FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[Trin9-0]

Interesting article in Newsweek on a (real or imagined) culture shift at Wesleyan.
I'm not sure if you could directly correlate this to their recent success in football, or athletics in general, but one could certainly make the argument.

http://mag.newsweek.com/2013/12/13/diversity-protest-activism-wesleyan.html

Sounds like a potential identity crisis in Middletown. I'll be curious to see if, and how far, the pendulum swings in the other direction. 

[frank uible]

What happens should one at Wesleyan merely desire to urinate, conventionally, quickly, simply and undisturbed and without becoming a party to, or a target of, a political event?

[Pat Coleman]

A cardinal rule for maintaining equanimity in fandom is "don't take all-star teams seriously". They very much tend to be haphazard, careless and full of ignorance and petty politics.

Thanks, Frank. Happy holidays to you too.

[frank uible]

Happy holidays to you too, Pat, and to all the posters here.

[amh63]

You too Frank!  Me too to all the posters here....Take care and stay healthy and wise....need to argue more in '14

[amh63]

Tom Parker, Dean of Admission and Financial Aid at Amherst will retire after 15 years at Amherst on July '14.  Tom Parker, Williams '69 was Director of Admissions at Williams for 6 years prior to his arrival at Amherst. 
Thought all the posters here should know this....so as to mark the date of the "decline" of the LJs on the gridiron His successor is an Amherst graduate in the class of '81 who has worked in the admission office for 23 years...presently is the Dean of Admission.  Hope she was mentored well by Dean Parker wrt to sports .  Wonder if the other Williams grad will move up?  Hope so, good guy!

[gbpuckfan]

***************************************************************************

DE PERE, Wis. - St. Norbert College has named Steve Opgenorth as its head football coach, athletics director Tim Bald announced today.

Opgenorth, 32, arrives in De Pere as the Green Knights' tenth head football coach after two seasons as offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator at Colby College in Waterville, Maine.  Opgenorth is a Green Bay native and a graduate of Green Bay Southwest High School. He is a 2005 graduate of Winona State University, where he was a standout specialist with the Warriors.

"We are excited to have Steve Opgenorth join the St. Norbert College community," Bald said. "Steve possesses the right mix of enthusiasm, vision and leadership to guide our football program. His emphasis on academic and athletic success fits perfectly within the mission of St. Norbert College and Green Knight athletics."

While at Colby, Opgenorth instituted a multiple spread offense. During the 2013 season, sophomore wide receiver Luke Duncklee was a first-team All-NESCAC selection and sophomore quarterback Justin Ciero was a second-team All-NESCAC honoree while leading the White Mules in both passing and rushing. Colby's attendance increased 260 percent in 2013 when compared to the season before Opgenorth's arrival.

"I'm extremely excited in the opportunity to lead the St. Norbert College football program," Opgenorth said. "We will strive to recruit and develop the very best student-athletes possible here at St. Norbert College. This is truly a special place to call home and play college football. I will do everything possible to ensure our players reach their full potential as people, students and athletes."

Opgenorth also spent two seasons at Winona State coaching wide receivers and special teams while coordinating recruiting, three seasons at Albright (Pa.) College as defensive backs coach, special teams coordinator and recruiting coordinator, and two seasons coaching wide receivers and specialists as a graduate assistant at Carroll University in Waukesha.

Opgenorth spent the 2010 and 2011 seasons on the staff at Winona State. The Warriors averaged 33.5 points per game in 2011 en route to a 7-4 record in the rigorous Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. Winona State led all NCAA divisions in punt return yardage at 18.9 yards per return in 2010.

From 2007-09, Opgenorth coached at Albright. In 2009, Albright finished 11-2 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III Playoffs, setting a school record for wins just three years after posting a 2-8 record. Opgenorth was also Albright's academic coordinator, helping 32 players earn all-academic honors in his three seasons.

Opgenorth started his coaching career at Carroll, and helped develop All-Midwest Conference honorees at wide receiver, tight end and placekicker.

