FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[P'bearfan]

Caputi's career record is 35-81 (a career winning percentage .302). In 15 seasons he has had exactly one winning season and this year will not be his second. My question is what took the Bowdoin administration so long to make the change?

A couple of quick thoughts:

-I wish HCOF Caputi nothing but the best and I hope he lands somewhere great.

-Completely agree that since the NESCAC is about the true student athlete experience coaches don't get fired for their records – especially over the short to medium term.  And I agree 100% with this approach.

-Also agree with the point that a coach's success is strongly linked to the school's emphasis on the particular sport and the athletes the coach can get admitted (i.e. the "jimmies and joes").  Each school makes their own decisions and that's the way it is.

-Nescacman – while I have no information on how or why the decision was made, in historical terms Bowdoin didn't take that long. 

Bowdoin has an overall record of 386 – 495 – 43 (win pct of .418).   In the last 55 years Bowdoin has only had 5 football coaches and in that time only one of them had a winning pct above .500 – and that was HCOF Corey who started 55 years ago and coached for 6 seasons.  HCOF Vandersea, who immediately preceded HCOF Caputi, coached for 16 seasons and had a winning pct of just 0.371.

Bowdoin isn't the only school with this approach.  Bates has an overall record of 300 – 509 – 47 (win pct of 0.350).  The Bobcats have only had 4 coaches in the last 40 years and only one of them, HCOF Hardy, had a win pct over .500 (.558).  Even HCOF Pardy, who had a win pct of .043 (no, that's not a typo) lasted 6 years. 

[ContinentalsMan]

To survive these days, no matter what conference you play in, you have to win or at the very least, be competitive ... The only conference in America at any level in football that compares to the NESCAC academically is the Ivy League and you can make a good case that when it comes to the full-school/academic experience the NESCAC stands up right beside their big brother ...  I can only speak about my experience with Hamilton but last season it became very apparent that there were alumni and current players that had come to the end of their rope with the school's football program ... At first, it appeared AD Jon Hind was going to take over the program and perhaps work with one of the young coaches and transition them over time into a HC ... but the Board pf Trustees wanted a head coach with experience and a good track record and they went to Dave Murray at Alfred, who they had gone to previously and offered the job before they went with Andrew Cohn ... This time Murray accepted and brought two coaches with him to be his OC and DC and it is very apparent that despite the team's 0-4 record, Hamilton has been very competitive in every game and with a break or two here, a mistake less there, they easily could be 2-2 or even 3-1 with a win over a Wesleyan or Trinity M... My point here is that the alumni of the NESCAC schools want their teams to win ... Period ... Does that mean that they will take a group of kids with a 2.5 average and 1,000 SAT score? ... Perhaps not but anyone that doesn't think that many of these schools are not relaxing their admission policies for football players are crazy ... Here's my point ... You would not have believed the turnout and excitement for Hamilton's homecoming (they school calls it Fallcoming) game last week against Bowdoin ... The alumni, the administration, the teachers, the students, could sense that this football team is different than in year's past, that something had changed and was new and exciting ... So they showed up in a big way ... And here is something else that has changed for the better in Clinton ... The close loss to Bowdoin Saturday was a tough one, a very emotional loss for players that haven't won a game in two years ... But Murray and his staff didn't hide afterwards and put on their best game face ... The wins will come, perhaps not this year but they will come ... For me, I see this happening all across the league and Bowdoin is sending a strong statement that it wants to win ... What has happened at the D1 level has slowly dripped all the way down to the Little Ivie Conference ... The days of lasting more than a few years for HC's and not winning is over ... Like it or not, college football has become that important, even at its smallest level ... And don't laugh but some day you will see The NESCAC Network, just like the SEC and Big Ten ... It won't won't come close to those others in size but some day you are going to be able to watch every NESCAC football game digitally under one network and will see more than Williams-Amherst on TV ... Some 14 years ago they laughed when the SEC commissioner said his conference would have a network all to themselves ... Wouldn't it be great every Saturday to go to one place online and get every NESCAC game and why wouldn't TV stations in the New England area run a game of the week ... It's going to happen ...   

