FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[amh63]

It is going to be HOT all along the East Coast today.  Heat advisory everywhere...except Florida.  Glad  football practice and other outdoor sports started early this morning. 
Yes, Frank...the games start soon enough, but some of the posters here are much younger than us and do not have the wisdom and patient that you have.  Me....looking forward to seeing any uniform changes.
I am in a somewhat "mourning period".  Seems that the Lord Jeff Inn will have a name change on Jan. 1.  It will become the "Inn at Boltwood"...the road that it intersects.  The College owns the Inn and the town Commons....and much of the land around about...but has a fine company operate the Nat.Historic Inn.  The College completely renovated and expanded the Inn around 2007.
Vandy74....Glad that you and family members got to celebrate your niece's graduation in the Inn this year.  Must remember to get a pic of the present sign at Homecoming.

[Trin9-0]

Trinity picked by Noontime Sports to win the NESCAC with Amherst as a "team to watch" and Williams as a "dark horse":
https://noontimesports.com/2018/08/28/new-england-d3-football-2018-predictions/

Their New England D3 Football preseason poll lists Trinity second and Amherst sixth.

[DC 53]

There is some good news from the "Western Front" in Clinton. My son played with his former position coach in the football golf outing in June. His coach felt that this year's freshman class might be the best he's seen in more than a dozen years on the Hill. New York is still Murray's recruiting wheelhouse, but they continue to have success with players in nearby states as well as from other parts of the country. Unfortunately, the top QB recruit, Austin Albericci, decided to matriculate at Rutgers, where he's one of 6 QB's on the roster, including 3 freshmen. As per the Rutgers website, he threw for over 2,500 yds. and 31 TD's, and ran for 500 yds. and 11 TD's. Apparently, Rutgers had a scholarship open up over the summer, and he decided that he liked Scarlet better than Blue!
The loss of Tyler Hudson is a tremendous blow, but LB is a position where the Conts have good depth with a lot of playing time experience. LB is always a recruiting priority, and Murray coaches the linebackers, so they'll be solid, if not spectacular there. Word is that Tyler tore his ACL playing basketball last spring, and that he's expected to make a full recovery, with an expected 2019 return. He's an excellent leader with a compelling personal narrative, and we wish him all the best in his recovery.
It's nice to hear positive comments from about Dave Murray from non-Hamilton sources. I've weighed in with my impressions in previous posts, and I regret that my son only got to play for him in his senior year. This is a tough league with some excellent mentors heading its football programs. Some schools have "baked in advantages", but I sense a leveling of playing fields throughout the league. (Sorry for the tired metaphor!) Excellent academics are always a good launching pad for success. I always tell prospective college athletes that it's "not just about the next 4 years, but more about the next 40". That's what the NESCAC delivers for its participants. Here's a link from the Hamilton Career Center that illustrates this point. Enjoy!

https://hamiltoncareercenter.wordpress.com/2018/04/24/alumni-insight-building-your-career-in-politics-feat-brendan-cunningham-15/

[Hamiltonian]

Good analysis, DC 53.  Fortunately, I guess, QB is not Hamilton's problem for the next two years.  and it may be that next year, when Hudson returns, will be the breakout year, especially if these freshmen pan out.  but still hopeful for moving up in the ranks this year.

[JoeBag]

There is some good news from the "Western Front" in Clinton. My son played with his former position coach in the football golf outing in June. His coach felt that this year's freshman class might be the best he's seen in more than a dozen years on the Hill. New York is still Murray's recruiting wheelhouse, but they continue to have success with players in nearby states as well as from other parts of the country. Unfortunately, the top QB recruit, Austin Albericci, decided to matriculate at Rutgers, where he's one of 6 QB's on the roster, including 3 freshmen. As per the Rutgers website, he threw for over 2,500 yds. and 31 TD's, and ran for 500 yds. and 11 TD's. Apparently, Rutgers had a scholarship open up over the summer, and he decided that he liked Scarlet better than Blue!
The loss of Tyler Hudson is a tremendous blow, but LB is a position where the Conts have good depth with a lot of playing time experience. LB is always a recruiting priority, and Murray coaches the linebackers, so they'll be solid, if not spectacular there. Word is that Tyler tore his ACL playing basketball last spring, and that he's expected to make a full recovery, with an expected 2019 return. He's an excellent leader with a compelling personal narrative, and we wish him all the best in his recovery.
It's nice to hear positive comments from about Dave Murray from non-Hamilton sources. I've weighed in with my impressions in previous posts, and I regret that my son only got to play for him in his senior year. This is a tough league with some excellent mentors heading its football programs. Some schools have "baked in advantages", but I sense a leveling of playing fields throughout the league. (Sorry for the tired metaphor!) Excellent academics are always a good launching pad for success. I always tell prospective college athletes that it's "not just about the next 4 years, but more about the next 40". That's what the NESCAC delivers for its participants. Here's a link from the Hamilton Career Center that illustrates this point. Enjoy!

