FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[lumbercat]

THANK YOU both for your insights!

Yes, our son was "offered" (admission help) by Middlebury, Amherst, Bates, Colby and Bowdoin, after each school's pre-read was complete.

But Trinity and Williams never did.  In fairness to Trinity, they let it be known that they didn't get around to "offering" until SEP and my son wanted to commit soon, to avoid missing out.

He was interested in Tufts but could never get traction with their recruiting staff, like he did all of the above.

Thanks for the perspective and I guess it all remains a mystery, like the Ivy "bands" as well.

One thing we noticed about the Ivies, if the kid could ball, Coach seemed to get a lot of confidence in their admission process.



The NESCAC's were far more focused on academic eligibility than the Ivies, per our experience.  ALL of the Coaches said they were "hands off", until they heard back from the Admissions Office.





Lumbercat wrote:

Good discussion on recruiting.
The factor that at gets overlooked much of the time when parents express their bewilderment with NESCAC recruiting goes  like this........

We had a great meeting but they dragged their feet on making an offer to my son.....
or
We just couldn't connect t with the coaching staff.......
or
After some encouraging dialog they never got back to us.......
or
They were too late with their offer......

All of these scenarios point to the fact that the school probably did not want junior, had him rated low or tried keep him on hold as they secured other more preferred prospects.

Parents need to understand that the Coaches rank the recruits just like the recruits rank the colleges. This can lead to very different conversations with different schools.

[Nescacman]

2023 NESCACMAN Week 3 Power Rankings

Week #3 leaves us with two unbeatens, Hartford State and Wesleyan...Hartford State keeps rolling and looks unbeatable with a big win against the Lord Mammoths...Wesleyan as expected rolled up on Hamilton...Middlebury bounces back and beats the previously undefeated Polar Bears...Tufts wins as expected at home over the hapless Ephs...Colby gets in the win column against UBates...another stellar week for NESCACMAN going 5-0 with our weekly picks...we are now 14-1 on the year which is our fastest start since we starting making picks in 2013.

Here are our NESCAC rankings for Week 3 based on our poll of league wide correspondents:

1). Hartford State Roosters (9 first place votes)(3-0; Last Week Rank: 1): As predicted, this game was over from the moment that Amwurst stepped off the bus...Some stats from the Roosters dismantling of the hapless Lord Mammoths: 457 yards of total offense for Hartford State, the defense held Amwurst to 145 yards of total offense (including 35 yards rushing on 19 attempts), the LMs were held to 2 of 11 on third down, time of possession was 35 minutes/25 minutes to the advantage of Hartford State, HS forced 3 turnovers, and HS had 245 yards rushing...10 different Roosters had a receptions...the 2023 Hartford State team might be the greatest NESCAC team ever! They are 22nd in the country in total offense, 17th in total defense and 3rd in rushing defense...Roosters on the road this week to face Hamilton....ouch.

2). Wesleyan Cardinals (1 first place vote)(3-0; Last week Rank: 2): Wesleyan beats up on Hamilton at alternate site...only second game in history at Citrin Field...Wes never trailed in this game...Story of the game was Wesleyan pass offense (5 TD passes, 335 yards, no interceptions), time of possession (38 minutes to 22 minutes for Wes), and run defense (31 yards allowed on 24 carries)...Chase Wilson starred with 4 TD receptions, 158 yards receiving and 10 catches...Congratulations to Chase on winning this week's Golden Helmet Award (with all due respect to Keon Smart, come on Mr. NESCAC, how can Chase not be the NESCAC OPOTW???)...Wes has the top 2 receivers in the league in receptions...Congrats to Wes CB Wesley Abraham on being named this week's NESCAC DPOTW-he followed up his pick 6 against MID with a stellar week that included 2 interceptions, a forced fumble and a TFL...Wesley leads the NESCAC with 7 pass breakups through 3 games...Wes going for their 11th straight winning season (longest streak in program history)...Wes travels to Colby to face the Mules this week.

3). Middlebury Panthers (2-1; Last Week Rank: 3): MID back in the win column at home dealing the Polars their first loss of the season...MID never trailed in an exciting back and forth affair...MID was outgained by Bowdoin 460 yards to 397...Bowdoin ran an incredible 87 plays including 55 passes...difference was turnovers as the Polars turned the ball over 3x compared to one MID turnover...John McCool had a very good week anchoring the MID defense with 13 tackles, 2.5 TFL, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery....MID had two receivers over 100 yards (Jamin and Wood)...Middlebury travels to Williamstown this week to face the reeling Ephs .

