FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[nescacfollower]

Thanks to nescac1 we get a sneak peek at some of the recruits for next year. Shelby Grant and Dario Highsmith look awesome. Haven't heard much news about any recruits up in Maine, I'm sure that they got some good talent coming in next year...I mean that would be the best case for their current situations respectively.

[Cards31]

Greetings. I'm a Wesleyan alum and avid Wes/NESCAC football fan.  I'm also a big fan of Connecticut high school football, so a perfect fall weekend for me is a Friday night high school game and a Saturday afternoon Wes or Trin game.

I followed the discussion on this board throughout the fall and really appreciate the volume and depth of NESCAC info available here.  The news of Dario Highsmith's plans to play for Wes prompted my enrollment. I have followed Highsmith's play throughout his high school career and can attest to his skill set as a runner --- excellent vision, very good football speed, great change of direction, durability, and stamina.  I think he will be an excellent NESCAC player.

[nescac1]

Wesleyan has really been cleaning up with some very high-profile recruits of late.  The Cards are going to be really, really tough to beat the next few years although Amherst and Trinity are both bringing back loaded teams as well.  Seems like those three are really going to dominate the league next year as each returns most of the talent from fairly young squads.  I'm hoping that whoever the new Williams coach is, they both (a) show more aptitude in recruiting than the prior regime and (b) get more support from admissions than the prior regime did, because it's obvious which schools prioritize football, and the types of players they bring in, accordingly.  Williams will need two HUGE recruiting years in the first two years of the new staff just to be competitive with Amherst, Wesleyan and Trinity, let alone have any hope of winning those games. 

[All NESCAC]

Wow! The gates are opened .  Flood of posts.  Really interested ones and a funny one from maineman.
Maineman, Williams maybe willing to pay Chip Kelly....however I think the coach prefer a place with a QB available...with talent and experience.  That is my thinking.
The surprise on the CT list of players committed to colleges...to me....is the number going to Harvard and none to Yale!   Could it be to Harvard's recent success AND planned new football facility?
Thanks posters all in this quiet period of college football for your posts.

Looks like former Williams HFC Kelton has found a home as new HFC D2 Shorter Univ (Georgia).
http://coosavalleynews.com/2016/01/a-new-era-begins-kelton-named-hawks-head-football-coach/

[jknezek]

Looks like former Williams HFC Kelton has found a home as new HFC D2 Shorter Univ (Georgia).
http://coosavalleynews.com/2016/01/a-new-era-begins-kelton-named-hawks-head-football-coach/

Uggh. Well, nowhere to go but up I guess. Shorter hasn't transitioned well to DII (from NAIA) in football. Think they've won something like 4 conference games in 3 years.  Stadium is nice enough though. Fertile area for recruiting, but a lot of competition.

[frank uible]

Many, possibly most, coaches would regard the job as HFC at Shorter to be superior to the job as HFC at Williams.

[All NESCAC]

Many, possibly most, coaches would regard the job as HFC at Shorter to be superior to the job as HFC at Williams.

Possibly...let's hope its a Win (Williams) and Win (Shorter)....and many more Wins at both schools...especially in Billsville.

[amh63]

Card31..... Welcome to the board.  Nice to have a Wesleyan fan on board.

Nescac1, your post is somewhat confusing.  First, I know that you know that both Middlebury and  Tufts have not left the conference.  Second, are you implying that the Williams admission dept. DID not give the same support to the recent  departed HCofFootball as say to Whalen?  Third, you state and/or infer that Wes, Trinity and Amhest somewhat give higher priority to football than other CAC schools..even Williams....therefore they have winning teams full of talented players.  Williams posters often  tout their football tradition and their best in the conference facility, etc.I believe all the CAC schools want winning Football programs...CC excepted of course ?

[PolarCat]

Nescac1, your post is somewhat confusing.  First, I know that you know that both Middlebury and Tufts have not left the conference. 

For that matter, neither have Hamilton nor the CBB schools.  There's good football being played outside the Connecticut River Valley.  Ignore us at your peril - if the dysfunctional Eagles could beat the Pats this year, one (or more) of us might knock off your favorite school next fall. 

[nescac1]

There is undoubtedly different levels of support for football programs, along a wide variety of levels, including the number and caliber of paid assistants, coaching and recruiting budgets, and most of all, academic concessions made for football players.  Some schools even have had administrators at times who see having a winning, or at least a dominant, football team as a net negative.  It's not by accident that Wesleyan suddenly vaulted from a NESCAC also-ran to a power, and continues to bring in high-profile, elite players every year.  That's not to say that Kelton did all he could with the tools at his disposal -- not even close.  But does the Williams administration have a different attitude towards football than it did during the 1990's and early 2000s?  I am very, very confident the answer is yes.  My hope is that finally moving on from the Kelton era reflects that enough alumni pressure has been exerted to re-emphasize football to some degree.  Time will tell. 

I'm not ignoring other football programs by saying that Amherst, Trinity and Wesleyan have been bringing in the most high-profile recruits in recent years.  But the reality is, given the talent returning at each of those three, plus the recruiting and coaching situations each enjoy, they are poised to dominate the league for the next few years.  I'd love it if I was proven wrong, but typically in NESCAC there are between 1-3 dominant programs and many others that lag behind. 

[frank uible]

In my opinion Williams makes a significant mistake if it allows the wishes of its alums to be a major factor in determining the person holding the position of its head football coach.

[AmherstStudent05]

In my opinion Williams makes a significant mistake if it allows the wishes of its alums to be a major factor in determining the person holding the position of its head football coach.

I agree.  What wisdom could a group of people with degrees from Williams possibly have?

[NewtoNescac]

Any word on changes in Colby's offense? Not personnel, but the offensive scheme, mindset, etc. maybe even Michaeles handing the offense over to someone else. After the anemic production the past two seasons with the near identical offense and play calling, it would be great to hear that Michaeles recognizes the need for change. I really think they have the personnel. I respectfully think it's a coaching stubbornness to reject change. Anyone with any off season info.? Not trying to stir anything up, I just can't handle the thought of another boring slow paced year of offense that scores 1 TD a game.

[All NESCAC]

In my opinion Williams makes a significant mistake if it allows the wishes of its alums to be a major factor in determining the person holding the position of its head football coach.

Frank have to disagree with you.  The last time the alumni pushed hard for the new HFC at Williams was Coach Farley which turned out to be a pretty good hire.

[frank uible]

Alums qua alums or alums qua former players?