Newsletter of The Friends of Dartmouth Football
Transcription
Newsletter of The Friends of Dartmouth Football
Newsletter of The Friends of Dartmouth Football Vol. 6, No. 3 Winter 2015 Newsletter of The Friends of Dartmouth Football A Conversation With Coach Buddy Teevens On the Monday after Dartmouth clinched the Ivy League title Buddy Teevens sat down with Bruce Wood of Big Green Alert and shared his thoughts about Dartmouth finally making it back to the top of the mountain and the people who helped make it happen. Here’s a lightly edited version of his remarks: We were in a deep, deep hole. I’ve said it before and I will say it again. If I knew how bad it was before I came back I wouldn’t have come back. It was a tough transition. I really give tremendous credit to the players who made a leap of faith way back when. We didn’t have much in terms of facilities. It was, hey, we are going to build a program and they took a chance. With successive classes we got a little bit better and a little bit better each year. The commitment to football became stronger and stronger with (President) Jim Wright and (Athletic Director) Josie Harper and the initiatives they allowed us to start to pursue. The dedication in the off-season became greater. The competition became greater. It took a while. But there was progress every step of the way, even the 0-10 season. It was the mindset, “not again.” In addition to the players 2015 Results who took a chance on us, I Sept. 19 at Georgetown, Won 31-10 am so appreciative of the Sept. 26 Sacred Heart, Won 49-7 Friends of Football. It started with people like Tom Oct. 3 at Penn, Won 41-20 Parkinson, Rich Weissman Oct. 10 Yale, Won 35-3 and Ed Simpson. There Oct. 17 at Central Connecticut, Won 34-7 wasn’t a whole lot of Oct. 24 Columbia, Won 13-9 involvement but then it Oct. 30 at Harvard, Lost 14-13 started to grow, with more Nov. 6 Cornell, Won 21-3 people starting to believe. Nov. 14 at Brown, Won 34-18 Bob Downey and Chris Jenny came on board along with Nov. 21 Princeton, Won 17-10 Byron Anderson and their support has made a huge opportunities we didn’t have before. difference along with people like Bob Same with the addition of FieldTurf. Rex, Bill Colehower and Rick Taylor, Whether it was rain, snow or sleet, who helped show what it would take we were able to put in legitimate to turn the program around. practice time. With New England Doug Floren changed the entire weather that has an impact. Prior to athletic department culture with the that we had no answers. Leverone Floren Varsity House. We went from was insufficient. being maybe a high echelon Division We now have the ability to go out III program in terms of facilities to a and do things in a first-class fashion. high level Division I situation. We We have different uniforms and had a legitimate major college helmets for our guys. That’s important weight training facility, a big-time when you are recruiting a 17- or 18locker room and real meeting spaces. year-old guy today. We have the With Chris Jenny’s help and the addition of lights we had practice Continued on Page 12 2 Newsletter of The Friends of Dartmouth Football Friends Helped Pave The Road To The 2015 Championship Friends Roundup The metaphor du jour at the semiannual meeting of the Friends of Football (FoF) during Homecoming Weekend was apparent: Several times during the hour-plus gathering in Floren Varsity House various presenters referred to an assortment of charts, most of them line graphs depicting trends over the past decade of the Second Coming of Coach Buddy Teevens ’79. In every instance, the point was reiterated: The graphs started in the lower left corner (2005) and moved steadily to the upper right corner U.S. Representative John Carney ’78 of Delaware, a former Dartmouth (2015). Whatever the subject (wins, defensive back, addresses the team during its visit to Washington, D.C. dollars, All-Ivy honors) the message was constant: Football at Dartmouth is on a roll! This meeting was held on Oct. 10, about four hours before Dartmouth hosted Yale. The Green’s record was already 3-0 and it was hard to harness expectations for the unfolding season that exuded from virtually every pore in the room. How those hopes evolved into an Ivy League championship season are well documented elsewhere in this newsletter. As Teevens told the gathering of nearly 100 Friends, including representatives of Dartmouth’s previous 17 