Opgenorth is a highly decorated player in Winona State football annals, and was selected to the Warriors' All-Century Team in 2005 as a specialist. Opgenorth is third in career scoring in Winona State history with 323 points, which is the most among kickers. He is also the Warriors' career leader in field goals (45) and extra points (186). Opegnorth was a three-time All-NSIC selection, and aided Winona State to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II Playoffs in 2003.

St. Norbert began intercollegiate football in 1931 and is 420-277-20 in 80 seasons. The Green Knights joined the Midwest Conference for football in 1984, and have won 15 conference championships in that stretch while going 178-36 in league play. St. Norbert has appeared in 11 NCAA Division III Playoffs.

[nescac1]

FYI: http://ephsports.williams.edu/sports/fball/2013-14/releases/20140106woz3cf

[Trin9-0]

A few CT high school NESCAC commits:

Beau Santero, OL, 6'4" 230, New Canaan — Amherst
Alex Dobbin, TE/DT, 6'4'' 206, New Canaan — Bowdoin
Max Wilson, DB, 5'10" 169, New Canaan — Bowdoin
Michael DiCosmo, WR/DB, 5'11" 152, New Canaan — Colby
Joao Rocha, OL, 6'2" 256, New Canaan — Middlebury
Ethan Suraci, LB, 5'11" 205, North Haven — Trinity
Joe Farrah, LB/OT, 6'2" 210, Hall — Trinity
Mick Pernell, RB/CB, 5'7" 165, Naugatuck/Taft — Tufts

New Canaan High School has a long record of sending kids to NESCAC programs but wow, FIVE kids in one class is impressive. John Marinelli, an assistant at New Canaan, was a star safety at Trinity from '05-'08. His father Lou is the head coach and a CT high school coaching legend.

I'm also thrilled to see that Ethan Suraci who's from my high school alma mater, North Haven, will now be a Bantam. Great player and an even better kid. I know he was being recruited by Wesleyan and Bowdoin. Glad to see he made the right choice! 

[amh63]

Trinity8-0....thanks for the info.    Cannot say which school got the top "recruit" out of New Canaan, but can say Amherst got the biggest!

[Trin9-0]

A few CT high school NESCAC commits:

Beau Santero, OL, 6'4" 230, New Canaan — Amherst
Alex Dobbin, TE/DT, 6'4'' 206, New Canaan — Bowdoin
Max Wilson, DB, 5'10" 169, New Canaan — Bowdoin
Michael DiCosmo, WR/DB, 5'11" 152, New Canaan — Colby
Joao Rocha, OL, 6'2" 256, New Canaan — Middlebury
Ethan Suraci, LB, 5'11" 205, North Haven — Trinity
Joe Farrah, LB/OT, 6'2" 210, Hall — Trinity
Mick Pernell, RB/CB, 5'7" 165, Naugatuck/Taft — Tufts

Here's some more in-state commits for Trinity:

Jack Rokoszy, LB, 6'2" 215, Stamford
Nick Ward, OL, 6'3" 285, Staples
Will Johnson, WR, 5'10" 170, Staples
Carty Campbell, LB, 6'1" 225, Stamford/Taft
Brian Vieira, WR, 6'1" 190, Suffield Academy
Andrew Meoli, RB, 6' 200, Xavier
Chris Simmons, OL, 6'4" 285, Choate/Manchester

[maineman]

One Trinity recruit from out of state:

Reading, Ma native Liam Kenneally has committed to play football at Trinity next fall.

Kenneally will join Trinity College in Hartford, according to a report in the Boston Herald.

Kenneally was the team's defensive captain during his senior year.

[met_fan]

What happened at Hamilton? The AD is taking over and Cohen left Feb. 1.

[Yarsan]

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.

[frank uible]

If it is perceived by a substantial portion of the squad that their head coach plays favorites among them it is devastating not only from a player morale standpoint but also from its failure to place the best team on the field.