https://hamiltoncareercenter.wordpress.com/2018/04/24/alumni-insight-building-your-career-in-politics-feat-brendan-cunningham-15/

My wife was a college roommate of Albericci's mom. She called us over the summer to tell us that Rutgers wanted him. We did our best to highlight the benefits of a NESCAC education but were unsuccessful. His extended family steered him to playing Big10 football. Pretty sure he is a preferred walk on and did not get any $$. Hopefully he "sees the light" and changes his mind after holding a clipboard this season.

[DC 53]

Thanks for the effort, Joe Bag. I've had similar conversations with parents. As can educator, (retired) I can only inform. I had heard that a scholarship opened up. Preferred walk-on status makes sense,especially so late in the process. He's very talented, based on his video and hs stats. You can only wish him well.

[lumbercat]

.......... I always tell prospective college athletes that it's "not just about the next 4 years, but more about the next 40". That's what the NESCAC delivers for its participants.


DC53-

What a great post. Your quote above says it all, it really sums up the NESCAC football experience.

Your passion is commendable. This rebirth in Hamilton Football is impressive led by Murray. I have a new found respect for your program and will be rooting for the Buff 'n Blue against the NESCAC old guard this year.

[amh63]

There is an interesting tweet on the Cardinals Football site....came in yesterday.  Lots of pics of Move in day for the Cardinals....over 800 new students...Wow.   Anyway, the tweet has a short video of OL/DL battling it at practice.  Am sure it is a promo video being it was in full gear and on a HOT day.  Then again, the Cardinals can be more than birds in football.  maybe like a Bear ...not a Polar Bear though. .   

[Hamiltonian]

482 new students for Hamilton.  Just sayin'.

[amh63]

Hamiltonian....new students in the Class of 2022 at Amherst is 492...plus 11 Transfers.  Six transfers are military veterans, and 2 are from Amherst's "sister college" in Koyoto, Japan....founded by an alum many many generations ago.  There are also some community college transfers.  In the past, Amherst had many more CC transfers...some married and had families.  Wish there were more.
To put it perspective, my Class in 1959 was about 242, give or take...all male.  The football team had no FYs...had a freshmen team and with the Darp HC....had rosters of 95 players.  Some two way players, I recall.  Many of the sports teams played the Ivy schools and state universities.
I guess that Tufts' incoming class would be over 800 too.

[AlDavisStill]

With intrinsic essence I look forward to all things 2018 Football Season. I desire everyone is well including Stanky Frank with his under handed verbiage , pomposity and unintentional humor. I am stranded in West Palm Beach but winning already and do miss with all my heart my short invlolvement following the Nescac and will always promote how awesome the Nescac and the people of Nescac are.

[westcoastDad]

Just glad to see the NESCAC crew is priming up for the 2018 campaign.  The Mammoths will finish on top this season.  You can book that.

For those of you that live out "In the Sticks".... I won't get to shake those hands on those road games.  My son has graduated and is working in the world of Finance.  The football experience was an amazing one for him and in fact the networking played a part in him landing his new position.  Looking forward to another great NESCAC season that hopefully goes down to the last weekend AGAIN!  GO MAMMOTHS!

[Hamiltonian]

thanks, amh63.  I guess those extra ten make all the difference!   

[amh63]

Hamiltonian...seems you have wit ...plus K
I posted earlier that I had   counted around 23 FY football recruits in a posted photo at Amherst's fieldhouse.  Went back and counted again...21 players....agrees with the 21 recruits Amherst presented earlier in the year on social media.  How about that   Guessed I hoped for an Unitas type QB transfer for some reason.

[WesCardPlayer]

amh63: For comparison, Tufts has 1,544 incoming students (about 1,200 in their arts/sciences plus a few hundred in engineering and art schools). Wesleyan is next in size with just over 800, and Middlebury after that with somewhere between 600-700. Interesting that Tufts is as large as the next two largest NESCAC schools combined.