FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[Saxon73]

Lc,

There are many high schools in NY.  Alfred, although in perhaps sort of a wilderness area itself, is a convenient drive from Buffalo, Rochester or Syracuse and points in between.  However, a fair amount of recruits also come from the Albany and Long Island (350 mi) areas plus some counties just north of NY City.  So, in state trips can cover some distance and time.

When going south from Alfred you quickly enter rural PA.  A number of standout players have come from there over the years but not so many all at once.  Our 6'6" So. QB (Kane, PA) might develop into something special if he continues to improve as he did last year becoming 3rd team E8 as a FY. Also three other players are from PA.

Additionally, I notice individuals from CA, MA, FL-2 and a LB from Switzerland.

Generally, I would say a good number of players on the roster are standouts and/or multi sport athletes from smaller high schools as well as urban area larger schools. 

Alfred University - Outside of Ordinary

[lumbercat]

Good luck to the Saxons this fall with the very solid core of Empire Staters.

[Saxon73]

Thanks Lc and best wishes to you.

[BeTheMan]

What is the official word with respect to Nescac Roster Sizes for the 2022 season and beyond? Has this been settled as of yet?

[maineman]

Head Football Coach Bob Ritter '82 to Transition to New Role After 2022 Season
8/12/2022 | Football
Middlebury head football and assistant men's lacrosse coach Bob Ritter '82 will step down from the helm of the football program at the end of the 2022 season, Director of Athletics Erin Quinn announced on Friday, August 12. Ritter, who is entering his 40th season on the sidelines, will transition into a new position with the athletic department senior administrative staff.

"Bob represents the best of Middlebury, NESCAC, and Division III football," Quinn said. "His teams are always prepared and competitive, and in 2019 they were the first NESCAC team to win nine games in an undefeated 9-0 season. More importantly, through the art of his coaching, he has mentored countless student-athletes, who have discovered the best versions of themselves under his guidance."

During his tenure as the Michael G. Heinecken Head Coach, Ritter guided the team to three NESCAC Championships and became the second coach in program history-following Mickey Heinecken-to eclipse the 100-career wins mark during the 2019 season. Ritter, who is a three-time NESCAC Coach of the Year honoree, is currently at 105 wins.

Ritter said he is grateful for the many opportunities he has had in his four decades of coaching.

"I have coached so many incredible student-athletes, and worked alongside numerous talented colleagues over the course of my career," he said. "I am excited to be on the sidelines for one more season-my 40th-and I am also looking forward to a new challenge. I am glad I can pursue that while staying on to serve the Middlebury Athletics community when I transition into my new role next year."

Quinn noted that Ritter will continue to contribute to the Athletics Department in his new role.

"While we will miss his coaching contributions, Bob has also been a leader in the department and on campus, and he will thrive as an athletics administrator at Middlebury," Quinn said. "We look forward to Bob having the opportunity to bring the wisdom he has gleaned through his coaching experience into this next phase of his career."

Middlebury will share more information about plans to name the next head football coach, details about Ritter's new role, and plans to celebrate all of his accomplishments at a later date.

[Scoops]

Just saw the news on HFC Ritter! What a MASSIVE loss for Midd, and NESCAC football. Had the pleasure of meeting him a decade ago, and couldn't have been a better guy. His teams always play hard, and he's done a phenomenal job producing excellent young men. Will be excited to see how the Pants approach the season with it being his last. Those boys will rally around him, and do everything in their power to send him out on top. Definitely just made the season a lot more interesting!

Between Coach Ritter, and all the chatter around the ivy league, it looks like there will be a major shakeup in coaching in the area. Word is that Coach Chesney at Holy Cross is eyeing a move up if he has another successful campaign. Coaches Murphy, Bagnoli, and Teevens of Harvard, Columbia, and Dartmouth are all rumoured to be contemplating retirement. Cornell and Brown staffs are on the hot seat. Does Bowdoin move on from Hammer? Will Coach Mills follow Coach Ritter? Will Coach Cosgrove re-retire? Very exciting times indeed!

Head Football Coach Bob Ritter '82 to Transition to New Role After 2022 Season
8/12/2022 | Football
Middlebury head football and assistant men's lacrosse coach Bob Ritter '82 will step down from the helm of the football program at the end of the 2022 season, Director of Athletics Erin Quinn announced on Friday, August 12. Ritter, who is entering his 40th season on the sidelines, will transition into a new position with the athletic department senior administrative staff.

