FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[nescac1]

It looks bad.  That college football is most popular in the areas currently hardest hit (Texas, Florida, Georgia) does not help.  I imagine they would play if they hadn't been hammered so badly the last two months ...

[lumbercat]

Bowdoin 'offers' approaching 125 or more. Game of musical chairs. They are significantly overbooking the flight. Recruits seeing these numbers on Bowdoin social media are going to take other offers rather than stick around and play in this lottery.

I know the family of a local kid with a Bowdoin 'offer' but have withheld comment. The kid is thrilled to have to have an 'offer' from the 8th rated liberal arts college in the country. He's one of 125 (and counting) for 28 slots. I'm not raining on the parade.

Time for someone from Ohio or Pa to tell me again that Hammer is a recruiting genius, I'm not buying it and I'm hearing the Hammer is ruffling feathers big time in Bowdoin admissions. Maybe AD Ryan can sell this to Polar Bear admissions and the significant anti football faction within the Bowdoin faculty and student community.

Truly a first in Brunswick. If they let Wells loose with this he'd still be there.

Is my old friend PolarBear 73 anywhere in range of this? A respected rival who was a great Polar Bear and always tells it like it is.  I'd be interested in his take on this.

[quicksilver]

Bowdoin 'offers' approaching 125 or more. Game of musical chairs. They are significantly overbooking the flight. Recruits seeing these numbers on Bowdoin social media are going to take other offers rather than stick around and play in this lottery.

I know the family of a local kid with a Bowdoin 'offer' but have withheld comment. The kid is thrilled to have to have an 'offer' from the 8th rated liberal arts college in the country. He's one of 125 (and counting) for 28 slots. I'm not raining on the parade.

Time for someone from Ohio or Pa to tell me again that Hammer is a recruiting genius, I'm not buying it and I'm hearing the Hammer is ruffling feathers big time in Bowdoin admissions. Maybe AD Ryan can sell this to Polar Bear admissions and the significant anti football faction within the Bowdoin faculty and student community.

Truly a first in Brunswick. If they let Wells loose with this he'd still be there.

Is my old friend PolarBear 73 anywhere in range of this? A respected rival who was a great Polar Bear and always tells it like it is.  I'd be interested in his take on this.

I suspect once the offeree commits to apply early decision ("commits to the admissions process"), then the offer ripens into more of a binding commitment on the part of Bowdoin (assuming a successful preread). The weird thing is publicizing all the offers, which I would guess are happening without benefit of a full preread. I have heard in the context of other NESCAC sports (like hockey) that prospects can have offers from as many as 6 NESCACs before making a final commitment so casting a wide net to reach remote possibilities is not that abnormal (but publicizing it is).

[gridiron]

Hearing the vast majority of Colby students (92%) plan to return to campus this fall. Of those that are not, 25 football players are included. Clearly, the players place great value on their athletic careers as well.

The traditional on campus college experience will be greatly changed everywhere. I hope the students are prepared and able to adapt to new restrictions on all aspects of college life. Some may struggle especially with social life changes, restrictions on dorm visits, etc.

[VoodooDoc]

Lumbercat

There are a number of small colleges around the country that are on brink of insolvency.  Bowdoin is quite fortunate that it has a strong endowment and enjoys strong support from its alumni.  The alumni recently made a large investment in the athletic facilities used by football and other sports as well.  The locker and training facilities adjacent to the football field as a nice as one sees at some of the major colleges.  The alumni want to see the football program improved.  Those with ruffled feathers in Brunswick would do well to remember that they too benefit from the financial support from the alumni.

Coach Hammer and Coach Scola both attended and coached at Wabash.  The sports programs and the admissions/recruitment office at Wabash work very closely together.  With the football coaching staff being a mix of coaches who have extensive experience at Bowdoin and from other programs with a history of close coordination,  the coach staff is not running around willy-nilly without getting pre-reads.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a tragedy of immense proportion.  It does present an opportunity for Bowdoin to bring in recruits that will help improve the program.  With the prospect of spring football, some additional practice opportunities , and perhaps even increased limits on the squad sizes for a year or two, Coach Hammer and the football staff are doing their best to make the most of a bad situation and move forward.  The early announcement of no fall sports by Bowdoin and NESCAC have given those schools a leg up on other schools around the country who are only now coming to grips with the impact.  The shock is over and the staff is busy recruiting and building for the future while others are trying to digest the impact.