[AUPepBand]

To survive these days, no matter what conference you play in, you have to win or at the very least, be competitive ... The only conference in America at any level in football that compares to the NESCAC academically is the Ivy League and you can make a good case that when it comes to the full-school/academic experience the NESCAC stands up right beside their big brother ...  I can only speak about my experience with Hamilton but last season it became very apparent that there were alumni and current players that had come to the end of their rope with the school's football program ... At first, it appeared AD Jon Hind was going to take over the program and perhaps work with one of the young coaches and transition them over time into a HC ... but the Board pf Trustees wanted a head coach with experience and a good track record and they went to Dave Murray at Alfred, who they had gone to previously and offered the job before they went with Andrew Cohn ... This time Murray accepted and brought two coaches with him to be his OC and DC and it is very apparent that despite the team's 0-4 record, Hamilton has been very competitive in every game and with a break or two here, a mistake less there, they easily could be 2-2 or even 3-1 with a win over a Wesleyan or Trinity M... My point here is that the alumni of the NESCAC schools want their teams to win ... Period ... Does that mean that they will take a group of kids with a 2.5 average and 1,000 SAT score? ... Perhaps not but anyone that doesn't think that many of these schools are not relaxing their admission policies for football players are crazy ... Here's my point ... You would not have believed the turnout and excitement for Hamilton's homecoming (they school calls it Fallcoming) game last week against Bowdoin ... The alumni, the administration, the teachers, the students, could sense that this football team is different than in year's past, that something had changed and was new and exciting ... So they showed up in a big way ... And here is something else that has changed for the better in Clinton ... The close loss to Bowdoin Saturday was a tough one, a very emotional loss for players that haven't won a game in two years ... But Murray and his staff didn't hide afterwards and put on their best game face ... The wins will come, perhaps not this year but they will come ... For me, I see this happening all across the league and Bowdoin is sending a strong statement that it wants to win ... What has happened at the D1 level has slowly dripped all the way down to the Little Ivie Conference ... The days of lasting more than a few years for HC's and not winning is over ... Like it or not, college football has become that important, even at its smallest level ... And don't laugh but some day you will see The NESCAC Network, just like the SEC and Big Ten ... It won't won't come close to those others in size but some day you are going to be able to watch every NESCAC football game digitally under one network and will see more than Williams-Amherst on TV ... Some 14 years ago they laughed when the SEC commissioner said his conference would have a network all to themselves ... Wouldn't it be great every Saturday to go to one place online and get every NESCAC game and why wouldn't TV stations in the New England area run a game of the week ... It's going to happen ...   

Go Continentals!

[Pat Coleman]

Youse guys don't have enough to do. Take a lap around the block!

Copy and paste the roster into Excel and then you don't have to count names, Excel will count the rows for you.

[frank uible]

Once upon a time Bowdoin had a HFC who had been a HFC in the NFL for two years. In one of those two years he was HFC of the NFL champs. He failed to have a winning career record at Bowdoin. Bowdoin did not fire him, nor was he forced out. As Casey Stengel used to say, "you can look it up".

[quicksilver]

Once upon a time Bowdoin had a HFC who had been a HFC in the NFL for two years. In one of those two years he was HFC of the NFL champs. He failed to have a winning career record at Bowdoin. Bowdoin did not fire him, nor was he forced out. As Casey Stengel used to say, "you can look it up".

Yes, the great Adam Walsh -- he was the HFC for something like 20 years at Bowdoin, both before and after WWII, with a break in the middle for a couple of years in the NFL. He was also known for being one of the "Four Horsemen" at Notre Dame in the 1920s.

[frank uible]

The Four Horsemen (a term created by Grantland Rice) were all backfield members. Walsh was a center and Rockne's last football captain.

[gridiron]

Amher63--what's your take on the QB platooning for your team?  Who do those in the stands think should be the QB this week?