Ivy championship teams, “We have the ability to run the table … our guys are fired up with confidence … you (the Friends) have put us in a position to succeed … you make our kids feel like they’re part of a major college football program.” Through presentations by assistant coaches Don Dobes, Chad Nice and Chris Rorke ’89 plus Joey McIntyre (Director of Recruiting, Operations and External Relations), the Friends got updates (including superb video presentations) on resources like championship analytics, STRIVR (the virtual reality training system), MVP (the robotic tacking dummy that was featured on several See Friends, page 4 3 Newsletter of The Friends of Dartmouth Football Friends Helped Pave The Way national television shows), and computerized support for coaches during recruiting trips. One distinctive program that Teevens mentioned is “The Dartmouth Promise” that focuses on career development opportunities for Big Green players. “Support for the future is a promise I make to our players that differentiates us from the competition,” said the coach. This program was described in greater detail by Donnie Brooks, the assistant athletic director for Dartmouth Peak Performance (DP2), whereby student-athletes are taught “how to fish” and develop personal links with alumni that can lead to postDartmouth career opportunities. Bob Rex ’57, treasurer of the Friends group, showed one graph depicting the financial growth of the FoF from about $300,000 in 2005 to more than $1.4 million in 2015. The correlation is apparent between victories on the field and funds raised—and their effective allocation. One of FoF’s fastest growing initiatives is the Captain’s Program led by three-time All-Ivy defensive end Tom Csatari ’74 that builds on the leadership of former Big Green team captains (Csatari was cocaptain of the 1973 Ivy League champs). Over the past year this program has grown by nearly 50 percent to include over five dozen team captains who provide a bridge to their hundreds of teammates. As Associate AD Sam Hopkins noted, the increased FoF finances are being used to help Dartmouth’s football program remain competitive with peer institutions on a number of fronts —personnel development and retention, technology and infrastructure initiatives, recruiting, travel and the chance to visit intersectional opponents like Butler and Georgetown. Drew Galbraith, the senior associate AD, provided the positive wrapup, observing, “You can’t go anywhere without seeing the positive impact our players are having on the Dartmouth campus community.” (J.D.) 4 The September game at Georgetown and all that went with it was made possible by the generosity of the Friends of Dartmouth Football. Newsletter of The Friends of Dartmouth Football http:// tinyurl.com/ n84soe9 That Championship Season 5 Newsletter of The Friends of Dartmouth Football A Week-By-Week Look At The 2015 Championship Season WEEK ONE – SEPT. 19 turned out for the first game in Dartmouth 14 7 10 0 – 31 Memorial Field’s new West Stands. Teevens: “They were nationally Georgetown 7 3 0 0 – 10 ranked at that time so it was a big Tickets were hard to come by as game for us. It was our first time in Dartmouth fans filled the majority of black uniforms, a night game and the 2,863 seats in sold-out Multithere was a good crowd so there was Sport Field to see the Big Green a lot of enthusiasm. Dalyn Williams begin the successful pursuit of its and the pass game were hot and 18th Ivy League championship. defensively we didn’t give them Georgetown opened the scoring much. It was a dominant victory.” on a 31-yard touchdown pass with WEEK THREE – OCT. 3 4:57 remaining in the first quarter but the Hoyas would not cross the goal Dartmouth 13 14 14 0 – 41 line again. Penn 0 6 0 14 – 20 Will McNamara’s eight-yard Dalyn Williams put on perhaps interception return for a touchdown the greatest display of passing in capped a 21-point run in less than six school history as he completed 23minutes spanning the first and of-25 passes for 336 yards and four second quarters. touchdowns to lead the Big Green Coach Buddy Teevens: “We over a team that one week earlier played the kind of real solid defense had defeated No. 4 Villanova. we expected. Offensively we had Williams added a game-high 73 some big plays and opportunities, but rushing yards and two rushing TDs as we weren’t all in sync yet. But we he earned national player of the scored the points that we