FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[ITH radio]

Ran into a proud parent of a Trinity FB player this AM (the blue and yellow Bantams t-shirt gave it away and my being from Hartford and being a D3FB fan, I actually know what a Bantam is).

He said his son was excited to see snow for the first time (grew up in FL) tmw when the Bantams line up vs. the Panthers (my dad's alma mater) in VT.  Looking at the kids' resume from the roster, he should be a good player for the Bantams down the road.  Led a strong HS program here in the Orlando area to a couple of district titles which is saying a lot.

Good luck to both teams tmw and let it snow!

[lewdogg11]

Ran into a proud parent of a Trinity FB player this AM (the blue and yellow Bantams t-shirt gave it away and my being from Hartford and being a D3FB fan, I actually know what a Bantam is).

He said his son was excited to see snow for the first time (grew up in FL) tmw when the Bantams line up vs. the Panthers (my dad's alma mater) in VT.  Looking at the kids' resume from the roster, he should be a good player for the Bantams down the road.  Led a strong HS program here in the Orlando area to a couple of district titles which is saying a lot.

Good luck to both teams tmw and let it snow!

Any chance the kid is HUGE and maybe fake recruited by Alabama and Florida?

[Knightstalker]

Ran into a proud parent of a Trinity FB player this AM (the blue and yellow Bantams t-shirt gave it away and my being from Hartford and being a D3FB fan, I actually know what a Bantam is).

He said his son was excited to see snow for the first time (grew up in FL) tmw when the Bantams line up vs. the Panthers (my dad's alma mater) in VT.  Looking at the kids' resume from the roster, he should be a good player for the Bantams down the road.  Led a strong HS program here in the Orlando area to a couple of district titles which is saying a lot.

Good luck to both teams tmw and let it snow!

Any chance the kid is HUGE and maybe fake recruited by Alabama and Florida?

And did he have BLAZING speed?

[Nescacman]

I certainly have no inside knowledge of the Williams football program, but I can say this about athletics at Williams, in general: I don't believe that Williams has at any time since I've followed the school (about 20 years) EVER fired a coach based on W-L record.  I can think of a grand total of ONE coach who was fired during that time, and that was based on a variety of factors, including some, let's say, politically incorrect statements that he made.  And while most Williams sports have been successful, there have been some notable exceptions, as Williams has recently featured some poor win-loss records, over a  several year period, in a few sports -- yet those coaches remain in place.  Now, football has a lot higher profile, but assuming that Coach Kelton is well-liked by players and peers, and his players perform well in the classroom and haven't been involved in any sort of problematic behavior outside the playing field (I have no reason to think otherwise), I have a feeling that the school would be reluctant to part ways with him over anything as uncouth (in the high-academic D-3 vernacular) as wins and losses ... Ohio State or USC, this ain't. 

The honest truth is that while a few alums with a lot of money care about football, 95 percent of Williams alums (and probably the majority of the current student body) who you speak with will have no idea about Williams' win-loss record in any given year.  The only game that is paid attention to, if at all, is Amherst.  And while there will be some general grumbling if Amherst beats Williams for a third time in a row, the vast majority of alumni still won't care.  I just can't imagine a huge (or even a material) groundswell of support for replacing Coach Kelton unless the team has more than two or three losing seasons in a row. 

And I do note that the team has shown signs of improvement in recent weeks, and returns almost every key player next season -- including the entire two-deep on the offensive line, and six out of seven guys from the defensive front seven -- except for QB, which will for the fourth consecutive year remain a huge question mark.  But if, say, the Ephs got a big-time transfer (any more Footes out there ?) or stretched a bit for a superstar frosh at QB, the team's prognosis would change in a hurry, with enough talent on hand at other positions to at least return to a 5-3 or 6-2 type team (especially if the team evens out the turnover differential, which tends to vary a lot from year-to-year, as Phil Steele often says in his prognostications, turnovers = turnaround and the odds are the Ephs will not be minus 12 again anytime soon). 

Kelton HAS shown he can win if he has an elite QB at his disposal.  The fact is, whether it is his fault, his assistants', or admissions', he has not recruited one.  But as we have seen at Wesleyan, and as we saw at Amherst after the Ostendarp era ended (when Amherst was in a BIG hurry to improve the team, and admissions cooperated), all it takes is admissions letting in a few extra superstar guys per year, over a several-year period, to quickly change the trajectory of a program.  The new stadium can only help as well, as Williams goes from perhaps the worst facilities in NESCAC to the best.  Hence, to the extent there is pressure exerted by any alumni with the resources to have influence (and I'm not sure there has been or will be), I think the pressure would involve letting a few more guys slide per year in admissions and at least partially reversing some of the recent tightening, before a coach would be fired.  If Kelton was given a few more true stars per year to work with, and still couldn't reverse the slide in fortunes, maybe, maybe things would change then.   I don't want to let him off the hook entirely -- I have been critical of both offensive and defensive strategies at times, and as a coach your first job is to recruit, and ultimately, you are the one accountable for how the team performs.  But if Pat Lucey or Pat Moffitt or Sean Keenan was the QB of this squad, and they had an Ethan Brooks or Bobby Walker or Scott Farley on defense, I am pretty confident that the team would be a 6-2 or 7-1 or even 8-0 squad again, with or without a coaching change. 