[gridiron]

Also, there are several teams in the league now listing 76 players on their roster.  Perhaps there was an unheralded league rule change from 75 to 76.

[banfan]

Frank, I have to point out that Grantland Rice did not create the phrase, The Four Horsemen, he borrowed it .

Looking forward to a rain soaked 'leaves of grass' in Brunswick. Two years ago a gloomy misty muddy grass stained game was perfect for football.

I remember a NFL game in Chicago a few years back where there was so much fog and mist on the field that the dopes in the TV booth started talking about the game being postponed DUE TO WEATHER!!!

Just shoot me. Having played HS sports in Maine, I recall playing football in 4 inches of snow and plowing the track in the spring. Loved it!

[gridiron]

For those counting (Amher63), eight of the ten NESCAC teams list 76 players on their final rosters.  The only teams that list fewer are Middlebury (75) and Bates (72).

[AUPepBand]

The Four Horsemen (a term created by Grantland Rice) were all backfield members. Walsh was a center and Rockne's last football captain.

Indeed, the Four Horsemen were Harry Stuhldreher, Don Miller, Jim Crowley, and Elmer Layden, all members of the backfield. Walsh was one of the "Seven Mules," the guys that cleared the field for the horsemen.

While a student at Purdue, long-time (and legendary!!!!) Alfred Head Football Coach Alex Yunevich was one of the "Four Riveters," the backfield that led the Boilermakers to their first ever Big Ten title. They were coached by James Phelan, who had played for Rockne at Notre Dame. Phelan left to coach at the University of Washington following the 1929 season and was replaced by one of his assistants, Nobel Kizer, another Rockne product.

On Saxon Warriors!

[P'bearfan]

Yes, the great Adam Walsh -- he was the HFC for something like 20 years at Bowdoin, both before and after WWII, with a break in the middle for a couple of years in the NFL.

Yes, Adam Walsh coached from 1935-42 and then again from 1947-58.  During his 20 year tenure he lead the P'bears to a 63-67-9 record (.486 pct).

[P'bearfan]

To survive these days, no matter what conference you play in, you have to win or at the very least, be competitive

Continentalsman - sorry but I just don't agree with your premise.

Let's look at the SEC which has been arguably the most competitive and successful CFB conference in the country for the last decade plus. 

The truth is that in the SEC there are there are perennial powers who are among the best in the country and perennial basement dwellers who are very weak and would not be competitive in many conferences (e.g. Kentucky, Vanderbilt and prior to this year Miss State and Ole Miss).

KY is a basketball school - pure and simple.  Occasionally they'll put together a more competitive CFB team but no one sees them as a serious threat to the traditional powers.  Same with Vanderbilt where baseball and basketball are the focus.

These schools "survive" just fine in the SEC – they're just comfortable that football isn't going to be their focus – even though down here football is both a religious event and the central social scene.

[amh63]

Gridiron...hope your eyes are recovering .  Guess MIddlebury did not get the "memo".
With respect to your question of QB rotation, I must state my comments are my own...full disclosure here is that I have bias, have heard a few player comments in the off season, and there is a new QB coach on board.
Anyway, "historically" Amherst has had QB that have started for multi years.  There has been QBs that have come in during their senior year and contributed.  The pass three or four years there has been a rotation of QBs.  This is due in part to developing younger backups.  In the ever changing offensive schemes these days...QBs are changed to utilize their talents..  in short, there is no super all around QB.   I prefer Senior M. Lippe because of his leadership and game experience and decision making.  He is not known for his down the field passes...the long ball game.  The younger QBs, in particular Berluti has a stronger arm, etc.  Berluti has made a number of bad decisions in games this year that has stalled the offense...yet he needs to learn and gain experience.  He may have played hurt in the last game...leading to a start for the freshman Foy.  Foy also showed that he was not ready for prime time in the quicker college game found in the nescac.
The up- coming game with the scary Cardinals at Middletown require Lippe to start and hopefully finish.  If Amherst can maintain a running game, then Lippe's leadership, toughness, etc. May carry the day.