FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[amh63]

A rambling post full of memories that will be linked to Nescac/Amherst football .
My wife today cited that Sean Connery had died.  The first and IMO, the best James Bond.  He also produced a number of films.  One was "Finding Forrester" about a NYC teenager that was helped to become a writer.  The young player for the film was a NYC teenager that audition for the key part.  The teenager went on to play football for Amherst.  The Amherst alum later starred in a film dealing with the late Heisman Trophy winner E. Davis of Syracuse Un....playing Davis.  Wife also pointed out that we needed to change our clocks tonight.  Tonight will be both a full moon and a Blue Moon...a rare event....to have two full moons in a month.

[monjmafb]

Kossick is now back in his hometown of Ridgewood, NJ.  The same hometown of Eph LB Coleston Smith and committed Eph Cameron Smith.

[Trin9-0]

Interesting article on the potential impact of the Harvard admissions case on athletic recruiting.

[Trin9-0]

This Wednesday evening, Trinity is hosting a watch part for the legendary 1991 Trin-Williams game which ended the Ephs 23-game winning streak (which was the longest in college football at the time). The so called "Game of the Decade" which featured five lead changes in the final 7:06 (including three in the final minute) was highlighted in this Sports Illustrated article (print version below), which also mentions some earlier Trin-Williams classics.

The game, which will be streamed online via Zoom, will be hosted by James Lane '92 who quarterbacked the Bantams, current Trinity Head Coach Jeff Devanney '93, who played DB in the game, and legendary coach Don Miller. I've heard all the stories about this game, but have never actually seen the footage so I'm very much looking forward to this. It's really a brilliant way to engage and reconnect alumni from this era and Trinity football fans in general! It could be fun, albeit a bit painful, for some Williams fans as well.

[amh63]

Thanks for the post Trin8-0 .  Hope everyone had a safe and happy Thanksgiving.  For me, it was a a somewhat different "gathering" ....via electronic means.   The time period of the Williams football run and the rise of Trinity via Coach Miller is somewhat foggy in my memories.  The time period covered  the time of my two sons...at Amherst.  The oldest graduated in '92 and the youngest in '95.  Did not get up for many football games during that time period...did a lot of business traveling overseas and around the country.  Both sons were not nerds...played basketball or Rugby...non varsity...but had to work on campus to cover personnel expenses during their time at Amherst...whatever.  Coach Miller was an assistant coach at Amherst  during my years at Amherst.   
Will have to check the archives of Amherst football to refresh my memories of the time when Williams and Trinity "ruled" the Nescac under two great Football coaches.

[Trin9-0]

Will have to check the archives of Amherst football to refresh my memories of the time when Williams and Trinity "ruled" the Nescac under two great Football coaches.

One could argue that, with very few exceptions, this pretty much sums up the entirety of NESCAC's football history since Dick Farley took over in 1987.

Speaking of recruiting; here's the first QB commitment I've seen for Trinity in this cycle:
Avery Cheney QB, 6'3", 200 lbs, Rivers School, Weston, MA hudl

Another Trinity QB commit for the 2021 incoming recruiting class:
Michael Phelps 6'2", 185 lbs, St. Sebastian's School, Needham, MA hudl

[BigKat]

Rivers might be the worst prep team in Mass although I know nothing about that kid. Phelps is a great get for them.

[Trin9-0]

Avery Cheney QB, 6'3", 200 lbs, Rivers School, Weston, MA hudl
Michael Phelps QB, 6'2", 185 lbs, St. Sebastian's School, Needham, MA hudl

Another commit for Trinity's 2021 recruiting class:
Max Strid DE, 6'1, 245 lbs, Episcopal Academy, Newtown Square, PA, hudl

As a side note; Episcopal also produced another DE, Jamie Creed '04, who ended up as Trinity's all-time sack leader (and was also my roommate!).

[JEFFFAN]

Will have to check the archives of Amherst football to refresh my memories of the time when Williams and Trinity "ruled" the Nescac under two great Football coaches.

One could argue that, with very few exceptions, this pretty much sums up the entirety of NESCAC's football history since Dick Farley took over in 1987.