"Bob represents the best of Middlebury, NESCAC, and Division III football," Quinn said. "His teams are always prepared and competitive, and in 2019 they were the first NESCAC team to win nine games in an undefeated 9-0 season. More importantly, through the art of his coaching, he has mentored countless student-athletes, who have discovered the best versions of themselves under his guidance."

During his tenure as the Michael G. Heinecken Head Coach, Ritter guided the team to three NESCAC Championships and became the second coach in program history-following Mickey Heinecken-to eclipse the 100-career wins mark during the 2019 season. Ritter, who is a three-time NESCAC Coach of the Year honoree, is currently at 105 wins.

Ritter said he is grateful for the many opportunities he has had in his four decades of coaching.

"I have coached so many incredible student-athletes, and worked alongside numerous talented colleagues over the course of my career," he said. "I am excited to be on the sidelines for one more season-my 40th-and I am also looking forward to a new challenge. I am glad I can pursue that while staying on to serve the Middlebury Athletics community when I transition into my new role next year."

Quinn noted that Ritter will continue to contribute to the Athletics Department in his new role.

"While we will miss his coaching contributions, Bob has also been a leader in the department and on campus, and he will thrive as an athletics administrator at Middlebury," Quinn said. "We look forward to Bob having the opportunity to bring the wisdom he has gleaned through his coaching experience into this next phase of his career."

Middlebury will share more information about plans to name the next head football coach, details about Ritter's new role, and plans to celebrate all of his accomplishments at a later date.

[nescac1]

If there are, indeed, multiple Patriot / Ivy openings over the next few years, Devanney, Raymond, and Civetti all would have to be prime candidates to get a long look at those spots, unless there are already heir apparents in place.  All are exactly the right age and experience range to move up, if that is something they are looking to do. 

As for Midd, what a career for Ritter.  I would think that Mandigo would be a likely successor (Caputi I assume is just too old). 

[The Mole]

Congrats to Coach Ritter, has had a great career and ran a really good program for decades. Chesney has had Catholic school roots (Salve Regina, Assumption, Holy Cross). Always thought BC would be his next spot, but he would do great at any school. Guy is a winner everywhere he goes. Gilmartin has done a pretty good job at Salve since, but Assumption has seemed to take a small step back. HC was a beast in the Patriot League since its inception in the 80s and into 1991 Then they dropped scholarships with the rest of the league and were mired in mediocrity. They did grab one title under current Lehigh head man Tom Gilmore (2009), but nothing else to speak of. Chesney has made the Crusaders the team to beat year in and out in the PL, winning 3 titles in a row (includes 2020 shortened Covid Spring).

Games begin in 36 days!

[The Mole]

Lehigh is on the hot seat (whisper was he would have been fired if he didn't beat Lafayette). No excuses, this is a pretty good situation. Traditionally a PL heavyweight they have been limping and does not make sense. You can win there.
Lafayette is safe--new guy from F&M who is an alum, he'll get 4-5 years
Bucknell is awful. Not on the hot seat, but it is warm, they need to show some progress, he'll get maybe one more year after this one. They have won the PL ONCE since inception in 1986. That is pretty inept in a 6/7 team league that ain't exactly a juggernaut. No one has been able to win there with consistency. That is a red flag.
Fordham is safe--they have a good amount of talent but cannot catch Holy Cross. Should be better despite facilities relative to the rest of the league, probably safe for now, but job has been a perennial stepping stone once someone gets success (Clawson, Moorhead)
Colgate--took a big step back with DH now at Williams, but current guy is an alum and long time staffer, he'll get it fixed and they tend to stay with coaches and don't think he's going anywhere
Georgetown--only PL school not giving scholarships and they do not care. Every 5-7 years they make it interesting but program stinks overall due to lack of support
Holy Cross is a plum gig with wonderful weight room and alumni support. This would get a pretty strong pool of applicants after Chesney leaves (matter of when, not if).

[Charlie]

Not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but former Bates QB Brendan Costa has joined the Ephs coaching staff. He will be an asset in that QB room for Maimaron's successors.

I did hear about that interesting.