4). Tufts Jumbo's (2-1; Last Week Rank: 4):  Jumbo's offense rolled for 514 yards against the Ephs including 29 first downs on 82 plays...Tufts running game again performed well running for 249 yards...Both Berlutti and Reece went over 100 yards rushing...WR Jaden Richardson was in consideration for OPOTW with 10 catches for 153 yards and 3 scores...defense held Williams to 252 yards of total offense, only 75 yards passing, 1 of 10 on third downs, and 8 first downs...Tufts dominated the time of possession 41 minutes to only 19 minutes for the Ephs....Tufts O-line performed well again as evidenced by the rushing yardage and did not allow a sack...Tufts is second in total offense and third in total defense...HCOG Civetti still sub .500 for his career despite recent success (0-24 start didn't help)...Tufts visits Bowdoin in a very interesting week #4 match-up.

5). Bowdoin Polar Bears (2-1; Last Week Rank: 5): Bowdoin loses a back and forth game with Middlebury...fails to start a season 3-0 for only the third time since World War 2 ...Despite throwing for 417 yards (second most in program history) and 2 TDs, QB Andrew Boel threw a key interception late in the fourth quarter deep in the red zone to seal the game for Middlebury...3 Bowdoin turnovers killed them despite 530 yards of total offense and 30 first downs...defense also allowed over 500 yards to Middlebury...Bowdoin leads the league in passing offense...another test this week as the Polars face the Jumbo's under the lights in Brunswick.

6). Colby Mules (1-2; Last Week Rank: 7): Mules get into the win column with a C-B-B victory over UBates under the lights in Lewiston...Colby is probably better than what they have shown thus far...Colby won despite being outgained by UBates (387 yards to 314 yards) and only 10 first downs...RB Keon Smart won the NESCAC OPOTW award based on rushing for 145 yards and 2 TDs and 6 receptions for 118 yards and a TD...3 turnovers helped the Mules...Colby surprisingly last in total defense...Mules will be tested this week as they host the Cardinals.

7). Williams Purple Cows (1-2; Last Week Rank: 6): It keeps getting worse for the Ephs as they "loose" to the Jumbo's...did they rehire HCOF Kelton without us knowing???...Only 5 pass completions for 75 yards...8 first downs on the day....defense gave up 514 yards...1 of 10 on third downs...btw, what's with the yellow helmets (we know for a fact that certain alumni DO NOT like them) 9th in scoring offense and last in passing offense...another tough match-up this week as they host Middlebury.

8). University of Bates Bobcats (Lewiston Campus)(0-3; Last Week Rank: 8): Tough loss to the Mules at home...could have come away with the W...Despite outgaining Colby, 3 turnovers including a crucial INT in the 4th quarter ultimately was the difference...last in scoring defense in the League......back home this week to face the Mules at night in Lewiston in a big rivalry game.

9). Amwurst Lord Mammoths (1-2; Last Week Rank: 9): It's getting ugly at Amwurst...Hartford State led 42-0 at the half and probably could have scored 100 on the Lord Mammoths...145 yards of total offense and 4 turnovers ...Longest pass play on the day was 17 yards...last in scoring (235th nationally out of 239 D3 programs), last in total offense, and last in rushing offense...LM alums: the offensive coordinator is Malik Grove and here is his email if you want to talk to him directly: mgrove@amherst.edu...Wonder how much longer HCOF EJ will put up with this...Lord Mammoths head to UBates this week to face the Kitties.

10). Hamilton Alexander Hamilton's (0-3; Last Week Rank: 10): HAM gets destroyed by the Cardinals...QB Matt Banbury came back in this one but it didn't matter...played 3 QBs, all pretty much ineffective...only 162 yards of total offense on the day including 31 yards rushing...HCOF Murray must long for those days back at Alfred; he's never had a winning season in Clinton (19-50 over 8 seasons)...does not get easier for the Alexander Hamilton's as they host the Roosters this week.

[Scoops]

As always, love the insight Nescacman. But the shots at Coaches Civetti and Grove seemed pretty unnecessary.

[Nescacman]

As always, love the insight Nescacman. But the shots at Coaches Civetti and Grove seemed pretty unnecessary.