Speaking of recruiting; here's the first QB commitment I've seen for Trinity in this cycle:
Avery Cheney QB, 6'3", 200 lbs, Rivers School, Weston, MA hudl

Another Trinity QB commit for the 2021 incoming recruiting class:
Michael Phelps 6'2", 185 lbs, St. Sebastian's School, Needham, MA hudl

Other than Amherst winning it outright in 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2015, and sharing it in 2013 and 2018, yes you would be right.   If we exclude those six years out of ten ...

[Trin9-0]

Will have to check the archives of Amherst football to refresh my memories of the time when Williams and Trinity "ruled" the Nescac under two great Football coaches.

One could argue that, with very few exceptions, this pretty much sums up the entirety of NESCAC's football history since Dick Farley took over in 1987.

Other than Amherst winning it outright in 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2015, and sharing it in 2013 and 2018, yes you would be right.   If we exclude those six years out of ten ...

I would say that Amherst's (and Middlebury's) relative success qualifies under the few exceptions that I noted. Keep in mind, my comment was about Trinity's and Williams' dominance since 1987... not a mere a 7 year stretch. Over the 33 seasons I mentioned, either Trinity or Williams had (or shared) the NESCAC's best record 24 times. That's 73%!

Trinity: 1987, '91, '93, '96, '02 (tied w/ Williams), '03, '04, '05, '08, '12, '16, '17, '18
Williams: 1988, '89, '90, '94, '95, '97, '98, '99, '01, '02 (tied w/ Trinity), '06, '10

That leaves just 9 years in which either the Bantams or Ephs didn't have at least a share of the conference's best record:
Middlebury: 1992, 2000 (tied w/ Amherst & Colby), '07, '19
Amherst: 2000 (tied w/ Colby & Middlebury), '09, '11, '13 (tied w/ Middlebury & Wesleyan), '14, '15


Amherst and Middlebury are clearly the next best of the bunch; having accounted for at least a share of the best record in every year that it wasn't held by Trinity or Williams. But when you factor Williams' 23 game winning streak in the '90s and Trinity's 35 game winning streak in the '00s and it seems pretty clear who the powerhouses in the conference have been over the past three decades+.

[nescac1]

I give Amherst more credit for its recent run of excellence than Trin 8-0.  That's a pretty sustained and dominant run for much of the past decade, and even the decade before that, Amherst was usually in the conversation among the top few teams in the league.  Of course, time will tell if the recent run of titles ends up as a bit of a deceptive blip helped by dominating a narrow recruiting pool that it used to (at best) split with its top rival, due to basically six straight disastrous recruiting classes for that rival as a result of one coaching hire.  Certainly, the trajectory going forward for Williams looks dramatically different than during the 2011-2018 era that Amherst was able to own.  Raymond's recruiting classes if anything seem to only be getting better over time ... whereas Amherst had very few underclassmen making a big impact on the field last year. 

[Trin9-0]

I give Amherst more credit for its recent run of excellence than Trin 8-0.  That's a pretty sustained and dominant run for much of the past decade, and even the decade before that, Amherst was usually in the conversation among the top few teams in the league.  Of course, time will tell if the recent run of titles ends up as a bit of a deceptive blip helped by dominating a narrow recruiting pool that it used to (at best) split with its top rival, due to basically six straight disastrous recruiting classes for that rival as a result of one coaching hire.  Certainly, the trajectory going forward for Williams looks dramatically different than during the 2011-2018 era that Amherst was able to own.  Raymond's recruiting classes if anything seem to only be getting better over time ... whereas Amherst had very few underclassmen making a big impact on the field last year.

Sorry if I'm not being clear. I agree that Amherst has certainly been a top NESCAC team in recent memory (particularly over the seven year stretch from 2009 to 2015 when they won, or shared, five titles). But again, my point was about Trinity's and Williams' league dominance over a 33 year stretch that began with Dick Farley taking over as coach of the Ephs. I've conceded there are exceptions, which Amherst and Middlebury account for (almost exclusively).

To your point about Amherst taking full advantage of a limited recruiting pool during the dark ages of Williams football, you are 100% correct. I think the rise of Williams back to the top of the league will continue to impact Amherst and I don't anticipate seeing the Mammoths replicate the same kind of success that they enjoyed while the Ephs floundered in the Kelton era.

