FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[nescac1]

It's rare but there have definitely been some high-profile athletes transferring within NESCAC - and no, they do not have to sit out a year when they do so.  For example, before Conn College itself became a soccer power, G.L. Genco and Weller Hlinomaz were high-profile soccer transfers to Amherst.  Going back well before that, Craig Coupe and Keith Wolff were prominent NESCAC-to-NESCAC basketball transfers.  I can't think of an example from football, but I bet it has happened at least once or twice over the years. 

I'd bet it will be very rare going forward as I think modern-day NESCAC admissions offices (which take very few transfers to begin with) are more likely now to hold those spots for folks with a different sort of story than "I wanted a better athletic program in the same conference."  Kids like community college transfers, folks who started at big state schools, etc.  I'd be pretty shocked if the Amherst of today poached a Genco or Hlinomaz just to help out an already-powerful soccer team ... unless there was another reason motivating the transfer, as well. 

[The Mole]

Current Bates HFC Matt Coyne transferred from Williams to Wesleyan, following Mike Whalen. Not common, but it does happen. Coyne did not sit out, I believe--no differing NESCAC rule regarding that I am aware of.....

[maineman]

Middlebury has named Doug Mandigo '96 as the next Michael G. Heinecken Head Coach of Football. Mandigo was tabbed Associate Head Coach in the fall as part of the leadership transition with the departure of longtime head coach Bob Ritter from the program.  Mandigo has been an outstanding defensive coordinator and mentor to his student-athletes at Middlebury," Director of Athletics Erin Quinn said. "He is the best person to continue the tradition of excellence on and off the field that began with Mickey Heinecken and continued with Bob Ritter. We are excited to see where he and his staff take the football program in the years to come."

Mandigo began his coaching career at Middlebury following his graduation in 1996, serving as a three-sport assistant coach. He had brief stints at high schools, colleges, and the United Football League (UFL) before returning to Middlebury in 2011 as the defensive coordinator. Mandigo has been a part of three NESCAC Championship teams and coached a pair of NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year honorees. He is also active in the greater College community, serving as a Posse mentor to a Chicago cohort from 2016-19.

"It is a tremendous honor to follow the legacy of Coach Heinecken and Coach Ritter and become the next head football coach at Middlebury College," said Mandigo. "Middlebury is a special place to be a student-athlete, and I am extremely excited to continue mentoring and developing the remarkable group of student-athletes in the football program. I want to thank Director of Athletics Erin Quinn, Coach Ritter, President Laurie Patton, and the entire Middlebury community for this opportunity."

Mandigo, alongside Ritter, helped guide the 2022 program to a NESCAC Runner-Up finish with a 7-2 mark.

[lumbercat]

Current Wesleyan LB Brian Carmichael transferred from Bates to Wesleyan in 2020.

[The Mole]

Good call Lumber. And he did not sit out. Check out this video of him:

https://twitter.com/Wes_Football/status/1597639619092193281?s=20&t=8kPAF8E0jrJOOzTRheu45w

Current Wesleyan LB Brian Carmichael transferred from Bates to Wesleyan in 2020.

[Gate90]

Hearing the current #2 QB at Trinity may be transferring within the NESCAC.  Possibilities include Williams, Amherst, Hamilton.

[lumbercat]

and Bowdoin

[lumbercat]

I'm told actually 2 Trinity QBs are exploring transfer opportunities. Embarrassment of riches at the QB position in the Coop. A good QB with some pride and aspirations is not going to stick around to carry a clip board and signal in plays if he's one of 5 or 6 guys in the mix.

It looks like this whole transfer mobility concept has filtered down from D1 and might come into play in the NESCAC. In D3 football it makes absoulutely no sense for competitive student athletes to ride the pine to be part of a NESCAC championship run. I don't blame a kid who decides he's a competitor who wants to get on the field and compete for a championship at another school.

[BigKat]

This sounds absurd to me unless its also for academic and post college job life opps which makes some sense flying the Coop to land in purple pastures. How about winning the job and sticking it out. QB turnover is massive at all levels( see TCU Heisman candidate) Never know when your number is called. BTW it was ( lack of) WR play at both those purple palaces that was their undoing-careful what you wish for. This generation of flee when adversity comes is such a bad precedent at this level. NIL opps/D1 etc its a little different story.

[nescac1]

I wonder if Matt Crowley from Tufts has looked around, he was very highly regarded and is stuck behind Berlutti?

BigKat, I certainly don't blame guys (it's absolutely not "absurd") who are stuck behind a multi-year all-league QB and who want a chance to actually see the field at another NESCAC school where they would be a presumptive or likely starter.  Really, the only positions where this could even be an issue are QB or K, where there is typically only going to be one guy handling all the meaningful snaps.  But yeah, if you are someone who actually wants to see playing time in your four years at a NESCAC school, and there is no real chance of that happening outside of an injury to the starter, who could blame someone for pursuing transfer options?  I don't think it's fair to call this fleeing adversity - it's more seeking an opportunity where no realistic opportunity exists at your present institution. 

[Charlie]

I'm told actually 2 Trinity QBs are exploring transfer opportunities. Embarrassment of riches at the QB position in the Coop. A good QB with some pride and aspirations is not going to stick around to carry a clip board and signal in plays if he's one of 5 or 6 guys in the mix.

It looks like this whole transfer mobility concept has filtered down from D1 and might come into play in the NESCAC. In D3 football it makes absoulutely no sense for competitive student athletes to ride the pine to be part of a NESCAC championship run. I don't blame a kid who decides he's a competitor who wants to get on the field and compete for a championship at another school.