needed to week honors. Victor Williams caught and came off with a good start to the 12 passes for 213 yards and two season.” scores as Dartmouth built a 41-6 lead WEEK TW0 – SEPT. 26 through three quarters. Sacred Heart 0 0 Dartmouth 21 14 7 7 0 – 7 Teevens: “It was just a complete 7 – 49 execution on both sides of the The Big Green got a fumble football. Offensively we moved the recovery for a touchdown from Flo ball up and down the field, putting Orimolade just 3:18 into the game points up on the board. Defensively on the way to a 35-0 halftime lead we gave up almost nothing until we started to substitute.” and then never looked back. Dartmouth made use of the big WEEK FOUR – OCT. 10 play with Victor Williams hauling in Yale 0 3 0 0 – 3 a 60-yard touchdown pass and David Dartmouth 7 14 7 7 – 35 Caldwell capping off the festivities For the first time since the with a 77-yard interception return for legendary 1970 season, Dartmouth a touchdown. A crowd of 7,363 6 and Yale squared off with unbeaten records. Only the Big Green could claim that distinction after another commanding performance by its standout senior quarterback. Dalyn Williams broke Jay Fiedler’s Dartmouth record with 435 passing yards and the Big Green kept Yale’s high-octane offense out of the end zone before a sellout Homecoming crowd of 11,086. Dartmouth had 592 yards of offense and held Yale to 32 rushing yards and 276 total yards to beat the Bulldogs for the fourth year in a row. Teevens: “We knew they were a very good football team and one of the preseason selections for winning the championship so that was a big hurdle for us. We were very effective on both sides of the ball. We really shut them down defensively and were productive offensively.” WEEK FIVE – OCT. 17 Dartmouth 7 7 7 13 – 34 Central Conn. 0 7 0 0 – 7 The Big Green defense pitched a shutout as the only Blue Devils points came on a fumble in the end zone. Central managed just 225 yards as Dartmouth finished out its fourth perfect nonconference slate since 1980, improving to 5-0 for the first time since 1997. Teevens: “We opened the game with a big touchdown pass on our first play but I can’t say we were as emotionally sharp as we were going into the Penn or Yale games. Defensively we played well again, but we weren’t consistent offensively. We did enough to get a win.” Newsletter of The Friends of Dartmouth Football WEEK SIX – OCT. 24 d o w n p a s s w i t h 3 8 s e c o n d s Columbia 3 0 6 0 – 9 remaining. Dartmouth answered with Dartmouth 7 6 0 0 – 13 a drive that made it to the Crimson 29 before a blocked field goal on the Dartmouth forced a three-andfinal play ended the game. out, drove 75 yards for a touchdown Teevens: “The entire year our on its opening possession and then guys felt that was the championship had to hang on. game in terms of preparation on both The Green was called for a sides of the football. We put an A+ school-record 17 penalties for 161 effort together and had opportunities yards. That and an under-appreciated on multiple occasions to finish them Columbia D-line that sacked Dalyn off. We didn’t do it.” Williams six times ended a streak of eight straight Dartmouth wins by 21 WEEK EIGHT – NOV. 6 or more points dating back to 2014. Cornell 3 0 0 0 – 3 Teevens: “They were wellDartmouth 0 14 7 0 – 21 coached, played hard across the Dartmouth managed more than board and had as good a defensive front as we saw all year. It was the 200 yards both on the ground and worst officiated game I have seen in through the air and pitched a shutout my coaching career. Some of it was after the visitors’ opening possession our lack of discipline and retaliating but struggled again with penalties in situations that should’ve been against the winless Big Red. Dartmouth held Cornell to just officiated and weren’t, but we were 194 yards of offense and limited an responsible for our actions.” opponent to 10 points or less for the WEEK SEVEN – OCT. 30 sixth time in eight games before a Dartmouth 10 0 3 0 – 13 national TV audience. Harvard 0 0 0 14 – 14 Teevens: “Cornell having not had a win at that point played into our A national TV audience saw No. psyche a little. You come off a huge, 22 Dartmouth jump out to an early emotional deal with frustration and lead, make an epic goal line stand now you’ve got to ramp it back up. It and have a defining win over No. 15 was a solid defensive performance. Harvard in its sights before the Offensively