FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[lumbercat]

Civetti is a great recruiter and program builder but not a great game manager as I have noted here in the past.
Agree with NM he has underachieved a bit given some institutional advantages which Tufts has to offer (which he sells very well).

While he is by no means the Bill Belechick of the NESACAC I stick by my prior statement that I consider him better than a .500 coach.

[bantamweight]

...how does the Trinity Coach recruit and develop such talent, given that the NESCAC does not participate in the D3 Playoffs?  I would think to get kids who are willing to work so hard at FB, as it appears they do, the kids might feel a little cheated to not be able to go on and see how far they can do in the playoffs.

Does your kid not work hard? Did the Amherst coaches concede they won't compete for championships when recruiting him? I wonder why your son didn't elect to go to a school that participates in the playoffs. Or, are you really just throwing shade after an embarrassing defeat?

[Charlie]

...how does the Trinity Coach recruit and develop such talent, given that the NESCAC does not participate in the D3 Playoffs?  I would think to get kids who are willing to work so hard at FB, as it appears they do, the kids might feel a little cheated to not be able to go on and see how far they can do in the playoffs.

Does your kid not work hard? Did the Amherst coaches concede they won't compete for championships when recruiting him? I wonder why your son didn't elect to go to a school that participates in the playoffs. Or, are you really just throwing shade after an embarrassing defeat?

One thing I will say about Amherst and Hamilton is the players on these teams look small. Amherst looked like a High School team size wise against that of Trinity. I understand that these players may not be D1 and working out all year round but think there is some kind of lifting program in place at these schools. I know the upper eichelon NESACA schools have programs in place.

Hamilton actually has a starting LT that plays at 5'11 234 lbs I mean what is going on at these schools is it that hard to find athletes.

[GroundandPound]

I watched the video of the Bowdoin v. Middlebury game from last Saturday.
Bowdoin, in my opinion, is a very good team and very well coached.
They looked stronger physically than I remember from last year.
Their skill players on offense are terrific and their O Line did a great job picking of many blitzes throughout the game.
I believe they are capable of beating any team and wish the Polar Bears a great remainder of what I hope is a historic season for them.

[LochNescac]

Y'all see any schedule changes based on incoming weather this week?

That happened a couple weeks ago correct?

Looks like it could be nasty in Maine on Saturday.

[The Mole]

Tufts is by far the biggest school in the conference (6,800 undergrads; bigger than several/many FCS programs in the Northeast and more than twice as large as the next largest NESCAC school, Wesleyan), they may have the best location of any school in the NESCAC (which helps them attract a more diverse group of student-athletes), and Tufts is a stellar academic University with real graduate programs which allow their student-athletes to easily take a 5th year as a grad student, if they qualify. Given all of these factors, shouldn't Tufts be even better than they have been since 2014? Shouldn't they be able to compete with Hartford State? Has HCOF Jay actually under achieved relative to Tufts institutional potential?

YES. look at the national caliber of many of the other sports programs. Head scratcher

[The Mole]

How are we feeling about these rankings from before the season? Some movement in there?

1. Devanney--Trinity has more talent than the rest of the league but Lord Jeff and staff do a great job.
2. Mills has done a good job long term, deserves this spot, Ritter would be here if he had not retired
3. Dicenzo--Did Wesleyan and Dicenzo have THAT much more talent? I would say no, offline conversation required for this one...
4. Civetti record ain't that great but much better since the bad start in first 3 years (similar to Dicenzo's)
5. Raymond--should a Williams team that just went 9-0 ever go 3-6 in the next year?
6. Hammer--has scratched out some decent wins, can he ever get the support to move up higher?
7. Cosgrove at 4 is ludicrous. What has he done? $200mm facility and lots of admissions support, a winning record is mandatory
8. Murray may be destined for this spot, not sure you can win there consistently
Coyne--grade is incomplete until he can show a few years progress
Mandigo also incomplete but hard to believe he won't continue the success

[lumbercat]

...how does the Trinity Coach recruit and develop such talent, given that the NESCAC does not participate in the D3 Playoffs?  I would think to get kids who are willing to work so hard at FB, as it appears they do, the kids might feel a little cheated to not be able to go on and see how far they can do in the playoffs.

Does your kid not work hard? Did the Amherst coaches concede they won't compete for championships when recruiting him? I wonder why your son didn't elect to go to a school that participates in the playoffs. Or, are you really just throwing shade after an embarrassing defeat?

One thing I will say about Amherst and Hamilton is the players on these teams look small. Amherst looked like a High School team size wise against that of Trinity. I understand that these players may not be D1 and working out all year round but think there is some kind of lifting program in place at these schools. I know the upper eichelon NESACA schools have programs in place.

Hamilton actually has a starting LT that plays at 5'11 234 lbs I mean what is going on at these schools is it that hard to find athletes.

Jake Gosselin is Hamilton FY OT listed at 5"11" 234. He is not a starter, has not started a game this year.

I do note that Sam Feldman OL listed at 6'0" 217 has started every game. Thinking the 217 weight must be a typo.

[SpringSt7]

How are we feeling about these rankings from before the season? Some movement in there?
5. Raymond--should a Williams team that just went 9-0 ever go 3-6 in the next year?

