FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[ColbyFootballDad]

https://youtu.be/h7QHxO4WDYs Colby Bates Scrimmage

[amh63]

Nice to hear that Miles was elected a Captain!  No. 1 on his jersey.  Met his parents at Hamilton his freshmen year.  My wife is from the same area in CT.  Have sat with his parents in the stands several times at Homecoming...usually avoid my class tent area during the game.  There is a video on Amherst Twitter showing his moves....he is a RB that takes kick offs, etc.
Correction...the video of Miles on Twitter is Nonfunctional.  Best go with to the football Instagram site.  The OL that joins him after a win is the RG from the LA area...who also has some moves .

[westcoastDad]

My mistake...it's Myles not Miles! great kid

[amh63]

I thought briefly that it was another spelling...Myles.  To dumb to check as well as lazy.  Also ignorant of how to link the video of Myles and others go through their  dance routine.
Do have a smartphone that is barely picked up....note the word " smart".

[ColbyFootball]

Season opens a week from tomorrow. Very excited. I am a little nervous about Williams. Not easy to scout them since it's the new coach's first game. Old film can be looked at but that may not reflect what he's doing with his Williams team. Any idea how Williams' O and D stacks up against Colby's O and D?

[Ephpapa20]

Season opens a week from tomorrow. Very excited. I am a little nervous about Williams. Not easy to scout them since it's the new coach's first game. Old film can be looked at but that may not reflect what he's doing with his Williams team. Any idea how Williams' O and D stacks up against Colby's O and D?

It's a rebuilding year, I don't think Colby has much to worry.

[nescac1]

Colby and Williams are probably the two weakest teams in the league this year, perhaps along with Bowdoin.  I think that game is a toss-up, even with a rebuilding year for Williams.  Neither team might win another game after the opener, however; Williams doesn't get to play Bowdoin this year, one of only two teams the Ephs defeated last year, so that doesn't help the Ephs' cause.  The other three Eph home games this season -- Midd, Trinity, and Wesleyan -- are, sad to say, likely to be very ugly for Eph fans.  Given what he ineherited, it will take two full recruiting classes and three full seasons to really judge the Raymond hire (at least), in my view.  We will soon know in the ED round whether and to what extent help is on the way -- Raymond needs several recruits ready to make a big impact as frosh on both sides of the ball, no easy task to find in football.  First and foremost, he needs to recruit some elite talent at the QB position -- before Kelton, Williams seemed to have an all-NESCAC QB at least every other season.  Kelton, however, strangely neglected recruiting that position almost entirely during his tenure. 

[quicksilver]

A concerning article from the Bowdoin student newspaper about this year's football team, suggesting a strong FY class but also a small squad and a high rate of attrition at the upper class level. Among other things, Phillippe Archambault, a LB from Canada who had a strong first year in 2015, did not return to school. Other members of last year's squad (who are not named) are described as not playing this year due to injury, academic probation, etc.

[PBPOP20]

Admittedly,  I don't have proper perspective on the league overall, but my understanding is the Bowdoin FY is extremely strong including a FY slated to start on OL (by winning the position, not attrition)  in addition to those mentioned in the article.

My impression, having just gone through the process w/ my on FY... JB Wells and Co.  are very good recruiters...   

[PolarCat]

Attrition through academic probation - always a concern in the CAC - can kill a program, particularly at a school where the Administration is less than accommodating to athletics.  (Can Clayton Rose even find Whittier Field on a campus map?)  It puts Wells in a tough spot.  After battling with Admissions to get tips admitted, if those tips leave the program or leave the school, it becomes even harder to recruit in following years.

There is a vocal anti-football element in Brunswick: editorials in the Orient by SJW's demanding football be eliminated and the budget redirected to LGBT priorities, professors who mock athletes in class, etc.  Add in non-injury-related and non-academic related defections (like a DL leaving the program to play a different sport)and Wells may have his hands full.  And of course, every losing season justs emboldens the anti football voices.

I wish Bowdoin well, but even contending for the CBB may be a challenge.   

[polbear73]

Attrition through academic probation - always a concern in the CAC - can kill a program, particularly at a school where the Administration is less than accommodating to athletics.  (Can Clayton Rose even find Whittier Field on a campus map?)  It puts Wells in a tough spot.  After battling with Admissions to get tips admitted, if those tips leave the program or leave the school, it becomes even harder to recruit in following years.

There is a vocal anti-football element in Brunswick: editorials in the Orient by SJW's demanding football be eliminated and the budget redirected to LGBT priorities, professors who mock athletes in class, etc.  Add in non-injury-related and non-academic related defections (like a DL leaving the program to play a different sport)and Wells may have his hands full.  And of course, every losing season justs emboldens the anti football voices.

I wish Bowdoin well, but even contending for the CBB may be a challenge.   

The student questioning of football has existed forever at Bowdoin, even in the rare years that were .500 or better.  The Administration, while admitting the program's importance in admissions (maintaining a 50-50 gender balance), alumni relations and fund raising, etc, has always viewed the program with benign neglect, saying that it wants its program to be competitive but failing to take the proper steps to achieve that objective. 

I agree with PolarCat and would add that the consistent losing does nothing to change attitudes toward the program, off campus and on. Bowdoin has put itself in a no-win situation:  one has to change attitudes to win, and one must win to change attitudes.  Because of the overall greatness of the institution (as are all of the NESCAC's), Bowdoin will always have top tier student football players-it just will never have enough of them to compete in NESCAC.  The time worn argument of Bowdoin's enrollment being the smallest or second smallest in the conference doesn't hold water as Amherst disproves that year after year and in every sport.  Bowdoin's future in the sport in terms of being competitive consistently is bleak, unless there are serious attitude adjustments at the top.

This is JB Wells' second year as head coach and really the first recruiting year for him, having arrived in Brunswick in January of last year.  I am aware that the Administration made him certain promises relating to Admissions and have heard also that Wells' first recruiting class is significantly strong, so perhaps there is follow through.  There is also a recurrence of rumors from reliable sources that an announcement on the renovation of Whittier Field is close at hand as final donors are being lined up.  We'll see.  I hope that the Bowdoin Administration has an obligation to follow through on any commitments made to Coach Wells as he is putting his heretofore exceptional head coaching record and career in jeopardy. 

I bleed Black and White and as a former player, live and die with the fortunes of this program.  However, unless there is a cultural change at the top and not just the attempts of the coaching staff ("watering the bamboo", for God's sake), then I don't foresee any way that Bowdoin can consistently win. 

[amh63]

A preaching to the choir comment.
Nothing but Nescac has several more football previews.  The lineups...proposed....are the most interesting.  Of course, Midd, Bowdoin, and Amherst awaits
Amherst invades Midd today in many sports.....be kind Panthers....the school with the best helmets,imo.

[frank uible]

polbear: Bring back Adam Walsh. He had the credentials and a healthy attitude.

[polbear73]

That he did, Frank.  In spades. 

[middpantherpride]

A preaching to the choir comment.
Nothing but Nescac has several more football previews.  The lineups...proposed....are the most interesting.  Of course, Midd, Bowdoin, and Amherst awaits
Amherst invades Midd today in many sports.....be kind Panthers....the school with the best helmets,imo.

Best helmets for sure. Midd also upgraded to Nike uniforms so look for some new style this fall. I think my Panthers are in a primed position to surprise the CAC. Great senior leadership and lots of youth talent. Week 3 (vs amherst) could very well determine who has a path to challenge Trinity for the top spot.