it was just hit or miss.” bottom fell out in the final minute in a battle of unbeatens. WEEK NINE – NOV. 14 Shutting the Crimson out at the Dartmouth 14 7 13 0 – 34 midway point of the fourth quarter, Brown 0 6 0 12 – 18 Dartmouth saw Harvard get on the It was while singing the alma board for the first time on a 39-yard mater after a pillar-to-post win that TD pass on a fourth-and-12 play. Still the Big Green found out that Penn leading, 13-7, with less than three had defeated Harvard and it was tied minutes left, Dartmouth lost the ball for the Ivy League lead. on a fumble at midfield. The Turning the ball over six times, defending champs then converted all Dartmouth managed just 281 yards three of their third-down oppor- of offense but made them count. The tunities, the last a five-yard touch- defense was poised for another one- 7 touchdown game before Brown scored twice in the final five minutes, the last on a fumble recovery. Teevens: “Post-Harvard people started to pressure us and our numbers went down in the pass game. We didn’t have the big strikes we had earlier in the season but we did what we had to do.” Princeton Dartmouth WEEK 10 – NOV. 21 0 7 3 0 – 10 0 0 7 10 – 17 A dramatic final minute delivered the Big Green its first Ivy League championship since 1996. Trailing, 10-7, Dartmouth tied the score on a field goal with 4:54 left. After the Big Green defense forced a three-and-out the offense took over at its own 37 with 2:01 left. Five plays later Dartmouth was at the Princeton 12 with 31 seconds remaining and the title on the line. On first down, senior Kyle Bramble, who had saved the day two plays earlier with a fumble recovery, collected a screen pass and rumbled in for the winning touchdown with 24 seconds left. Princeton made it only to the Dartmouth 44 before time ran out. Teevens: “The big thing was finishing. We talked about that all year long. We had to make plays in that last six minutes of the game and we did. It was great to finish on that note. There was great enthusiasm and energy in the stands. The student population showed up despite the fact that it was the middle of exams. It was great to see the response from the alums and the ’90 team, which had come back. It was a great day for Dartmouth College, let alone for Dartmouth football. I couldn’t have been happier for our guys.” Newsletter of The Friends of Dartmouth Football Ivy League, Media Outlets Honor Ivy League Champions FIRST TEAM ALL-IVY Senior DB David Caldwell Senior OL Jacob Flores Senior DL Cody Fulleton Senior CB Vernon Harris Senior WR Ryan McManus Senior LB Will McNamara Junior LB Folarin Orimolade Senior DT A.J. Zuttah Coach Buddy Teevens was named the New England Head Coach of the Year in the FCS by the Gridiron Club of Boston. He was selected New England Coach of the Year by the New England Football Writers’ Association and Region I FCS Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association. SECOND TEAM ALL-IVY Senior DB Troy Donahue Junior P Ben Kepley Senior OL Niko Mamula Senior RS Ryan McManus Senior LB Zach Slafsky Senior QB Dalyn Williams Senior WR Victor Williams David Caldwell Jacob Flores HONORABLE MENTION ALL-IVY Senior DB Chai Reece Senior DE Sawyer Whalen Senior LB Eric Wickham Senior QB Dalyn Williams won the George “Bulger” Lowe Award, the Heisman Trophy of New England. Cody Fulleton Vernon Harris Ryan McManus Will McNamara Folarin Orimolade AJ Zuttah ALL-NEW ENGLAND Senior OL Jacob Flores Senior CB Vernon Harris Senior LB Will McNamara Senior DT A.J. Zuttah ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT I LB Will McNamara was a finalist for Junior LB Lucas Bavaro the Bushnell Cup as the top Senior RB Kyle Bramble Senior OL Jacob Flores defensive player in the Ivy League. 8 Newsletter of The Friends of Dartmouth Football Big Green Begins To Reload With Early Decision Talent QUARTERBACK Cole Douglas, 6-1, 200 Irmo, S.C./Dutch Fork Threw for 2,050 yards with 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions for a 9-3 team. Completed 50.9 percent of his attempts. Left-handed thrower who is son of all-time Citadel quarterback Jack Douglas. Coach Teevens: “A talented, versatile quarterback/athlete who can throw and run. We’re excited to have him.” Jared Gerbino, 6-4, 220 Rochester, N.Y./Rush-Henrietta Passed for 1,400 yards and 19 touchdowns and despite playing on two sprained ankles ran for 676 yards and six touchdowns as a senior. AllGreater