The 3-6 year was ugly but at least explainable - a loss of a generationally good class of 5th year seniors that dominated the depth chart for their entire careers left a massive hole in experience and ability, plus a limited QB who got injured. This year has been much worse, two years removed from Maimaron et. al is plenty of time to get reacclimated and look better and they just don't. Maybe it was just one bad game and I know they are better but Williams should definitely never lose 20-0 to Bowdoin. I'd have him above Civetti because the highs have been higher but overall no gripes.

[Nescacman]

How are we feeling about these rankings from before the season? Some movement in there?

1. Devanney--Trinity has more talent than the rest of the league but Lord Jeff and staff do a great job.
2. Mills has done a good job long term, deserves this spot, Ritter would be here if he had not retired
3. Dicenzo--Did Wesleyan and Dicenzo have THAT much more talent? I would say no, offline conversation required for this one...
4. Civetti record ain't that great but much better since the bad start in first 3 years (similar to Dicenzo's)
5. Raymond--should a Williams team that just went 9-0 ever go 3-6 in the next year?
6. Hammer--has scratched out some decent wins, can he ever get the support to move up higher?
7. Cosgrove at 4 is ludicrous. What has he done? $200mm facility and lots of admissions support, a winning record is mandatory
8. Murray may be destined for this spot, not sure you can win there consistently
Coyne--grade is incomplete until he can show a few years progress
Mandigo also incomplete but hard to believe he won't continue the success

We would definitely have a different order, especially after the first 3 games of 2023...

[lumbercat]

Frankly- I'm not really bowled over by any NESCAC coaches.

When Cosgrove came to Colby from UMaine I thought he would be very successful in the conference as facilities and administrative support took off at Colby.
If you read the newspaper accounts of the recent loss to Trinity he came across as a beaten, befuddled old coach. He just couldn't fathom the beating Trinity hung on Colby. Believe his days in Waterville are coming to a close barring a sensational performance in the last 6 games. No substitute for the energy of coaching youth in todays NESCAC. It's a tough job.

I watch Coyne closely at Bates-- he's a very smart guy with an immense amount of energy. He should do very well, time will tell. It's a process of maturation. I know he'd love to have the clock management opportunity back from the last 3 minutes of the loss to Colby on Saturday.

Hammer at Bowdoin is finally producing some positive results. He seemed overly emotional and impatient early in his tenure but he's a young guy who may be maturing and starting to grow into the HC job

I think the best of the NESCAC bunch is EJ Mills. Ritter was also outstanding. I think almost any of the current coaches injected in the Trinity equation would achieve similar results to Lord Jeffrey.

One of the best I have seen in this league was the Whale. He was the Bill Parcells of the NESCAC.....always spoke his mind and had a great grip on Football and NESCAC football in particular. Totally honest, didn't worry too much of what others might say about him as he focused totally on doing his best for Wesleyan as a coach and AD.

[LochNescac]

Y'all see any schedule changes based on incoming weather this week?

That happened a couple weeks ago correct?

Looks like it could be nasty in Maine on Saturday.

Bump...Any talk of the forecasted tropical storm & heavy rain changing things in Maine Saturday??   

Looks like three outta five games this weekend are in Vacationland...

[Charlie]

...how does the Trinity Coach recruit and develop such talent, given that the NESCAC does not participate in the D3 Playoffs?  I would think to get kids who are willing to work so hard at FB, as it appears they do, the kids might feel a little cheated to not be able to go on and see how far they can do in the playoffs.

Does your kid not work hard? Did the Amherst coaches concede they won't compete for championships when recruiting him? I wonder why your son didn't elect to go to a school that participates in the playoffs. Or, are you really just throwing shade after an embarrassing defeat?

One thing I will say about Amherst and Hamilton is the players on these teams look small. Amherst looked like a High School team size wise against that of Trinity. I understand that these players may not be D1 and working out all year round but think there is some kind of lifting program in place at these schools. I know the upper eichelon NESACA schools have programs in place.

Hamilton actually has a starting LT that plays at 5'11 234 lbs I mean what is going on at these schools is it that hard to find athletes.

Jake Gosselin is Hamilton FY OT listed at 5"11" 234. He is not a starter, has not started a game this year.

I do note that Sam Feldman OL listed at 6'0" 217 has started every game. Thinking the 217 weight must be a typo.

#54 played a great deal against Wesleyan dont know if started because of injuries or was replacement. At any rate speaks volumes about size differentail amongst some teams in the NESCAC if these two are OL.

[lumbercat]

No question Hamilton looks to be a smaller team.

[The Mole]

Lumber, you souring on Cosgrove, finally? You have been his #1 fan and touting Colby as an up and comer. Seems like Hammer is the one in Maine getting more results. I love Coyne, but he is 3-9. Seems to be a decent injection of talent in Lewiston. He needs a signature win outside of Maine. Another W over Amherst this week helps but knocking off Middlebury would say more about the progress.
What is your opinion on why Mills and Mammoths have been so weak on offense? Recruiting? Development? That is on him, correct?
Should Williams or Amherst ever not be in the top echelon? Do they not get the pick of the litter? Just hearing excuses...