You forgot our comment on the Alexander Hamilton's HCOF...

Look, these guys are paid to win (in some cases, a fair amount of $$$), generate offense, or stop the other team from scoring (yes, we know they are also being paid to lead men, mold young student-athletes into the future leaders of America, yada, yada, yada)....however, we call it like it is...if you think that's a shot, you are entitled to your opinion....we are just being open and honest...there is a difference between being honest and being mean...for the record, that was not a shot at HCOF Jay, we just find it interesting that after all theses years and after pretty much turning around the Jumbo program, he's still not back to a .500 record....that's just an interesting factoid...

As far as the Lord Mammoth's and Alexander Hamilton's are concerned, the coaches deserve whatever criticism anyone wants to lay on them...

[PolarBearMan]

New to the board so maybe I don't know a whole lot, but how did a kid who missed 2 field goals win Special Teams POTW? Is this an award for hitting extra points?? Didn't watch every game but surely there was someone on special teams this week who performed better than 50% on field goals. Thanks for having me here

-PBM

[Pat Coleman]

New to the board so maybe I don't know a whole lot, but how did a kid who missed 2 field goals win Special Teams POTW? Is this an award for hitting extra points?? Didn't watch every game but surely there was someone on special teams this week who performed better than 50% on field goals. Thanks for having me here

-PBM

I don't know the specifics of every special teams performance in the NESCAC this week, but some conferences essentially never give an award to a player whose team lost. I don't know if that's full-on NESCAC policy, but it is the case this week, anyway.

[nescac1]

Much as I enjoy Amherst's struggles on offense (the only silver lining to the last year and a third for Williams football is that Amherst has been even worse), not sure it's necessary Nescacman to encourage folks to spam the offensive coordinator - it's hardly his fault, last year's offense was no better under a different offensive coordinator.  Amherst's problem on offense is with personnel - Amherst hasn't had an all-NESCAC skill guy (or anyone really close) on its roster since 2019, and that's not gonna change anytime soon from the look of things.  There is just a paucity of playmakers, plus QBs have been for the second straight year cycling in and out, and you can only draw up so much to compensate.  I am surprised though that Amherst's usually stout defense has struggled as well, especially against the run.  Williams has much of the same issue, but at least has one real guy in Fischetti.  And I do think some of the first-years who have at least shown a few flashes will show more in time. 

[Charlie]

As always, love the insight Nescacman. But the shots at Coaches Civetti and Grove seemed pretty unnecessary.

You forgot our comment on the Alexander Hamilton's HCOF...

Look, these guys are paid to win (in some cases, a fair amount of $$$), generate offense, or stop the other team from scoring (yes, we know they are also being paid to lead men, mold young student-athletes into the future leaders of America, yada, yada, yada)....however, we call it like it is...if you think that's a shot, you are entitled to your opinion....we are just being open and honest...there is a difference between being honest and being mean...for the record, that was not a shot at HCOF Jay, we just find it interesting that after all theses years and after pretty much turning around the Jumbo program, he's still not back to a .500 record....that's just an interesting factoid...

As far as the Lord Mammoth's and Alexander Hamilton's are concerned, the coaches deserve whatever criticism anyone wants to lay on them...

New to the board so maybe I don't know a whole lot, but how did a kid who missed 2 field goals win Special Teams POTW? Is this an award for hitting extra points?? Didn't watch every game but surely there was someone on special teams this week who performed better than 50% on field goals. Thanks for having me here

-PBM

I don't know the specifics of every special teams performance in the NESCAC this week, but some conferences essentially never give an award to a player whose team lost. I don't know if that's full-on NESCAC policy, but it is the case this week, anyway.

The bottom line is that no matter who is calling the plays you cannot win without athletes. I was astounded at the clear size differential and talent watching the Amherst & Hamilton games. There is a clear division of talent in the NESCAC and it all comes from recruiting and admissions. I also think that it wont be long before Williams is in this same position. There lack of recruiting and constantly missing on QB's and taking so many QB that don't pan out will hurt them in the long run. If you are not accepting a great number of recruits you cant afford that many misses.

Only reason that Tufts HC Civetti is not in this talk is that Berluti has saved him from dissappointing seasons. This and the fact that he has hit on some good recruiting to make his teams a 500 ball club.