I agree on all your comments however I believe the recruits are getting a great deal of bad advise from Recruiting companies and making bad decisions themselves. These recruits need to do more research on these matters. Injuries aside if a team is flush with QB all young guns from perspective schools and a bonafide All star like you have at Trinity & Tufts then you have to make a better decision of where you want to land.

In addition many players are being recruited as an " Athlete " but do not understand that they are changing positions at the collegiate level no matter the position. They are then going against other recruits who were the best players at their respective  high school teams. Now they are trying to play NESCAC football which if you break it down you have around 16 to 18 pre season practices no pre season games , no spring ball , no red shirting and you will see the difficulty in trying to play early in a NESCAC football career.

Then you still have the COVID gap year which will correct itself shortly but not this year. So you are competing against fifth year seniors. I suppose Once this is over and NESCAC goes back to a roster limit then many of these schools will not be able to crowd their rosters at certain positions. Until then however the NESCAC football based on these factors is one of the hardest to recruit for and recruits must do their due diligence.

[The Mole]

Here is some data on the portal:

College football's transfer portal officially opened on Monday, and over 1,000 players have already entered. Welcome to the NCAA's version of free agency.

The big names: Four QBs — Spencer Sanders (Oklahoma State), D.J. Uiagalelei (Clemson), Hudson Card (Texas) and Devin Leary (NC State) — are among the biggest names in the portal.

By the numbers: Here's how many players entered the portal and actually found landing spots over the last four years, per SI's Richard Johnson:

2018-19: 1,729 entered, 878 transferred (51%)
2019-20: 1,625 entered, 901 transferred (53%)
2020-21: 2,654 entered, 1,452 transferred (55%)
2021-22: 3,085 entered, 866 transferred (28%)

Underlines the absurdity of it all. almost double the number of players have entered since 18-19 and the actual transfer % has almost been cut in half.

[lumbercat]

Good info Mole -thx

Does anyone know of a website or any source of information for D3 athletes who have entered the portal or stated their desire to transfer? My understanding is that it's pretty much an open deal in D3 with a student athlete required only to notify his/her school if/when they decide to transfer.
However it seems there must be a list or some site that tracks activity.

[MammothDad]

Always hard to gauge football recruiting classes, but here is an updated list of Eph recruits to date  The recent Eph football recruiting classes have been around 18-20 players, and while I sure hope they can swing a few more slots from admissions this year (otherwise it's gonna be a very small roster), in all events this group of 17 will certainly form the vast majority of the recruiting class. 

After a season where first years played a surprisingly large role on defense (four first year starters by season's end), I think we will see a a major boost to the Eph skill positions from this incoming group quite early in their careers.  I note that four players in the class to date were starting QBs for their high school teams, although several of those guys I assume are being recruited as athletes rather than QBs, with Renzella a name to watch as a pure passer.  I would think that Jack Dickinson, after losing his job due to injury, would still go into the season as the most likely starter, but I would not be shocked at all to see one of these first years in the mix with Dickinson and Wallace (who also was injured before he had a chance to do much on the field), given how much the Eph passing game struggled no matter who was at the helm last year. 

I see Thorbahn and Gering, both of whom had at least one scholarship offer, as guys to watch as first years ... both look like potentially explosive playmakers and the Ephs are gonna need a few of those around Fischetti.  And some of the other skill guys (Cotton and Kennedy) have good speed as well. The Ephs have a big hole at center on the offensive line so Shames or maybe Ingram may be names to watch on the interior line as well. 

Luke Thorbahn, 5'9 185 RB/WR, Avon Old Farms
Wyatt Cotton, WR/RB, St. Mary's (MD)
Holden Gering, 5'10 WR/CB/ATH, Crespi Carmelite (CA)
Ethan Shames, 6'3, 280 C, Avon Old Farms
Austin Bongo, 6'3, 215 ATH, Hull H.S.
Will Robke, 6'3, 285 OL/DL, Barnstable
Brady Carroll, 6'2 185 QB/ATH, Sandwich
Brian Ingram, 6'3, 290 OL/DL, Hun School
Drew Renzella, 6'2, 200 QB, Williston
Jack Barber, 6'5, 240 DE, Darien
Christian Reavis, 6'1, 200 LB, Deerfield
Nate Dlugos, 6'2 180 ATH, Greensburg Central Catholic
Jack Kennedy, 5'9 185, WR Cheshire Academy
Nathan Rodi, 6' 210 RB/LB, Pittsford (NY)
Leonardo Maiulolo, 5'8 165 P/K, Saint Francis (CA)
Will Baker, 6'4 220 QB, Cohasset
Owen Johansen, 6'2 212 QB/LB/ATH, Northport (NY)

A real gem here is Holden Gehring. Gamebreaking playmaker. Offered by all NESCACs, several Ivies and DI schools. Could have gone almost anyplace. Believe it came down to Amherst or Willytown with Raymond getting the nod. Seems reflective of the current state of the 2 rival programs. Only 1 recruit, but overall Amherst seems to be losing some energy and overall luster to the Ephs.

How do you know who a school has offered?  Through kids on Twitter making it known?

[CC_Camels]

Great info about the transfer portal #'s!

I am not a college FB coach, but I wonder what life is like for the 72% who entered the transfer portal last year and did not find a new home...can they go back to their original school, and if so would they be welcomed or trusted by the coaching staff?

Obviously in cases it makes sense if a player is not getting on the field and is looking for a program which has a specific need at his position or a coaching change it can make a lot of sense, but with only 28% finding new programs last year I question whether players re getting good advice.

And, does the transfer portal become a means for coaches to pressure players to leave if they are injured or not performing to expectations...or if a new coach is "bringing his own luggage" to his new program.