I also heard that Middlebury Coach Ritter stepping down at the end of the year. Curious to see who gets that job. I would tend to think it would be promoted from within probably Coach Caputi

[Charlie]

If there are, indeed, multiple Patriot / Ivy openings over the next few years, Devanney, Raymond, and Civetti all would have to be prime candidates to get a long look at those spots, unless there are already heir apparents in place.  All are exactly the right age and experience range to move up, if that is something they are looking to do. 

As for Midd, what a career for Ritter.  I would think that Mandigo would be a likely successor (Caputi I assume is just too old). 

If there are, indeed, multiple Patriot / Ivy openings over the next few years, Devanney, Raymond, and Civetti all would have to be prime candidates to get a long look at those spots, unless there are already heir apparents in place.  All are exactly the right age and experience range to move up, if that is something they are looking to do. 

As for Midd, what a career for Ritter.  I would think that Mandigo would be a likely successor (Caputi I assume is just too old). 

I think I'm finally starting to understand your deal Charlie. It sounds to me like you're a Mass guy who's kid maybe wanted Tufts and Civetti didn't want him. That's the only explanation I can fathom for the amount of vitriol toward him. "Too busy recruiting out of region for diversity"? What's wrong with diversifying the types of kids in these programs? If anything it seems to me that Civetti is starting to figure out what his advantage is with their location, and he's getting kids who play a better level of football. I'm not a Tufts fan, but I think it's actually pretty smart and shows that he and the program there might be trying to evolve into a winner in a way that the rest of the league can't. They're never going to beat Trinity Williams and Amherst on the local kids, probably because they're from the Boston area and it's not as novel as it would be to a west coast or southern kid. So why not use the city lights to attract kids from talent-rich areas?

It's looking like the Maine schools are trying to do the same thing. Wesleyan and Bates are actually having a lot of success with it so far. Hell, even the Trinity receiver you like so much is a GA kid. The only one on the roster in Hartford. So if all the other head coaches are trying to replicate Civetti's success, then clearly they think it's a smart move. Or maybe you just know something that all these other head coaches don't? Perhaps you even know about this secret MA sack record?

Charlie, I'm not sure that Wesleyan really underperformed that much on offense last year.  They lost their top WR for the entire year due to an injury.  They didn't have an elite tailback on the roster (McPhee is solid and should be an asset as a fifth-year player).  And Austin Scott was clearly struggling with some sort of injury much of the year, leaving Estevez to have to do WAY too much on his own on offense.  This year all of their important skill guys, plus Simco, are back, and presumably they will get more out of Scott so that Estevez can play in more a slash role to which he is ideally suited.  I have a feeling their offense will be a lot more explosive.  I think Wesleyan, Trinity, Williams and Tufts could be pretty closely grouped this year, but I'd rank them, heading into the season, in that order.  I think however that any of them could win the league title.  Anyone outside that four would, to be me, be a massive surprise.

Wesleyan was in either 3/4 place in all offensive categories. Not a fan of their QB system and you are correct have a great deal of players returning. This year will be opposite of last year. They may score more but loosing all the defensive staff will translate into close games and being beaten by the top tier teams as well. Wesleyan never seems to be able to play a complete game as a team. Sadly this year is the same for them.

I do not think Tufts will make sum and I will explain why with two points. They go play Trinity and their defensive plan is to play WR Girard , Reid and TE in man to man coverage. I believe the score was 28-0 start of 3rd quarter a blow out game not close.

Coordinators bring their game plan sit down and discuss how they are going to attack teams. If the coaching staff discussed this plan and this is what they came up with illustrates the inept coaching at Tufts. A Complete coaching blunder. They should have beaten Williams at home last year but they spend more time recruiting out of region for diversity at the University. I have also heard there response time on recruiting and how there arrogance deters good athletes. I just beleive that this staff will not be able to make the hurdle to the top tier.

I have no problem with diversity at the NESCAC level. Lets face facts though you get a better idea of the local talent pool than the talent pool across the USA. In addition lets not over hype the region. Yes a player maybe good in Georgia but if he was that good he would going D1 or D2.

Tufts problem is that they wait too long in their recruitment. They are if I m not mistaken one of if not the biggest school in the NESCAC. The school is in great location so why is there football program historically been so poor. I think a great deal is recruiting but more importantly the poor  assistants they have.

Anyone that would play Trinity last year and go man to man coverage with the arsenal they had deserves to be fired. tufts made it sound like the DC left on his own accord. However they have team meetings for the Coaches to all concur on this decision makes me question there coaching acumen.

