FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[Pat Coleman]

Top 25, for sure. Top 10? Hmm, not quite.

[Nescacman]

NESCACMAN Coaching Carousel Update

We believe there could be as many as 2 coaching changes this year in the NESCAC.

One of the changes will be of no surprise to readers of this Board. That would be in Colby. Of course nothing is for sure but based on performance, a change is certainly justified. Then again, this is the NESCAC, a league where HCOF Kelton was not fired, could have stayed on, and only left because of his perception is that he got a better job at a D2 school.

The other possible change might surprise some people. There could be a change in Ephville. Rumor has it that Coach Raymond is not too happy at Williams, particularly with the support he is getting from the AD and college administrators. What is exasperating his itch to possibly move is the Ithaca job has opened up. For those not in the know, Ithaca has been a historical D3 powerhouse and Coach Raymond spent '99-'06 as the Ithaca defensive coordinator with a ton of success there. We wouldn't be surprised if he left for that job.

Of course, this is the NESCAC and there might not be any changes....

[frank uible]

Raymond is a well seasoned professsional.It is doubtful that he was much surprised by the poor condition of the Williams program. It is possible that he has feigned disgust to lower expectations or to negotiate with the Admissions Office.

[nescac1]

I sure hope Frank is right.  Based on commentary here and early results, it sounds like Raymond and his staff are working very hard on recruiting.  Hopefully they will have a plan in place to maximize the talents of the players they inherited via a tough off-season regime, as well, as player development is equally important.   

With nearly everyone who played a meaningful role (including many frosh who saw extensive PT) returning from such a young team and the first year of Raymond's recruits coming in, things will start, gradually, improving next year.   I would think Raymond would want to stick around long enough so that his legacy is not an 0-8 team, but rather one of rescuing and turning around the fortunes of a flailing program.  Even if the team gets significantly less support from admissions than is ideal, we are still talking about recruiting kids to one of the best football traditions in NESCAC, with one of the best football facilities in NESCAC, not to mention the Williams academic reputation and alumni network.  Add in the chance to see the field very early in their careers, and I would like to think that Raymond can bring in the type of kids needed to right the ship.  And righting the ship for a second time in his career would make him a hero if he wants to stick at Williams, any would also build Raymond's resume if he hopes to move up the coaching ladder. 

[Eagle322]

Harriman is not being fired this off-season. I've actually heard that his contract has been extended a few years - but we will wait and see. With a new AD coming in after this year, hopefully Bates will commit a bit more to the program and work with the team to hire some full time coaches to support Harriman. Their biggest flaw the past 3 seasons has been the lack of an experienced OC - they have not really had one since Weiss left for RPI just before the 2014 season.

The overall NESCAC coaching situation seems better than it's been anytime in recent memory.  Trinity, Amherst, Wesleyan, Middlebury, Tufts, all obviously rock-solid.  Bates as well, all things considered.  Bowdoin, Williams, and Hamilton all have new staffs that seem like they will get those programs moving in the right direction in the relatively near future.  I think in 2-3 years we could see a lot fewer blowouts and a very, very competitive league.

IMO..... the coaches at risk for being fired are:

Colby (Micheles)
Bates (Harriman)

But.... let's face it..... this is the NESCAC..... noone is being fired.... teams would rather go winless for 2 years vs actually firing a coach.

If I were an independent AD, Harriman would be fired and Micheles (despite all the Colby protests) would stay..........

Point 2.......  IMO only...........At risk of leaving for greener pastures:

Bowdoin (Wells)
Williams (Raymond)

Wells never signed up for the crummy academic support he's received.....

And Raymond and his staff are TOTALLY DISGUSTED with the state of the Eph team.  And that Raymond's SLU team was ranked in the D3 top 10.... well.... he's reevaluting his NESCAC move.

GOOD LUCK, Coach Raymond.