[Nescacman]

Much as I enjoy Amherst's struggles on offense (the only silver lining to the last year and a third for Williams football is that Amherst has been even worse), not sure it's necessary Nescacman to encourage folks to spam the offensive coordinator - it's hardly his fault, last year's offense was no better under a different offensive coordinator.  Amherst's problem on offense is with personnel - Amherst hasn't had an all-NESCAC skill guy (or anyone really close) on its roster since 2019, and that's not gonna change anytime soon from the look of things.  There is just a paucity of playmakers, plus QBs have been for the second straight year cycling in and out, and you can only draw up so much to compensate.  I am surprised though that Amherst's usually stout defense has struggled as well, especially against the run.  Williams has much of the same issue, but at least has one real guy in Fischetti.  And I do think some of the first-years who have at least shown a few flashes will show more in time.

Nescac1, the email for the Amwurst offensive coordinator is in the public domain right on the Lord Mammoth football website: https://athletics.amherst.edu/sports/football/coaches/2023

Wouldn't take much for any idiot, including us or Lord Mammoth alums, to find his email (much the same way you could have found HCOF Kelton's email address).

Of course, the email address was our attempt at humor, which we actually thought was pretty funny.

[Nescacman]

As always, love the insight Nescacman. But the shots at Coaches Civetti and Grove seemed pretty unnecessary.

You forgot our comment on the Alexander Hamilton's HCOF...

Look, these guys are paid to win (in some cases, a fair amount of $$$), generate offense, or stop the other team from scoring (yes, we know they are also being paid to lead men, mold young student-athletes into the future leaders of America, yada, yada, yada)....however, we call it like it is...if you think that's a shot, you are entitled to your opinion....we are just being open and honest...there is a difference between being honest and being mean...for the record, that was not a shot at HCOF Jay, we just find it interesting that after all theses years and after pretty much turning around the Jumbo program, he's still not back to a .500 record....that's just an interesting factoid...

As far as the Lord Mammoth's and Alexander Hamilton's are concerned, the coaches deserve whatever criticism anyone wants to lay on them...

New to the board so maybe I don't know a whole lot, but how did a kid who missed 2 field goals win Special Teams POTW? Is this an award for hitting extra points?? Didn't watch every game but surely there was someone on special teams this week who performed better than 50% on field goals. Thanks for having me here

-PBM

I don't know the specifics of every special teams performance in the NESCAC this week, but some conferences essentially never give an award to a player whose team lost. I don't know if that's full-on NESCAC policy, but it is the case this week, anyway.

The bottom line is that no matter who is calling the plays you cannot win without athletes. I was astounded at the clear size differential and talent watching the Amherst & Hamilton games. There is a clear division of talent in the NESCAC and it all comes from recruiting and admissions. I also think that it wont be long before Williams is in this same position. There lack of recruiting and constantly missing on QB's and taking so many QB that don't pan out will hurt them in the long run. If you are not accepting a great number of recruits you cant afford that many misses.

Only reason that Tufts HC Civetti is not in this talk is that Berluti has saved him from dissappointing seasons. This and the fact that he has hit on some good recruiting to make his teams a 500 ball club.

Sort of like Bobby Maimaron saving HCOF Raymond...

[Pat Coleman]

I did consider whether to remove the address from Nescacman's post, but decided that, yes, it was publicly available info, even if the callout was unnecessary.

[lumbercat]

Civetti lost 28 straight games early in his career at a very different Tufts with a different President and administration along with a with a lousy AD and a terrible Athletic Department. At that time he got little support and the Tufts job was among the least desirable in the league.

Civetti was about to  lose his job when a new President and new AD came aboard. The whole philosophy toward Football and athletics changed drastically.

Doubtful that another coach might have significantly different results during that losing streak. I understand the record "is what it is" but I discount that period in assessing Civetti's performance as HCOF.
Since the level of support changed he has done a very good job with the program. I don't view him as a 500 coach despite the record.

[Charlie]

Civetti lost 28 straight games early in his career at a very different Tufts with a different President and administration along with a with a lousy AD and a terrible Athletic Department. At that time he got little support and the Tufts job was among the least desirable in the league.

Civetti was about to  lose his job when a new President and new AD came aboard. The whole philosophy toward Football and athletics changed drastically.

