open.  Max Roche is another Scituate grad who might give Fetter the sort of big target he is clearly most comfortable throwing to.  But if there are young guys who is really talented, they certainly will get a shot, especially at TE which looks wide open after two very productive fifth-year guys depart.  No matter what, it's hard to imagine Fetter putting up QUITE as ridiculous stats without the dominant receiving core he had to work with last year. 

Because Williams has such a huge question mark at QB and Trinity at WR, I think those two, plus Wesleyan, are basically dead even going into the season.  Williams returns a crazily stacked defense (the DL and defensive backfield both return the entire two-deep that completely shut down both Trinity and Wesleyan) and TB group; Trinity is still loaded with talent almost everywhere (though does lose some really key defenders) and has the advantage of several 30-man recruiting classes to cull talent from; and Wesleyan, which looked pretty far behind Williams when they played last year, returns nearly everyone including some key guys who were injured, so should close the gap behind the top two (even despite some key coaching losses). 

True that stars aren't an indicator of talent, but if a kid is rated that highly you have to assume he had some national D1 interest. At least D2/FCS. And if he has grades for this league, how did the Ivies not grab him? Not like those kind of kids end up in the NESCAC every year. Makes the kid interesting at least.

Stars are a joke as we all know. And I don't know the kid ( so not fair for me to make any judgement there).....but I know the program very well..Nobles football kids are hardly a force anywhere;)

True that stars aren't an indicator of talent, but if a kid is rated that highly you have to assume he had some national D1 interest. At least D2/FCS. And if he has grades for this league, how did the Ivies not grab him? Not like those kind of kids end up in the NESCAC every year. Makes the kid interesting at least.

Stars are a joke as we all know. And I don't know the kid ( so not fair for me to make any judgement there).....but I know the program very well..Nobles football kids are hardly a force anywhere;)

Totally agree and often these ratings are inflated or done by Recruiting sites that are just boosting their clients. I am more of a stat guy if a kid rushes 1,000 yards or QB has crazy stats and TD's or like that Trinity recruit has who recorded 64 career sacks I lend more credence in those numbers than ratings. You can say competitive level may not have been up to standards but to accomplish stats like that you have to be very talented player. In addition I do not believe NESCAC Coaches would recruit you to play if you were not on the talent level. Coaches know the level of competition that is out there so we have to believe they know how to recruit and evaluate talent. However some may not be academic eligible for the Ivy and more often than not you can get a better education at the NESCAC schools than a D1 or D2 school. Again depends what the kid wants in an education and college experience.

[Charlie]

The biggest question in NESCAC next year is, who throws the ball in Williamstown and how effective will he be in stepping in for Maimaron?  But the second biggest question is, who catches the ball for Trinity?  Fetter is a great QB, obviously, but he also benefited from a stacked, veteran receiving core with massive size advantages over everyone they played against, plus an elite speed receiver in DeVante Reid. 

If Reid does not return, and I believe he is not, Trinity graduated nearly all of its receiving yardage and TDs.  The top returnee at WR/TE is Mathew Laughlin, who looked good and certainly will have one spot locked down.  But after him, it's wide open.  Max Roche is another Scituate grad who might give Fetter the sort of big target he is clearly most comfortable throwing to.  But if there are young guys who is really talented, they certainly will get a shot, especially at TE which looks wide open after two very productive fifth-year guys depart.  No matter what, it's hard to imagine Fetter putting up QUITE as ridiculous stats without the dominant receiving core he had to work with last year. 

Because Williams has such a huge question mark at QB and Trinity at WR, I think those two, plus Wesleyan, are basically dead even going into the season.  Williams returns a crazily stacked defense (the DL and defensive backfield both return the entire two-deep that completely shut down both Trinity and Wesleyan) and TB group; Trinity is still loaded with talent almost everywhere (though does lose some really key defenders) and has the advantage of several 30-man recruiting classes to cull talent from; and Wesleyan, which looked pretty far behind Williams when they played last year, returns nearly everyone including some key guys who were injured, so should close the gap behind the top two (even despite some key coaching losses).

Reid and starting TE are returning to Trinity. So Fetter will have an Arsenal to throw to and they are also grooming young prospects. Trinity's run game will be solid as well. There defense will be only real weakness in the front seven. Williams exploited that last year but sure HC will make changes.

I agree with your question Mark about QB situation at Williams. However they are returning almost entire OL and RB. I believe with the defense they have they will be content on grinding out games running the ball and there defense will keep them in every game. I would not totally count out Wesleyan many returners but feel like this will again be another year that they fail to make the jump to tittle town. I also think the upheaval in their Coaching staff will hurt them at some point in the season.

Again should be rematch between Trinity & Williams for Championship

[nescac1]

I think your info is off on Trinity, Charlie.  Both of Trinity's top two tight ends were fifth-year seniors last year, so I don't see how either could possibly have eligibility left.  Reid sure seems like a guy who was planning on graduating this Spring based on everything he's said / shared, but if you have other info, I'd be curious to hear ...

Trinity graduates (I believe) all four of its all-league defenders, but Trinity almost always reloads rather than rebuilds on defense.  Still, those are big holes to fill. 

