FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[NothingButNESCAC]

Just wondering Lumbercat, what is the methodology here? Do you talk to coaches about their recruits and then look them up online? Or are you getting your information/opinions from various places and aggregating them yourself? You just seem to have a lot of info.

[AUPepBand]

Rcruiting grades in the NESCAC for class of 2019-

Hamilton- based on existing information class look small and weak but much unknown here, Murray could have an arsenal coming in from western NY that we know nothing about.

Pep probably doesn't know much more than lumbercat regarding the 2015 Hamilton recruit class. But based on Pep's knowing Coach Dave Murray personally, and the relationships he's built with high school coaches all over Western New York as well as in New Jersey, his first year of recruiting for the Buff and Blue will not disappoint. For perhaps the first time ever, Pep has seen a few Rochester area All-Stars who double as top notch students, say they will continue their football careers in college at Hamilton.

Let's go, Continentals!!

[amh63]

Reporting back to "duty".  Got back from my mini vacation...broke and fat!
Saw more NFL player's chests in the elevators.  After Richmond, headed to the Durham Chapel Heel area to visit my "best man" who moved there from Ct.  Seems the local D1 football players are arriving to start the preseason....lots of out of state tags on cars and speeding vehicles .
Amherst football schedule has been updated.....no night games this season.  Maybe saving on the electric bills....and therefore costs!
Booked my room for the Bowdoin game.  Will book rooms for Homecoming after the family beach week....to firm plans.
The Amherst dome on news remains

[PolarCat]

2 problems with night games:

Lights = increased energy consumption = increased carbon emissions, and the tree-hugger element on campus (which for most 'Cac's may be 80% of the student body and 99% of the faculty) gets berserk.

Night game = less quality drinking time on Saturday night (though maybe more "pre-gaming").  Unlikely the faculty cares about that, but the student body does (at least, the fraction of the student body which actually attends football games), and the local Budweiser distributor REALLY cares about that.

[NewtoNescac]

If you have lights, no reason not to have at least one night game. Geez, Wesleyan brought lights in for a game last year. Didn't they? I love night games.

[polbear73]

Reports out of Brunswick indicate that JB Wells was able to bring in a few last minute recruits plus 312 defensive tackle Tevin Montgomery transferring in from Boston College. Expected Whittier Field renovation to have been announced but nothing so far.

[amh63]

polbear73.....thanks for the info.  A true polar Bear size tackle
Raises the question of what is going on at BC.  Williams' QB....just named a co-captain...is also a BC transfer.....as was a recent basketball player at Williams.  More of a topic question here vice a criticism on the program....like why a D1 level player would transfer down to D3, especially an eight game season program.

[NewtoNescac]

I'm guessing you get some bright kids that just aren't getting the playing time at D1. Or it becomes more of a commitment than they want to make. It can be any number of reasons. Then the question becomes how good will they be at D3? Just because they were D1 doesn't guarantee D3 success. But I'd love to have those types of recruits, especially a 312 lb. DT from BC.

[Trin9-0]

Trinity season preview is posted:
http://www.bantamsports.com/sports/fball/2015-16/releases/Football_21516

The Bants need to take a huge step forward this season to get the terrible taste of consecutive 4th place finishes in the NESCAC and an almost unthinkable current 3 game losing streak. From what I've heard, Puzzo looks great and is the favorite to win the QB job in Hartford.

Hopefully the 36 returning letter winners have what it takes to put Trin back on top of the 'Cac.

[fulbakdad]

Montgomery is an interesting story.  He went to Tabor for 2 years as a player who had never played football.  He was a basketball player who couldn't break into the D1 basketball field so decided (with encouragement) to give football a try.  He went to the BC Football camp and was offered a full ride even though he had never played in a High School football game!  Even though he missed many games to injury, he was selected to (I believe) the Under Armor All American Bowl.  I had been watching him from a distance, but there was a report that he just up and left Chestnut Hill.

So I believe you have a player with all the right make ups to be a great player, just needs to be kept on the map.

[polbear73]

Thank you for the info on Mongomery.  I was wondering what the story was because he left BC in December of 2013 (I believe) and surfaced at Bowdoin for entrance this fall.  He will certainly be an interesting story to follow. 

[PolarCat]

My kids went to Tabor with Tevin.  Nicest kid you will ever meet.  And one heck of a player.  If I recall correctly, rough inner city background.  My understanding is that he did not make the roster at BC, don't know whether that was because of academics or injuries.

After Tevin left BC he was working as an intern at Suffolk Construction.  Suffolk CEO John Fish (a Tabor and Bowdoin alum, and another one of the nicest guys you will ever meet) took Tevin under his wing, and likely helped "grease the skids" for him with Bowdoin Admissions.

So great kid, big natural talent, but at age 20 or 21, he only 2 years of playing football under his belt.  I'm pulling for him, but it may take a while for him to make an impact.

[polbear73]

Polar Cat-Thank you.  A quick google shows that there is a bit of mystery about his time at BC-he did not see the field in his first year and assumed to have been redshirted. I believe he was originally from Texas. He did show up on BC's official roster and all articles point to his being a very highly recruited kid at good academic institutions (Vanderbilt was also mentioned)with high upside and that his leaving left BC thin on the defensive line. 

I agree with your comments and observations and appreciate your insights. 

[quicksilver]

Montgomery red shirted as a freshman and left BC after his first semester. An intriguing prospect for the Polar bears. His number one sport in high school was basketball and he switched to football only after concluding that he was not tall enough to secure a D1 basketball offer. His childhood was nomadic, with many schools and geographic locations.

[PolarCat]

polbear, thanks for refreshing my memory.  Both the BC roster page and his senior year Tabor mugbook confirm he was from TX.  Though for some reason I thought he was living with a relative locally (maybe an aunt in Boston?) when he came to Tabor.  It's entirely possible my memory is faulty (seems to happen a lot as I get older).  But with 9 siblings it's also possible he'd left TX. 

Here's a photo from his FB page.  This is Tevin as I remember him: the epitome of a gentle giant.  Really happy for him, and for Bowdoin: https://scontent-lga1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtf1/v/t1.0-9/10552631_1418144338426858_4203496208401725944_n.jpg?oh=b7b9b69a06bb5094489c9a3c8980079f&oe=56472B62

EDIT: Turns out my memory isn't entirely shot.  Tevin's LinkedIn page says he attended Boston Trinity Academy for 9th and 10th grades before moving to Tabor.  And he just turned 21, so if he's got 4 years of eligibility left, Coach Wells done good.