FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[FBALL365]

my 2 cents:

first, i did not apply to trinity, went elsewhere in the nescac. did not like priore as a guy, seemed dishonest, liked other coaches better and could better see myself playing for them for four years. personal prefence. as a nescac player i have the utmost respect for the trinity program, though i disliked priore i do respect what he has done there and i have never bashed them to prospective recruits, though it is easy to do (i.e. bullfrog). Chessdoc- I understand what you mean when you talk about your son, I too would much rather go to a place where I had a chance to accomplish something great, Im sure Trinity would have had much more appeal to me if the nescac was playoff-eligible (but thats a whole other issue). Going to Trinity in the middle of it's winning streak seems to me that you are not achieving something great, youre just following. To Bullfrog- If you coach in the nescac, which it seems like you do or have, I really hope that you dont take this attitude with your kids, you would only be doing them a disservice and undermining the character of great kids who im sure are willing to give 100% to your program. sure it is tough to go out and play trinity every year knowing them to be the powerhouse that they are but i still enjoy going out and playing them because it is the ultimate challenge, i personally won the majority of my one-on-one battles against an incredible player last year which was a great experience.

[bant551]

Bullfrog, what team do you coach/ coached/ play for/ played for?  Thats gotta be awful!

I mean, when we were playing Williams when they had a QB who got a shot at the NFL, if we were being realistic, we wouldn't have thrown money down on the Bants winning... but to give up before the games are played?  Thats an embarassment.

[Bullfrog]

FBALL365

When have I bashed a TR player?  That is ridiculous comment. 

Second for you to say Chuck appears dishonest and did not like him, sounds like Chuck didn't want you and you were not a TR type of player as most NESCAC players.

Saying Chuck is dishonest has to be one of the stupidest comments, the guy is just the opposite and probably told you you are not a TR player.  Truth hurts.

Finally, all I say is that TR has an enourmous advantage in recruiting and that is why they are undefeated in football.


Sorry if post comes out again didn't see it previuosly post. 

[bant551]

***Finally, all I say is that TR has an enourmous advantage in recruiting and that is why they are undefeated in football.***

I'd say that the reason Farley is considered to be such a great coach is that he passively coached teams that had by far -- with the exception of Amherst -- the most talent in the league almost every single year, because they always got the cream of the crop in a league that was basically fighting for the same group of New England high school football players.

Yeah, I know how hard it is to be undefeated in the NESCAC when you have an NFL lineman and a QB who got a shot at the NFL and all, but come on guy.  Priore has implemented much more of a "system" than Williams ever had, or ever will. 

By the way, I've SEEN the Williams football summer lifting program from when I was in college.  It was a complete and utter JOKE (you know, for the Williams kids who actually did the workout program).  Trinity's program had this complicated list with percentages that were based -- at least it seemed -- on the advice of people who understand how to build muscle-mass and explosiveness.

The Williams program said things like "break your record every week" or something.  I lifted with my high school friend who went there one summer.  Instead of being a slow, methodical lifting program that gradually built strength, it called for "breaking records" each time you lifted.  There weren't any exercises designed to build explosiveness, and no guides on how much you should be lifting (other than the whole "break your own record every week" disaster).

I know for a fact that my high school football coach who taught us how to lift weights could have -- in his sleep -- written a better lifting program than Williams had while I was at Trinity. 

[tmerton]

bant551 - You need to do something about your obsession with Williams.  It's beyond tiresome.

[bant551]

Are you kidding me tmerton?  If you were to read the threads, you'd realize that its not Trinity posters who start these arguments.  God forbid when someone makes ridiculous statements and horrific arguments trying to mock or minimize Trinity's success, they will be used against them.  "Coaching doesn't matter".  Or saying Trinity's success is based ONLY on talent.  Well, the logical counterargument would be to point out that Williams wasn't wildly successful for so many years because of their amazing off-season lifting program and offensive/defensive schemes... it was because during those years, they had the most talent, sometimes Amherst gave 'em a run for their money.

[frank uible]

Do we all feel better now?