Again, this is all speculation, but informed by watching twenty years of how Williams athletics operates.

Very good and well written post Nescac1.

A couple of points. First, I think football is different than any other sport and it is very difficult to draw an analogy to any other sport being played in the NESCAC today. I would note that part of the reason that the coaching issue has never come up at Williams (at least in recent history) is because of who HCOF Kelton's predecessors were and the success THEY created. We are talking about legendary and/or highly successful coaches like Bob Odell, Dick Farley, and Mike Whalen. At this point, HCOF Kelton has, in my very humble opinion, not demonstrated the ability as HCOF to be considered even close to the level of that superior group. My point is we are in uncharted territory as far as Williams is concerned and it is difficult to determine what is going to happen if the current trends continue.

Second, although I get the point about the current talent level at Williams, it is very tough to start playing "what ifs" at certain positions. For example, "what if" Amherst has QB Foote last Saturday? Would we be having a different conversation about who the best team is right now in the NESCAC? I think probably yes. Or "what if" let's say the current Bowdoin team had former Bantam Joe Shield at QB (for those with a short memory or for our younger viewers, Mr. Shield played for the Bantams in the early '80's, was drafted and briefly played in the NFL for the Pack for 2 years ('85 and '86)  and in my mind, was the best QB I have have ever seen in the NESCAC...http://www.nfl.com/player/joeshield/2525500/profile). Would Bowdoin be better than their current 2-3 record? I'll go out on a limb and say yes. The point is, you really can't play "what if" and can only judge the team based on the talent level that is actually out their on Saturday (and BTW, the point was made that one of, if the most important job as HCOF is to recruit and make sure you have quality at all positions, in particular QB).

Interesting discussion though. Keep it coming (and more on HCOF Kelton in the weeks to come).     

[TheHerst2and4]

"We have a Coach Caputi at Bowdoin" (an Animal House reference for you film buffs out there and just in case you want to watch it):

couldn't resist plugging the Amherst ties to the movie...

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/an-n_RQ4b477hbJmm/animal_house_1978_getting_dates_from_girls_college/

[mattvsmith]

Ran into a proud parent of a Trinity FB player this AM (the blue and yellow Bantams t-shirt gave it away and my being from Hartford and being a D3FB fan, I actually know what a Bantam is).

He said his son was excited to see snow for the first time (grew up in FL) tmw when the Bantams line up vs. the Panthers (my dad's alma mater) in VT.  Looking at the kids' resume from the roster, he should be a good player for the Bantams down the road.  Led a strong HS program here in the Orlando area to a couple of district titles which is saying a lot.

Good luck to both teams tmw and let it snow!

Any chance the kid is HUGE and maybe fake recruited by Alabama and Florida?

And did he have BLAZING speed?

Darn, KS. You beat me to it.

[Panthernation]

Our Midseason Awards: http://sites.middlebury.edu/panthernation/2013/10/25/midseason-awards-post/

[amh63]

Every thing wrt to reviews seem to be coming out later this week.
Nescacman...your late post was worth the wait!  Enjoyable and with a touch of "spice".
Will not say much about the upcoming Tufts game in Melford.  Awaiting the Amherst post and hopefully another podcast with Coach Mills ...to hear his thoughts on the games past and to come.
Amherst to date has shown,IMO , to be flat in away games.  Though Tufts is not a long road trip, I fear it can be a "trap" game to a degree.  The team was up for The Cardinals last week due in part to the field dedication and it being Homecoming.  I read somewhere that when teams get up too high, mistakes occur...and mistakes did happen.  Trinity comes up next week and I feel the team wants that game bad...for many reasons.  Therefore, the trap game fear.
Several posters brought the issues of Williams HFC  and QBs and recruiting.  I will make a few "two cents worth" comments here and they are just for chatting purposes.
When HFC Whalen went to Middletown, The Ephs' next starting QB followed him.  That QB never won a game over Amherst.  Williams beat Amherst the next year with the talent on hand.
Is it possible that Keaton does not have the HS football network set up yet to get a top QB recruit?
I recall an Amherst backup football player that went on to be an highly successful HS football coach in NJ..Glen Ridge?  In any case, he sent many talented players to conference schools..but the best ended up at Amherst..my bias view .  I believe a past rule is still in effect now.. Coaches cannot visit recruits in the CAC.  In any case,  I believe a strong network will be rebuilt at Williams and the new facilities in Willy town will help.
I close with a story that is related to this post.  last Sunday,  I went to the Amherst athletic complex in the morning.  Most of the coaches offices were closed.  The football coaches' doors were open and busy.  Recruits were about with friends and family members.  It is a busy time of the year for the coaches on and off the field.  I did chat with Coach Mills briefly.  I related to him Coach Whalen's remarks to me wrt to the Williams game.  He assured me that he and the coaches are focused only on Tufts.  I believe he was not happy about his teams' mistakes and most likely annoyed with me at interrupting him and his staff on a busy morning.  I do have a way of annoying HCs.