Doubtful that another coach might have significantly different results during that losing streak. I understand the record "is what it is" but I discount that period in assessing Civetti's performance as HCOF.
Since the level of support changed he has done a very good job with the program. I don't view him as a 500 coach despite the record.

Lets face facts HC Civetti is ok at best despite questionable play calls and a history of special team blunders. But lets really face facts is HC Raymond on the hot seat more. You bring in all these QB and start a converted WR your offense looks pathetic. Then you bring in a Freshman QB. Williams did not have any QB grooming to be next QB. He is now really being questioned on his in game decisions especially on fourth downs. Wondering if the only reason he won championship was because of Maimaron or the fact that he had a team loaded with 5 th years. How many excuses we going to give him. Another intersting tidbit was Coach Blu at Williams the real reason they won a championship. This could also be the answer.

[Nescacman]

First off, we have no issue with HCOF Jay, we like him, he seems to be a decent guy from what we hear, and he is well respected by other coaches around the League. His players seem to like him and play hard for him. However, let's be clear, since his historically bad run at the start of his career (0-24 record, as a reminder), Jay has done just an "OK" job, in our opinion (agreeing with Charlie, which is scary). Let's look at the statistical facts. His record since 2014 has been decent as outlined below and he consistently has had one of the best offensive teams in the league year after year, this year being no exception. Frankly, Michael Berlutti has taken Tufts to new heights offensively since he came on the scene in 2021 as Tufts has ranked either 1st or 2nd  in total offense since he became starting QB. Prior to Berlutti's arrival, btw, Tufts ranked no higher than 3rd in total offense since 2014. Our biggest issue is with the Tufts defense. Year after year they continue to rank in the bottom half of the league averaging a rank of 6th since 2014. They are currently ranked 3rd in 2023. If history is an indicator, the last time Tufts finished with a Top 3 defense, they finished the year 7-2 (in 2018).

Tufts improvement in football since the 0-24 run from 2011-2013 directly correlates to the arrival of Athletic Director John Morris in 2014, as has been previously noted. With that being said, as has been noted MANY times on the Boards, how did Tufts even have an 0-24 run in the NESCAC in the first place? Tufts is by far the biggest school in the conference (6,800 undergrads; bigger than several/many FCS programs in the Northeast and more than twice as large as the next largest NESCAC school, Wesleyan), they may have the best location of any school in the NESCAC (which helps them attract a more diverse group of student-athletes), and Tufts is a stellar academic University with real graduate programs which allow their student-athletes to easily take a 5th year as a grad student, if they qualify. Given all of these factors, shouldn't Tufts be even better than they have been since 2014? Shouldn't they be able to compete with Hartford State? Has HCOF Jay actually under achieved relative to Tufts institutional potential?

Year    Record      NESCAC Rank (Total Offense/Total Defense)
2014    4-4              4th/9th
2015    6-2              5th/9th
2016    7-1              4th/5th
2017    5-4              4th/6th
2018    7-2              3rd/3rd
2019    4-5              3rd/4th
2020    N/A              Covid
2021    4-5              1st/9th
2022    6-3              1st/6th
2023    2-1              2nd/3rd

Total 9 years: 45-27 (average offensive rank: 3rd; average defensive rank: 6th)

[MammothDad]

First off, we have no issue with HCOF Jay, we like him, he seems to be a decent guy from what we hear, and he is well respected by other coaches around the League. His players seem to like him and play hard for him. However, let's be clear, since his historically bad run at the start of his career (0-24 record, as a reminder), Jay has done just an "OK" job, in our opinion (agreeing with Charlie, which is scary).

Total 9 years: 45-27 (average offensive rank: 3rd; average defensive rank: 6th)

Would be interested to know how many kids Tufts loses over 4 years, to Boston, jobs, internships, etc.  I personally was glad Tufts never showed interest in my son after Amherst and Bowdoin offered him because I feared the distractions the City of Boston offered.  For a kid to grind for free for 4 years in D3 FB, is quite a commitment!

Being that NOT playing FB post college is the reality for all, minus a few rare exceptions, I can see many career building activities a city like Boston, in addition to money to be made, can offer a kid as an alternative to sweating for free.  Especially when Trinity is so established as they are, at the current moment.

I really respect ALL who play all 4 years for free.  Especially those Jr. and Sr.'s who are coming to the reality that they may never play a meaningful down.  The 76 player limit, seems very kind, in a way.