[DadintheStands]

From what I have seen and heard directly from Coach Raymond and his staff and what I know about his background, there is no way he would pull up stakes after one (completely expected) down year.  Everything that has happened on the field with the Ephs this year should be no surprise to anyone, especially Coach Ray.  Now, if he has been dealt a different hand from the AD, Admissions or the administration than what he was expecting, that could be a different story but that seems extremely far-fetched-again, after only 1 year.  And if there is something amiss there, it's on the administration not the coach.  Further, this is not D1 or NFL football.  D3 coaches don't pull the rip cord after one year for another D3 opportunity. Money and prestige does not spin the coaching carousel in D3 football.

[JustAFan]

Coach Raymond needs to squash these rumors asap before they start to affect his winter recruiting or, if there indeed is a chance he may not return, Williams needs to quietly start searching for his successor now (most likely one of the finalists from the last search) so that it can name Raymond's successor ASAP and mitigate the impact of a coaching change on winter recruiting. As I recall Williams does not have EDII, and will be shortly notifying its ED1 admits, and hopefully this group includes a good number of football players.

I find this rumor hard to believe as Raymond certainly knew what he was getting into in terms of the lack of talent, and I would be amazed if he did not have some very frank conversations with admissions and the AD about the level of support they would provide to his program and made sure that he was very comfortable that their promised commitment to the football program was real.  Then again, Lane Kiffin left Tennessee for USC after 1 year, and before that Todd Graham left UPitt for Arizone State after a year, so one and done situations can occur.  And it's also true that the Williams admissions office is a different place than it was in the Farley years, albeit not as unsupportive of football players as the Bowdoin admissions office.

[PolarCat]

I'm wondering how Williams Admissions is reacting to the published reports of kids "committing" before the ED1 letters come out?  In the past, I remember posters saying "hey I heard that Coach X was recruiting Player Y", but I don't think I've ever seen published reports of kids going to a NESCAC before "the letter" arrived.  When the news broke about Maimarone, you could argue, "That's a fluke: an over-anxious kid or parent spilling the beans to a reporter".  But to have the process repeat itself with Landry?  Pretty sure the Admissions folks at half a dozen CAC's would have had apoplexy over that.

[Nescacman]

Even if the team gets significantly less support from admissions than is ideal, we are still talking about recruiting kids to one of the best football traditions in NESCAC, with one of the best football facilities in NESCAC, not to mention the Williams academic reputation and alumni network. 

Nescsc1 our friend, didn't this apply to the HCOF (Coach Kelton) as well....

[nescac1]

PolarCat, reports like those are routine at every NESCAC school, every year, in every sport.  I'm surprised that is a novelty to you.  You can find loads of 2017 lacrosse guys who committed to various schools over the summer, for example.

[lumbercat]

No reports on NESCAC recruits emanate from the NESCAC schools prior to the May date each year when NESCAC schools can release the names of incoming athletes. Anything you may hear prior ED1 or ED2  dates would come from a recruit who may be assured by coaches that he will be admitted.
Those reports are by no means "routine at every NESCAC school, every year, in every sport".
Just not the case.

[quicksilver]

PolarCat, reports like those are routine at every NESCAC school, every year, in every sport.  I'm surprised that is a novelty to you.  You can find loads of 2017 lacrosse guys who committed to various schools over the summer, for example.

Yup, the lacrosse recruits start announcing their "commitments" in early July as soon as they get the word of likely acceptance through the "preread" process . .  There is an on-line database that lists commitments and it is already very full already with as many as 10 recruits for various NESCACs.

[lumbercat]

Yes -Announced by the recruits or their coaches but never by the NESCAC institution.

[quicksilver]

Yes -Announced by the recruits or their coaches but never by the NESCAC institution.

Correct -- but generally these early announcements are pretty accurate as they are based on prereads.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Yes -Announced by the recruits or their coaches but never by the NESCAC institution.

Correct -- but generally these early announcements are pretty accurate as they are based on prereads.

And probably only made by students whose credentials pretty much guarantee acceptance wherever they apply.  Unless they are truly delusional, I doubt those early announcements are made by guys who need TIPS to get in.