[tmerton]

This board has gotten kinda bitter and mean, which is too bad considering the quality of the NESCAC schools and programs.  A little humor would go a long way here. 

[bant551]

***This board has gotten kinda bitter and mean, which is too bad considering the quality of the NESCAC schools and programs.***

It wouldn't take Encyclopedia Brown or the Hardy Brothers to figure out who started all the mud-slinging.

[Jonny Utah]

It wouldn't take Encyclopedia Brown or the Hardy Brothers to figure out who started all the mud-slinging.

Were those two required summer reading for Trinity College students???

ZING!!

[Jonny Utah]

This board has gotten kinda bitter and mean, which is too bad considering the quality of the NESCAC schools and programs.  A little humor would go a long way here. 

You know whats funny about that?  On that nescacnation webblog, the poll at the bottom of the page is "Whats the most hated nescac school?"  And who are the top three?  Yep, you guessed it..... Williams, Amherst and then Trinity.

[Bullfrog]

bant551

I do agree with one thing you say-Priore has implemented much more of a "system" than Williams ever had, or ever will.  Mandatory workouts, film viewing, meetings etc...  No question Chuck took it to the next level during his tenure. 

This is my last Post on this subject because most people don't want to open there eyes and see the truth. 

I do know one thing Bants will keep winning until there is a change in admission policy, which is unlikely.

[bant551]

Um, with all due respect Bullfrog, if one team does those things and the others do not, can you really expect the other teams to put up the same kind of performances than the team that functions like a machine? 

Holding players responsible for their summer workouts via hardcore pre-season testing, a great workout program, viewing film of practice at 7 am every day, creating an environment in which people go in to watch game film ON THEIR OWN TIME and take notes, having the GA's break down game tapes by play/team/year/formation, etc.... those are all things that, um... might lead to winning a ton of games, especially if the other teams in the league don't come close to putting the same amount of time and effort in.

If we were playing Middlebury, that week I could walk into the coaches office and ask for a tape which would have every single middle-zone rushing play we ran against them the last three years.  Or, if I wanted to, I could ask for an inside-zone tape, broken down by the type of defensive alignments.

If you don't think that stuff matters, the whole "system" thing, I will just have to agree to disagree with you.

[union89]

Chuck Priore is a student of the game......seems to me that when he went to Trinity they were very mediocre.  Priore coached at Union and if asked, he would probably say he learned alot with the staff, ie Bagnoli, etc.  The guy is amazing and changed the balance of power from Williams and Amherst.  Farley seems to be getting a boatload of props now, but in my opinion, Priore's teams would have smoked Farley's teams year in/year out if Chaz's teams competed with them annually.

Just one Union alumns opinion.....Chaz was always tireless in every aspect of the sport.

[tmerton]

I think you have to make a decision about what all of this means and how much of your time you let it take.  I've never met Priore and know little more than what has been mentioned here.  He seems to be a great coach, but he also seemed to have D1 expectations as far as much of the program goes.  And that obviously was great for some.  But is D3 supposed to be a mini D1 program?  For some yes, for others maybe not.  We visited four of the NESCAC programs last summer to check them out for my son; he was also recruited hard by several 1AA programs and was offered a walk on with a good D1 situation.  In the end, however, we liked D3 because, in many ways, of its differences from other levels.  He's a good football player but he also wants to be a college student, take a semester abroad, etc.  My nephew swims at one of the NESCAC schools.  He took a year off to do a couple of neat things (working in China and doing a semester in South America); it was a great experience for him.  Was his coach happy?  I don't know; maybe not.  Was my nephew?  Defintely.  What's important here?  I understand the coach's situation but ultimately, I think, it's what the kids get out of school.  D3 is supposed to understand that, and I think in most cases it does.  And the great thing about the NESCAC, at least in my view, is that they clearly get it, in an institutional sense.  Did the kids at Bowdoin fail because their team did not win a lot of games until last year?  Were they suddenly successful because they won the close games last year?  Or was the benefit there all along, even when they lost?

My son will play in the MIAC, which is a good situation for him.  But you NESCAC guys have a good thing going and should stick together and support each other.