Rochester Area Offensive Player of the Year as junior. Teevens: “Another QB/A. A big, strong guy with growth potential. He should be competitive.” Jake Pallotta, 6-1, 190 Massillon, Ohio/Jackson Completed 58.8 percent of his attempts for 1,911 yards with 18 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Ran for another 459 yards with three touchdowns. Second team All-Ohio Division I. Also a talented safety. Teevens: “A gifted, multisport athlete at a highly competitive high school. He throws it well and can run it also.” WIDE RECEIVER Hunter Hagdorn, 6-0, 180 Manvel, Texas/Manvel Two-star receiver who caught 36 passes for 595 yards and 10 touchdowns as a senior, averaging 16.5 yards per reception. Finished high school career with 62 grabs for 992 yards. Offers from Illinois and Colorado State as well as Harvard and Cornell. Teevens: “One of the top recruits in the Houston area. He’s had play from a lot of IA programs. He could contribute early.” Brandon Hester, 5-11, 180 El Cajon, Calif./Christian Caught 23 passses for 290 yards. Averaged 12.6 yards per catch with three touchdowns. Finished career with 44 catches for 537 yards. Twoway player who added 29 tackles and a 31-yard interception return for a TD as a senior. Teevens: “We liked what we saw when he was on campus. An intelligent guy who will bolster the receiving ranks.” TIGHT END Hamilton Day, 6-6 1/2, 240 Hyattsville, Md./DeMatha Helped a team stocked with Division I talent to its third consecutive conference title, the top ranking in Maryland and the No. 3 ranking nationally. Offered by Army and originally committed to Richmond. Teevens: “A big, rangy guy with great growth potential. A tight end who has the ability to play inside and turned down a scholarship to play for us.” OFFENSIVE LINE John Lass, 6-5, 280 Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East Ranked one of the top 20 recruits in South Jersey by the Philadelphia Inquirer. First-team All-West Jersey American conference as a junior and senior. Second-team All-South Jersey. Won Mini Max High School Award. Teevens: “An offensive tackle who had a lot of interest at different levels. A rangy guy who moves his feet well. He had an ACL tear late in the year that has been surgically repaired.” LINEBACKER Ross Andreasik, 6-2, 210 Glenbard, Ill./Glenbard West DuPage County all-area pick. 9 Led team with six interceptions while earning All-West Suburban Silver honors. Could play safey, nickel or outside linebacker. Helped team go 14-0. Teevens: “A good-sized guy who runs real well. He could play any one of the four positions. His dad played for Coach Spurrier at Duke.” SAFETY Ryan Roegge, 6-2, 210 Marietta, Ga./Walton Posted 138 tackles to finish second in the county as a senior. Picked off two passes and blocked one kick. Offered by Air Force and onWisconsin’s radar. All-5-AAAAAA selection. One of four teammates headed to the Ivy League next fall. Teevens: “He’s a good-sized guy, kind of like a Colin Boit, Troy Donahue or David Caldwell. Athletic, tall, physical and smart.” KICKER/PUNTER Davis Brief, 6-1, 180 Warwick, N.Y./Warwick Valley Averaged 44.4 yards per punt over high school career. Kicked nine field goals including a career-long 47-yarder. Reported to have 95 percent of his kickoffs reach end zone. Twice chosen Eastbay All-American. Teevens: “A nationally ranked kicker and punter and an orchestral level drummer.” LONGSNAPPER Grant Jaffe, 6-5, 225 Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif/ Santa Margarita Big longsnapper who saw time on the offensive line in high school. Well-regarded by snapping guru Chris Rubio. Father and grandfather went to Dartmouth. Teevens: “A talented long snapper and defensive end with good size who can run well.” Newsletter of The Friends of Dartmouth Football Recruiting information Here is contact information if you have a name for the Dartmouth coaches. Potential recruits should fill out the questionnaire at: dartmouthcollegefootball.com DUANE BROOKS Defensive Line [email protected]/603-646-9093 Northern California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Oregon, Washington MIKE BRUNO Nickels [email protected]/603-646-1236 Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Alaska Memorial Field Reborn DON DOBES Defensive Coordinator, Linebackers [email protected]/603-646-3593 Illinois, New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania KEITH CLARK Offensive