[Trin9-0]

Our Midseason Awards: http://sites.middlebury.edu/panthernation/2013/10/25/midseason-awards-post/

Thank goodness for Mike Weatherby or Trinity would have been completely shutout of your midseason awards. Seems strange considering the Bantams are undefeated and have the league's top rusher. Bunker, by the way needs just 204 yards in the final three games to become the NESCAC all-time rushing leader.

Also, you mention that Foote's 340 yards per game is 120 yards more than Doll's 220. However, Foote also has thrown nearly twice as much and has only two more touchdown passes (11) as interceptions (9). Also, his yards per attempt are 8th in the league among quarterbacks with at least 40 attempts. 

With that said, I still think Foote is the top QB in the NESCAC this year but there's also not much competition for that title. My MVP vote at this point would be for either Bunker or Drew.

[AlDavis]

Good Afternoon Coopster 8.0 and much respect , please be 7 - 0......Amhurt63 done gone piss me off again after we just cooled off knowing we had something in common as we both use to handle Nuclear Weapons ....but have to go out to my shed and get my FlameThrower on your aarse.....just making sure there was no dig intended towards Coach Coyne as he was a fierce competitor and now has beaten Amhurt as a Coach ; and a Young Gun Blue-Chipper Coach at that as from what I see from a distance has his blueprint all over this team as one of Coach W's right hand men.....so easy as you go there Amhurt63 and of course Coach Mills is mad bro because No More Little 3 for him and Coach Mills is a Champion and probably wanted to bite your face off popping in after a devastating loss and glimpse into the future.....I want to state that I come in peace to 7 NESCAC teams including Trinity and luv for 1 , and my Flame Thrower for the other 2.....Not Sure of this Conn College team NESCACMan keeps putting in his rankings , they must be on probation or something.

[lumbercat]

Panther-
Enjoyed your mid season all conference post. Thanks for posting but you left off one of the top 4 or 5 players in the conference...Andrew Kukesh of Bates. He is as good as I have seen in many years at the Safety position in the conference. I think he's second or third in tackles and has been a standout in every game this year. Last week he was moved to LB with all the injuries to the Bates D- he had another great game against the Panthers with 10 or 11 tackles and deflected a pass that led to a Bates interception.

[Panthernation]

Panther-
Enjoyed your mid season all conference post. Thanks for posting but you left off one of the top 4 or 5 players in the conference...Andrew Kukesh of Bates. He is as good as I have seen in many years at the Safety position in the conference. I think he's second or third in tackles and has been a standout in every game this year. Last week he was moved to LB with all the injuries to the Bates D- he had another great game against the Panthers with 10 or 11 tackles and deflected a pass that led to a Bates interception.

We were aware that he was not on the team. To clarify, the team was made by our new guest contributor, Adam Lamont. But Adam also was aware, and likely believes that Kukesh's impact has not warranted the honor to this point. One thing to keep in mind with Kukesh is that he has been forced to play out of position more this year.

As for Trinity, their depth of talent is unquestionable, but when you make just one team it's hard, especially with no individual offensive linemen. Which of Adam's picks would you take off the team?

[lumbercat]

Sure,  good points Panther but let me clarify  Kukesh has played out of position once this year....last week against Middlebury which presumably took place under the direct  watch of your guest colleague.....not sure how closely he was watching the game.

Kukesh was again the most dominant defensive force on the field though your guy Patricia was most impressive as well. The fact that Kukesh can move to another position and dominate there as well is an attest to his overall ability and athleticism.....this kid is a great one guys.

[lumbercat]

Panther- sorry I didn't respond to your question about who I would take off the team as chosen by your guest contributor.....the only DB in Kukesh's class is Lewis but he is a corner so I will say the 2 best DBs in the league are Kukesh and Lewis........Leedy, a solid player but another Middlebury homer pick, he's not in the class of the aforementioned. Respectfully suggest that you look at the game tape from last week and tell me Leedy is anywhere close to Kukesh.

Utmost respect for Padula at Colby but not in the elite class and Dietz at Amherst is about at Leedy's level.

This is all in good spirit as these debates are fun....thanks for sticking your neck out with a great post that elicits this kind of spirited discussion.

You guys have an excellent chance to beat mighty Trinity tomorrow....if Foote is on you will win.....Good Luck.

[AlDavis]

at the Brunswick Diner having a Lobstaaah Omelette du Fromage in the Land of Caveman Offense and Tough Midgets....wherz the women at.....too cold to sleep in the woods or the graveyard....I think rednecks are staring at my watch , so keeping my head on a swivel.