The question for Williams will be how to utilize all that talent in the backfield.  Fischetti, Nichols and Vaughn are all starting-caliber players (to put it mildly) who I think are too good to have just share one spot on offense, plus handle returns.  I'd have, when all three are healthy, Nichols and Fischetti be the TBs and turn Vaughn into a versatile weapon as a FB who can run, block, or catch passes out of the backfield.  Also maybe use Fischetti as a slot receiver at times to get him and Nicholas on the field together, since they are by FAR going to be the Ephs' two biggest playmakers on offense.  In a recent news article Nicholas said he was at 70 percent due to injury last year -- he had off-season surgery and is recovering.  That's a scary thought for the rest of the league as he was a monster in many games last season ... Nicholas seems to be graduating with a year of eligibility left and I think he could potentially be a D1 graduate transfer if he wants to go that route.  He's that talented and tough of a runner when he's right.  Using those guys together more might give a chance for carries by some of the Ephs' backfield depth, which is also excellent.  For example, speaking of Scituate, Will Sheskey was a big star there at TB but was (along with some other TBs who looked talented in limited opportunities) buried on the depth chart behind that trio. 

[jumpshot]

I really like what I see with the new Williams recruits. Several are physical, hard-hitting, strong, quick, linemen obviously passionate about playing football. Of course, capable in the classroom as well ... undoubtedly now have the opportunity to enjoy a great college experience guided by Coach Ray and the outstanding EPH assistants. We'll see who makes the most of this opportunity ....

[Charlie]

I think your info is off on Trinity, Charlie.  Both of Trinity's top two tight ends were fifth-year seniors last year, so I don't see how either could possibly have eligibility left.  Reid sure seems like a guy who was planning on graduating this Spring based on everything he's said / shared, but if you have other info, I'd be curious to hear ...

Trinity graduates (I believe) all four of its all-league defenders, but Trinity almost always reloads rather than rebuilds on defense.  Still, those are big holes to fill. 

The question for Williams will be how to utilize all that talent in the backfield.  Fischetti, Nichols and Vaughn are all starting-caliber players (to put it mildly) who I think are too good to have just share one spot on offense, plus handle returns.  I'd have, when all three are healthy, Nichols and Fischetti be the TBs and turn Vaughn into a versatile weapon as a FB who can run, block, or catch passes out of the backfield.  Also maybe use Fischetti as a slot receiver at times to get him and Nicholas on the field together, since they are by FAR going to be the Ephs' two biggest playmakers on offense.  In a recent news article Nicholas said he was at 70 percent due to injury last year -- he had off-season surgery and is recovering.  That's a scary thought for the rest of the league as he was a monster in many games last season ... Nicholas seems to be graduating with a year of eligibility left and I think he could potentially be a D1 graduate transfer if he wants to go that route.  He's that talented and tough of a runner when he's right.  Using those guys together more might give a chance for carries by some of the Ephs' backfield depth, which is also excellent.  For example, speaking of Scituate, Will Sheskey was a big star there at TB but was (along with some other TBs who looked talented in limited opportunities) buried on the depth chart behind that trio.

Trinity I will double check but I believe the TE is returning. Will double check with sources. Reid definitely is returning at WR. Coach made that statement in an interview he is Graduating in Spring and playing football next fall. In addition Trinity has a bunch of Juniors last year who have already told Coaching staff returning for a fifth year.

I think you assessment of William is correct. I think they will move one of the backs to a Debo Samual type player. They will play WR/RB/KR.

[nescac1]

Maybe the TE was hurt one year so has eligibility?  Can't see any other way.  Reid coming back is huge for them, certainly. 

Like that idea for a Debo-type role for Fischetti.  One way or another the Ephs need to get him close to 20 touches per game.  He's too good not to. 

[The Mole]

https://www.bowdoin.edu/news/2022/04/bowdoin-president-clayton-rose-announces-his-june-2023-departure.html?utm_source=D3Playbook&utm_campaign=45da964ffe-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2022_04_21_10_35&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f4649c1bfa-45da964ffe-420019889

[SpringSt7]

The question for Williams will be how to utilize all that talent in the backfield.  Fischetti, Nichols and Vaughn are all starting-caliber players (to put it mildly) who I think are too good to have just share one spot on offense, plus handle returns.  I'd have, when all three are healthy, Nichols and Fischetti be the TBs and turn Vaughn into a versatile weapon as a FB who can run, block, or catch passes out of the backfield.  Also maybe use Fischetti as a slot receiver at times to get him and Nicholas on the field together, since they are by FAR going to be the Ephs' two biggest playmakers on offense. 

I wonder if Vaughn doesn't end up as the odd man out in terms of touches out of the backfield. He's a tough, high IQ, and experienced guy who the staff will benefit from having on the field, no doubt. But in terms of talent and ability as a runner he isn't in the same stratosphere as the other two. No one benefited more from playing with Maimaron than Dan Vaughn, assuming Dickinson or whoever the next QB is isn't a generational runner of the football, his production should probably be expected to slip.

[nescac1]

Agree with SpringSt7 that as pure runners Fischetti and Nicholas are well ahead of Vaughn.  But Vaughn is just a great all-around football player, and he is really versatile (he's been listed as a QB, WR, and TB in his three prior seasons).  The kind of guy you want to find a big role for, for sure.  He is an excellent receiver out of the backfield and is easily big and physical enough to play as an H-back / fullback type if he puts on 5-10 pounds.  I'd love to see him used as a guy who shifts around a lot in the backfield, catches a slew of passes, as well as doing some physical running up the middle and blocking for the other guys.  Kind of like how Horihan was used, but probably doing more catching / running and less blocking overall ...