Coordinator, O-Line [email protected]/603-646-3150 Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia SAMMY McCORKLE Asst. Head Coach Secondary, Special Teams [email protected]/603-646-2008 Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee KYLE METZLER Recruiting Coordinator Tackles, Tight Ends [email protected]/603-646-3577 Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Washington, D.C. CHAD NICE Running Backs [email protected]/603-646-3145 Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska CHRIS RORKE Pass Game Coordinator, Quarterbacks [email protected]/603-646-3568 New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire Vermont, Maine JERRY TAYLOR Wide Receivers [email protected]/603-646-9924 Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Hawaii Find the recruiting rules for alumni, sports and friends: dartmouthsports.com/friendsguide 10 The sculpture “The Hill Wind Knows Their Name” by Dimitri Gerakaris '69 was a centerpiece of the Veterans Day Weekend dedication of Memorial Field’s new West Stands before the Cornell game. The stands were filled for the sold out Homecoming win over Yale. Newsletter of The Friends of Dartmouth Football Looking Ahead To The 2016 Dartmouth Big Green View From The Press Box By Bruce Wood Big Green Alert Dartmouth earned 18 All-Ivy League commendations this year and all but two of the players honored by the conference coaches will be gone next fall. Most notable of those is Dalyn Williams, a four-year starter who graduates as the school’s alltime passing leader. If the rest of the Ivy League is licking its chops, Big Green coach Buddy Teevens doesn’t seem worried. “People take a look and see we are losing a lot of good players but we have recruited effectively,” he said. “We will have more untested guys next fall but they are good players. We’ve got a lot of talent. “This is now a championship caliber football program. It’s not just a flash in the pan, or a one-shot deal.” The Outlook Holding the inside track at replacing Williams under center is Bruce Dixon IV, the strong-armed, 6foot-4, 230-pound freshman who finished the year second on the depth chart. Teevens and his staff were high on him coming into the program and they like both his athleticism and his poise. Sophomore Jack Heneghan, who started the year as the backup, will also be in the running. The graduation of Kyle Bramble and Brian Grove will be felt but sophomore tailback Ryder Stone returns after leading the team in rushing last fall. Sophomore Abrm McQuarters heads up a deep corps of runners behind him. Dartmouth will miss Ryan McManus and Victor Williams but speedster Jon Marc Carrier and dependable Houston Brown combined for 50 catches last fall. Cam Skaff caught four TD throws at tight end last year and starter Stephen Johnston will be back after missing 2015. Junior Zach Davis and classmate Dave Morrison had a combined 19 starts on the line last fall, where freshman Matt Kaskey played in seven games with one start. The Big Green graduates its top seven tacklers and 10 of the top 12. Juniors Brandon Cooper and Zach Husain both played in every game on the line with Husain and freshman Jackson Perry in for the unforgettable goal line stand against Harvard. First-team All-Ivy Flo Orimolade heads up a linebacking corps where junior classmate Alex McCrory saw a lot of time and soph Eric Meile showed promise. Junior Lucas Bavaro was a solid, part-time starter at nickel. Danny McManus split time on one corner and junior classmate Charlie Miller was a standout taking over at safety late in the year for Troy Donahue. Sophomores Colin Boit and Kyran McKinney-Crudden both came on strong last fall. Placekicker Alex Gakenheimer and punter/holder Ben Kepley, both with All-Ivy on their resumés, return. Also back for another year is longsnapper Graydon Peterson. All-Ivy punt returner Ryan McManus will be missed but younger brother Danny filled in nicely last year when he was injured. 