[Trin9-0]

This Wednesday evening, Trinity is hosting a watch part for the legendary 1991 Trin-Williams game which ended the Ephs 23-game winning streak (which was the longest in college football at the time). The so called "Game of the Decade" which featured five lead changes in the final 7:06 (including three in the final minute) was highlighted in this Sports Illustrated article (print version below), which also mentions some earlier Trin-Williams classics.

The game, which will be streamed online via Zoom, will be hosted by James Lane '92 who quarterbacked the Bantams, current Trinity Head Coach Jeff Devanney '93, who played DB in the game, and legendary coach Don Miller. I've heard all the stories about this game, but have never actually seen the footage so I'm very much looking forward to this. It's really a brilliant way to engage and reconnect alumni from this era and Trinity football fans in general! It could be fun, albeit a bit painful, for some Williams fans as well.

As a follow up; this event was fantastic! Over 150 attendees joined to watch the film and Devanney, Coach Miller and James Lane did an excellent job of setting the stage, and providing insight into the specifics of this legendary game.

I was thrilled to hear that they'll be hosting more of these events featuring different eras of Bantam football. On a related note, that may interest all those here, I learned that several Trinity football game films (most of which feature NESCAC opponents) have been digitized and can be found online HERE in the archives of Trinity's famed Watkinson Library.

Many are from the '60s and '70s, but there are some from the '50s, '90s and even a short clip of Trinity's 26-13 victory over UConn (or "Connecticut State") in 1935. Enjoy!

[Trin9-0]

I learned that several Trinity football game films (most of which feature NESCAC opponents) have been digitized and can be found online HERE in the archives of Trinity's famed Watkinson Library.

Many are from the '60s and '70s, but there are some from the '50s, '90s and even a short clip of Trinity's 26-13 victory over UConn (or "Connecticut State") in 1935. Enjoy!

Sorry for monopolizing the board this morning, but I had to share this. Out of curiosity I clicked on the 1978 Trinity-Wesleyan game as Devanney mentioned it would likely be the next historic game featured.

At the time, this was a highly anticipated game with both teams entering the contest with 6-1 records. Trinity's lone loss was to (who else?) Williams, while Wesleyan's record was unblemished aside from a home defeat to Amherst. The Cardinals had won the previous three against the Bantams, who were coming off of a disappointing 3-5 record the previous year (Trin would have only two losing records over the next 43 seasons).

Anyway... the reasons for this post are that one of the first things I noticed when I turned on the film is that someone at Wesleyan painted "Wes '79 7-1" on the middle of Andrus Field!

I'm assuming '79 is in reference to the year of graduation for the Wes seniors. That's a BOLD move... especially since Trinity proceeded to win the game 43-10.

To add insult to injury, the film also includes footage of Trinity fans (they appear to be players from the rugby team IN UNIFORM) tearing down the goalposts (AT WESLEYAN!) and then carrying them away, haha!

[amh63]

Yes, Rugby players...."club sport" are like that.  Amherst's Rugby players would head to west coast and Bermuda to play teams.  Was in the UK on business...an UK gov't official found out that I attended Amherst.  He recalled good matches at Amherst...became most helpful during my stay in the UK. 
There are some nice sports coverage stories on the Amherst website.  Interviews with the HC's of Football and Soccer...their take of working with players on campus, etc.  Another one with Amherst's MBB player Day who is sitting out this season.
Must relate a Coach Farley story...memories.  I traveled on business to Pittsfield, Ma...GE....etc.  Got to Williamstown quite a bit...during the Farley years.  Williams' present Basketball facility and Swim facility were quite new.  A good friend of my youngest son had set a record in the "new"Williams' pool.  I tried to get to the pool...sort of a maze for me.  I wandered into a large office where Coach Farley sat ..with other coaches.  We chatted and he helped to point the way.  He mentioned that he sometimes gave the same direction to potential "recruits"...if they got lost, then Williams was not for them.  He then asked if I had any sons.  I related to him that I had two, but Amherst was their choice. Coach Farley turned to the other coaches in the room and jokingly stated that he had helped an Amherst man.  We all smiled.  I shook his hand and left....I did not get lost....good directions.  Met the retired HC Farley several times at the Amherst-Williams game.