In addition who goes into a season without a kicker. They should have beaten Williams last year but they never recruited a kicker and lost. However it should be noteworthy that Tufts also pays their Coaches the lowest of all the NESCAC schools.

I do applaud them renovating their field and stands. Perhaps this philosophy and diversity will pay off but I do not think this HC and staff will move them up the ranks.

[Charlie]

If there are, indeed, multiple Patriot / Ivy openings over the next few years, Devanney, Raymond, and Civetti all would have to be prime candidates to get a long look at those spots, unless there are already heir apparents in place.  All are exactly the right age and experience range to move up, if that is something they are looking to do. 

As for Midd, what a career for Ritter.  I would think that Mandigo would be a likely successor (Caputi I assume is just too old).

I dont think Devanney would leave. He is dug in there assistants been there long time and consistent record of winning. Raymond on the other hand would I believe. He lost his best Coordinator in Coach Blu who moved on. In addition if they have a successful season look for Coach Hennessey to move on young guy with Pro experience and proven track record. I also think that Coach Mignott also a great Coach would move on or move up to an Ivy League. I think a replacement for Raymond would be Coach McDonough if he does not go with Raymond to Ivy League school

[NESCACFball24/7]

@charlie Now I know you are just talking to talk. California doesn't even have any d2 programs. They have maybe 4 FCS schools and a handful of FBS schools and one d3 league that is not highly regarded at all. For the number of kids and amount of talent in the state that is nothing. Having had kids who played high school ball in both places, the middle-of-the-road California teams would wipe the floor with most top new England teams aside from a few(bergen, Paramus, etc.) Especially when the majority of kids who don't go d1 play junior college ball instead, going after those kids if you are Tufts or any other high academic school that has financial aid available is very smart. From my understanding, the south is very similar to California in how prominent juco is as well so the same applies

[The Mole]

Realistically Civetti is a long shot for an Ivy or Patriot job based on his record. He is 37-47 overall. Granted, he started 0-24 and has gone a very respectable 37-23 since. However, he has not won anything. That stuff matters in search committees. I mentioned this before, but Farley's book is great and he goes into getting wooed by Harvard, Princeton, Yale and Dartmouth at various times for assistant and head jobs. He disdained the idea of fundraising and trekking across the country for recruits. Those are certainly considerations for candidates for those roles. Also fascinating that Hamilton and Bowdoin never hired him for their open head jobs when he was an assistant under Bob Odell.

[Scoops]

Charlie I'm sorry but you are making terrible points. By your logic, why didn't Jon Girard go D1? Was he not good? Just because a kid is from the west coast or the south, it doesn't mean they suck if they don't go D1. Just like if a New England kid goes D1, it doesn't automatically mean they'll be good in college. scouting is not a science. The NESCAC has a ton of guys who are more talented than some "D1 guys".

And to say Tufts "takes too long" clearly shows that you don't understand their advantage. If they're recruiting out of region, they're not competing against the NESCAC schools, so they're not bound by the typical NESCAC timeline. They're competing against places that, as nescac247 said, don't have D2/D3 ball. So those kids are waiting out their local D1 timelines, and Tufts has to work on that timeline. As Loch Ness said before, it's high risk high reward. Tufts is clearly okay taking the risk to land those kids.

And I'm going to say this and be done with this conversation. You clearly have it out for Tufts for whatever reason. To continue to bring up Tufts loss to Trin isn't fair on a couple of levels. 1st Trinity beat the hell out of EVERY team but Williams. So why are you singling out Tufts' failure as if they were the only team to get wrecked by them. 2nd, Girard and Reid put up 120 catches, 1700 yds, and 17 touchdowns between them on the season. Unless the box score is wrong, that didn't all come against Tufts. Those guys are good, and they beat Tufts' guys (and everyone elses). As for their kicking game, yes it was terrible. Aside from the Trinity game, they probably should've and could've won every other game they played if they had a halfway decent kicker. Looking at their roster, they did have a freshman kicker on the roster, so they did their job in recruiting one. He clearly wasn't very good as a freshman, but hopefully he'll bounce back this year. Either way, you're trying to demonize a staff and team that was within a touchdown in almost every loss, and clearly had some bad breaks with injuries. It's fine to have a grudge against the guy, but just say you have a grudge instead of pulling nonsense out of your rear end.