11 The 2016 Schedule Sept. 17 Sept. 24 Oct. 1 Oct. 8 Oct. 15 Oct. 22 Oct. 29 Nov. 5 Nov. 12 Nov. 19 New Hampshire at Holy Cross Penn at Yale Towson at Columbia Harvard at Cornell Brown at Princeton The 2016 Dartmouth team will face a challenging nonconference schedule that features visits by two teams from the powerhouse Colonial Athletic Association. The campaign opens against CAA member New Hampshire, which this fall advanced to the NCAA playoffs for the 12th year in a row, the most consecutive appearances by any school in the country. The Big Green will renew acquaintances with longtime rival Holy Cross the next week before playing host to fellow Ivy League champion Penn in the conference opener. After a visit to the Yale Bowl Dartmouth will entertain Towson, the CAA team that played for the NCAA championship at the conclusion of the 2013 season. Highlighting the rest of the schedule are the Oct. 29 Homecoming game and the season-ending contest at Princeton on Nov. 19. Dartmouth will have four Ivy League road games and three conference games at home next fall. Newsletter of The Friends of Dartmouth Football Conversation With Coach from Page 2 recruiting website and video that allows us to really broadcast what we are doing. All of that demonstrates the importance football holds to the institution. We also have more security with our coaches. We’ve been able to elevate salary so there hasn’t been constant turnover. My whole premise in building a program was to bring in good people and we’ve done that with the coaching staff as well as the players. The opportunity was there with Keith Clark and Don Dobes. I think they saw this was a wonderful opportunity professionally and for their families. Sammy McCorkle I had known for a long period of time. He’s a good guy, a solid family man, an excitable coach and a great teacher. It’s that way right on through the ranks. We’ve got some older guys, some younger guys and some in the middle. The collective I think is as tight as the team is. We now have the ability to go out and recruit the full NCAA allotment of days, which we just didn’t have the funds to do in the past. We can also have coaches recruit during the summer at different camps around the country, which has been tremendously important. Now we run a legitimate championship program at the Division I level and results have followed. This group of seniors is kind of a culmination in terms of the stuff we talked about 11 years ago. They’ve been boosted up on the backs of those who went before them. I really https:// twitter. com/ hope and I think a lot of the guys who were here before take a lot of pride that they started this. We won the championship this year but we’re not done. People take a look and see we are losing so many good players. Well, what we have done is recruit far more effectively. We are a lot more attractive for someone who truly values football, wants a top-shelf education and likes the culture that we have created. We have good players in our program. They aren’t as experienced as the guys who are graduating, but this year’s seniors were the guys that were backing people up at one point. The new guys coming in now know what it takes. Leadership percolates throughout the program. The young guys saw what the seniors did, and how hard they worked. They know if they want to have a similar result they have to work just as hard. I think we have a group of people who it is very, very important to. They know what it takes and I don’t expect that to change. Going forward, the approval that we received for the new indoor facility will make us competitive with anyone in the country at this level. People are now talking about Dartmouth and a national ranking, competing for championships and so forth. That was maybe a distant thought a long time ago. But now it’s here and I am so deeply appreciative of everyone who played a role in making it happen. 12 http:// tinyurl. To contribute to the Friends of Dartmouth Football click the logo or visit Dartmouthsports.com/giving The Top 25 STATS Top 25 with ranking, record, poll points, first-place votes and previous week's ranking: 1 Jacksonville State (10-1) 3662 (135) 1 2 North Dakota State (9-2) 3468 (2) 2 3 McNeese State (10-0) 3401 (10) 3 4 Illinois State (9-2) 3227 6 5 Portland State (9-2) 2652 11 6 Sam Houston State (8-3) 2574 10 7 Chattanooga (8-3) 2445 8 8 James Madison (9-2) 2407 12 9 Charleston Southern (9-2) 2377 9 10 South Dakota State (8-3) 2314 5 10 Coastal Carolina (9-2) 2314 4 12 Richmond (8-3) 2260 14 13 William & Mary (8-3) 1988 7 14 Fordham (9-2) 1747 13 15 UNI (7-4) 1716 15 16 Montana (7-4) 1376 17 17 Southern Utah (8-3) 1372 20 18 Citadel (8-3) 1259 25 19 Harvard (9-1) 1170 19 20 DARTMOUTH (9-1) 751 21 21 Grambling State (8-2) 582 22 22 North Carolina A & T (9-2) 549 16 23 Eastern Washington (6-5) 430 18 24 Eastern Illinois (7-4) 340 NR 25 Bethune-Cookman (9-2) 301 NR