FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[amh63]

NewToNescac...a poster has got to do what posters do sometimes.....take a little sabbatical.
Enjoyed your posts.  Will miss your views and passion. 
Encourage you to await the Spring....go South for a break...like me.  Actually, in truth going to Florida because of wife's family.....therefore missing some MBB live games.
Anyway, hope you will return to this board in early Fall.

[nescac1]

Interesting recruit for Trinity: Marshal Cohen, a dual-threat QB from California, who looks quite talented but has blown out his knee two straight years.  Obviously a big injury concern, but Trinity has the luxury of stashing him behind Puzzo for a few years while he gets back to 100 percent ...

[NewtoNescac]

NewToNescac...a poster has got to do what posters do sometimes.....take a little sabbatical.
Enjoyed your posts.  Will miss your views and passion. 
Encourage you to await the Spring....go South for a break...like me.  Actually, in truth going to Florida because of wife's family.....therefore missing some MBB live games.
Anyway, hope you will return to this board in early Fall.

You are a gentleman. But when others start mentioning my son, it's time to move on. Maybe I will have the pleasure of meeting you to say hi in the fall. Be well.

[Jonny Utah]

I don't intend this in a mean way, but since you and your son are so deeply unhappy with the Colby program, should he explore transferring somewhere else?    I'm sure he's a wonderful athlete, and there's another program that would be delighted to have him. 

Reading your comments about your ongoing disappointments is like having a beer with a friend who's stuck in a bad marriage.  Since the current arrangement is causing you so much angst, maybe it's time to move on?

Just the opposite, I love the program. Just very disappointing to read those articles and not see a single Colby commit. And none of my postings have anything to do with my son. So please leave him out of it. He's all in for Colby. Again, from a football perspective it's been frustrating. I'm sure you can understand. As for the bad marriage complaining analogy, a good friend would sit there over a beer and sympathy with the guy that desperately wants that bad marriage to work. I desperately want Colby football to succeed.

NewtoNescac,

One thing you have to remember is that there are no "commits" for Nescac schools.  National signing day was the other day so this is when you will see these kids names in the press, but most of the Nescac kids already committed back when early admits were due.  I also don't think the schools release anything, it are the High Schools and parents who release this information to the papers.  In fact, I don't think the Nescac is allowed to announce which students are coming or not.

Added note, I see Wesleyan got Brendan Patterson, QB from Westwood HS in MA.  That kid is a big tough player who might surprise some people.  Not as fast/athletic as the Berluti kids at Amherst (same HS), but he is bigger, tougher and may have a stronger arm.

[gridiron]

Johnny Utes,

Re comments about Brendan Patterson, his father is also a Wesleyan football alum, so no real surprise where he landed.  Not thinking he will be in a QB position going forward, but lots of other positions on the field are possibilities.  Interesting side note, including Patterson, the last four QBs from his Westwood HS all ended up playing in the NESCAC (G. Parsons TE, Colby '16, A. Berluti, Amherst '17, B. Berluti, WR, Amherst '19, Patterson, Wesleyan '20).

[amh63]

Gridiron....nice post wrt to the Nescac- Westwood HS link.  I believe the Berluti brothers' father is connected to the Tufts football program in some way.  Remember there was an interview with MR Berluti during halftime in the Tufts- Amherst game at Tufts.

[Jonny Utah]

Johnny Utes,

Re comments about Brendan Patterson, his father is also a Wesleyan football alum, so no real surprise where he landed.  Not thinking he will be in a QB position going forward, but lots of other positions on the field are possibilities.  Interesting side note, including Patterson, the last four QBs from his Westwood HS all ended up playing in the NESCAC (G. Parsons TE, Colby '16, A. Berluti, Amherst '17, B. Berluti, WR, Amherst '19, Patterson, Wesleyan '20).

Yep.  Patterson is tough enough to play many positions on the field in my opinion.  TE or even LB/DE if he can get a little bigger and his speed is good enough.  I don't remember Parsons, but the team I coach played against the Berluti's and Patterson.  Plus I live in town so I see them more often.  Westwood has had trouble filling freshman teams the last few years though, but their varsity teams have done ok (Holliston is still the power in the Tri Valley)

[jknezek]

W&L hired Williams College Provost Will Dudley to be the next College President starting Jan 2017. Any Williams people know his stance on athletics? Our current President, Ken Ruscio, has done really well getting upgraded athletic facilities and while I'm sure W&L will now be up to scratch across the board once our new natatorium is finished, I'd hate to see us fall behind again.

[Trin9-0]

One thing you have to remember is that there are no "commits" for Nescac schools.  National signing day was the other day so this is when you will see these kids names in the press, but most of the Nescac kids already committed back when early admits were due.  I also don't think the schools release anything, it are the High Schools and parents who release this information to the papers.  In fact, I don't think the Nescac is allowed to announce which students are coming or not.

This is correct. There is actually a new NESCAC rule that prohibits coaches from publicizing the incoming class until after May 1st. Of course, commitments will occasionally leak out through various media reports but we won't see anything official from the coaches/schools until May.

[nescac1]

jnezek, I think as Williams faculty go he was a bit supporter of athletics.  He was a star athlete himself at Williams, and note that he had a conversation with then-AD Harry Sheehy published a few years back in a Williams alumni magazine:

http://magazine.williams.edu/files/archive/2010-summer.pdf

Also, check out this conversation with Bob Costas, which he moderated:

http://communications.williams.edu/news-releases/williams-college-presents-a-conversation-about-sports-with-bob-costas-and-fay-vincent/

He also chaired the committed to rebuild the football stadium at Williams: http://www.nescac.com/news/2012-13/WIL_Weston_101612

And, he's taught classes about sports. 

He's clearly a guy with a keen interest in athletics, probably no one else you could have picked from Williams with a keener one.  And I've heard only good things about him, generally.  I think it's a great hire for W&L. 

[jknezek]

Thanks. That's way more info than I had hoped for. Good to know the new president won't consider athletics an irritant. We've had presidents that were neglectful but not hostile to athletics, at least not since the football scandal in the 50s. So I'm glad to see we aren't heading down that path.

+k for going way above and beyond.

[nescac1]

Very quiet on the Williams football coaching search.  Applications have been closed for a few weeks now -- any new rumors, anything?? 

[AmherstStudent05]

Also, are we to presume from this apparent lack of urgency that most of their Class of 2020 was locked up through ED? Or that they feel that Coach Creighton can adequately fill the void? Or that the Class of 2020 is a lost cause in any event (my preferred outcome)?

I know it is most important to get this hire right, but I really don't see what about this process requires three months of work. But, again, maybe there isn't all that much a head coach would be doing during this time in any event.  Seems unlikely, but who knows. 

[nescac1]

Seems like they have a bunch of recruits committed already (presumably courtesy of Coach Creighton, I posted the list that I could find earlier on this page).  My guess is that it was a tough go with recruiting, but at the very least, they seem to have brought in a lot of big bodies for the offensive line who maybe can develop.  At this point, all the recruits who would have applied, have already applied, so all a new coach can do is make sure they keep their commitments, but there is no way to bring in new, additional recruits this late in the process.  So whoever the new coach is, will be starting essentially fresh with next year's class. 

[frank uible]

It is believed that Williams accepts applications for transfer as late as April 1.