[sigma one]

I'm quite sure that Hammer isn't running around unfettered.  At most places, and I'm sure this applies to Bowdoin, the football coach isn't an independent contractor.  He is supervised by someone.  If Hammer isn't doing what Bowdoin approves, then shame on them.  Surely, too, Bowdoin knew what they were getting when they hired him.  I was at Wabash when Hammer was an assistant there.  He was widely regarded as a recruiting machine.  He also changed the program at Allegheny by broadening the recruiting network outside western Pa and Northeastern Ohio.  Some of best players were from non-contiguous states, most notably Florida and Arizona.  This shows all the marks to me as being calculated to make Bowdoin more competitive within NESCAC.  The on-campus politics likely won't be favorable; someone has most certainly thought of that, don't you think?

[SpringSt7]

I understand what everyone is saying, but if I had to guess, Coach Hammer's recruiting tactics are much more a product of modern day social media than anything else. How do you think Devanney is getting 30 kids a year to Trinity? If he was getting 50% of the kids on his board, which would be an astronomically high success rate, that's 60 "offers" right there. These tactics are not much different than what the rest of the league does.

Nice to see some football talk however! Hope you are all well.

[gridiron]

Was told Bowdoin students interested in taking a gap year were told they would need to reapply to return.

Anyone able to confirm?

[jmcozenlaw]

Bowdoin 'offers' approaching 125 or more. Game of musical chairs. They are significantly overbooking the flight. Recruits seeing these numbers on Bowdoin social media are going to take other offers rather than stick around and play in this lottery.

I know the family of a local kid with a Bowdoin 'offer' but have withheld comment. The kid is thrilled to have to have an 'offer' from the 8th rated liberal arts college in the country. He's one of 125 (and counting) for 28 slots. I'm not raining on the parade.

Time for someone from Ohio or Pa to tell me again that Hammer is a recruiting genius, I'm not buying it and I'm hearing the Hammer is ruffling feathers big time in Bowdoin admissions. Maybe AD Ryan can sell this to Polar Bear admissions and the significant anti football faction within the Bowdoin faculty and student community.

Truly a first in Brunswick. If they let Wells loose with this he'd still be there.

Is my old friend PolarBear 73 anywhere in range of this? A respected rival who was a great Polar Bear and always tells it like it is.  I'd be interested in his take on this.

Lumber - Is the "anti-football faction" just a Bowdoin thing or is it prevalent throughout most of the NESCAC? I'm not going to get political, but it does feel like the uber-liberal philosophy that took football away from my undergrad alma mater, Swarthmore.

Don't professorial liberal types like football, or sports for that matter? I know that most either never picked up a ball, or if they did, quickly realized they sucked (and rile against those who can). Can't one enjoy sports without it interfering on boring lectures about 18th century impressionist paintings or boring literature?

That's my anti-art and anti-literature rant..............to counter all of the anti-football and anti-sports types at Swarthmore and throughout the NESCAC.

[nescac1]

I think SpringSt7's point is well-taken.  Each year more and more players seem to be announcing all of their "offers" on Twitter and/or IG.  I don't recall this occurring very often even 2-3 years ago, when it was more about announcing final commitments but that's all. Now it's more the rule than the exception, seemingly.  So it makes comparing across time very difficult.  I also think we can't draw any overreaching conclusions from really the next two recruiting cycles.  COVID obviously blew everything normal up for two entire classes.  Some programs will benefit disproportionately, some will suffer disproportionately.  But who those will be are anyone's guess.   I don't think we can fairly judge any coaching staff until at least the 2022 season, more realistically, 2023, as things like which teams have more guys taking gap years will dramatically affect the competitive balance. 

[JEFFFAN]

https://www.eagletribune.com/sports/local_sports/sports-in-a-minute-knights-jack-roche-commits-to-amherst-college/article_47eab81c-36d5-5f47-a07b-ecfded8902fb.html

[ColbyFootball]

https://www.eagletribune.com/sports/local_sports/sports-in-a-minute-knights-jack-roche-commits-to-amherst-college/article_47eab81c-36d5-5f47-a07b-ecfded8902fb.html

Any highlights available. I'd love to see him in action. His size is certainly impressive.

[lumbercat]

google Jack Roche Hudl

[ColbyFootball]

google Jack Roche Hudl

Thank you

[SpringSt7]

Searching on Hudl is a great way to find more information on recruits in general, seeing as everyone is going to have two years' of incoming freshmen to learn about, might as well!