FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

Started by admin, August 16, 2005, 04:58:09 AM

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lumbercat

No question about it FBdad- the competition is the thing that makes everybody better and really what the whole experience is about.

My concern is hopefully these recruits who have not yet played their senior year are aware that coaches offering support to 90-100 kids could boil down to a pool of 40- 50 applicants, more or less, for 25 slots. This needs to be be carefully scrutinized by the recruit and his family........this is something that takes place before the boy has any chance to compete.

At the end of the day I think the pre read process seems to have changed, not sure any program has done actual pre reads on 100 kids and I would particularly doubt that at Bowdoin.

Spoke to a friend today who told me of a recruit he coaches who has received 3 offers recently. Offers of admission, not offers of support. One from Johns Hopkins, another for U Chicago and the other from a NESCAC school. The kid has a mailbox full of "support in the admissions process" offers which he is disregarding. He loves the 3 schools with real offers and is going to decide over the weekend.

I don't know the rules on the JH and UC offers but I believe the NESCAC offer cannot be guaranteed beyond "Admission Support" but I will suggest that the NESCAC program has done an air tight pre read on this boy..............unlike the other 100 guys who they have "offered".



nescac1

Admittedly, I have no personal knowledge here, but I was always under the impression that these "admission support" offers from NESCAC schools are virtually a guaranteed "yes" if the recruit (1) accepts in a timely fashion and (2) doesn't tank academically or get into some sort of serious trouble his senior year.  I've never heard of a situation (outside of those very rare cases) where a recruit is offered support, informs a coach and he will apply E.D., and then is NOT ultimately admitted.  Is that happening at certain schools?  Because that would be a way to erode any coach's credibility very fast. 

lumbercat

Nescac1

That was my take as well.

My point is having 100 football offers extended doesn't seem right. If you are one of those 100 recruits what do you have? Those offers used to mean something in the NESCAC as you state.

There is some buzz that the current recruiting approach at Bowdoin which has been under the radar with the Covid distraction is presently resulting in some ruffled feathers among the well documented anti Football faction at Bowdoin.

Coach Hammer is looking to some like a bit of a gunslinger from a different football culture who will be reigned in shortly. AD Ryan heavily vested with the Hammer hire so he is said to be at question as well. The Allegheny approach not sitting well with the Bowdoin NESCAC purists who so embrace the high national liberal arts college rating.

All of this while the venerable Bowdoin hockey program, arguably the greatest athletic tradition in Bowdoin history is getting killed in NESCAC hockey and recruiting.......What a thrill to attend a Bowdoin hockey game back in their glory days......maybe AD Ryan needs to give the hockey staff the same latitude that Coach Hammer is embracing.

Can only think of JB Wells who must be scratching his head as to why he couldn't do this kind of thing.



nescac1

Interesting.  Hope it does work out for Bowdoin, it could really use a boost in athletic competitiveness.  Especially with one big rival, Colby, clearly on the ascent ...

lumbercat


wally_wabash

If folks at Bowdoin wanted someone who was going to do something other than recruit their tail off, then they definitely got the wrong guy.  This is kind of what he does. 
"Nothing in the world is more expensive than free."- The Deacon of HBO's The Wire

lumbercat

For sure, a very hard worker and a free wheeling recruiting machine.

quicksilver

Lumbercat— I am guessing that the more conventional approach followed by BJ Hammer last year did not bear enough fruit on the recruiting trail so he has been given more latitude for the class of 2025. FWIW, most of the "offers" are being made to kids who seem to have a bunch of other offers so unlikely to produce a super large class.

Agree that the hockey coaching staff should be given similar latitude since that was once Bowdoin's best team. How sad it is to watch that once great program be so diminished for reasons that are not apparent . . .

jmcozenlaw

Given how spot on this expert was PRIOR TO THE END OF JANUARY, he has been my go to pro (not in an anti-Fauci way..........but Fauci is playing AA ball compared to this cat!!) THIS article is sobering and it's what I've been saying all along about the effectiveness of a vaccine on top of how many people will NOT ever get innoculated. Sobering as hell!!!:

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/osterholm-americans-will-be-living-with-the-coronavirus-for-decades-2020-07-30?mod=home-page

firstdown

#17154
I am a bit bewildered by the recent discussion of Bowdoin recruiting.  Coach Hammer arrived in 2019 after recruiting was essentially complete for the players coming in the Fall of 2019.  The impact of the incoming recruits, which is the first group under Coach Hammer won't be seen on the field until the Spring of 2021 at the earliest. Nonetheless, the players in the 2020 fall recruiting class look to be a pretty strong group.  Why would the coaching staff change their recruiting approach without knowing the impact and results for the current years group?  There has been no fruit to bear as Quicksilver suggests.

Recruiting now seems to be well underway for the players who will be incoming in the Fall of 2021.  As Wally Wabash noted above, Coach Hammer is once heck of a recruiter as was demonstrated at both Wabash and Allegheny.  At Allegheny, the coaching was rebuilding the program from the ground up, and Allegheny made great strides.  The initial goal was to rebuild Allegheny (who was the National Champion in the 1990's) to a winning program so why wouldn't you emulate such a model?  At Wabash, the goal was recruit for depth for a 15 game season (including the playoffs) and to reload each year.  With a 9 game season in the NESCAC, no playoffs, a roster limit of 75 players, and no spring practices, in order to having a winning program, the coaching staff has to recruit players that will fit their offensive and defensive schemes, and have a skill level that can be developed with the limited time available for position coaching. 

With the unusual situation created by the COVID 19 pandemic,  the NESCAC may allow some additional time for coaching and larger roster limits to accommodate players who may not be on campus this Fall.  The coaching staff would be foolish not to adjust recruiting their recruiting to benefit from the changes.  Any recruit who receives an offer still has to meet Bowdoin's standards for admission. 

lumbercat

#17155
No knock on the Hammers recruiting talent or his work ethic.

Historically, an "offer" in the NESCAC would be extended tacitly and pretty quietly to a much smaller number of recruits. If a program was interested in a specific recruit they would approach admissions for a "pre-read". Following a review of the recruits grades, transcripts etc Admissions would indicate to the coaching staff if the potential applicant would be admitted barring any unforseen adverse developments with the recruit. The coach was still not allowed to completely guarantee admission but would typically imply very strongly that the recruit will be admitted via "full support from the coaching staff in the admissions process".

To me that traditionally constituted an offer- apply and your'e in.

When I see 90+ kids on social media announcing "offers" for 28 roster spots it raises questions to me. I haven't seen that kind of recruiting approach in the NESCAC in the past.

Maybe there have been some rule or procedural changes recently in the conference which I am not aware of.

ColbyFootball

Sounds like quite a few kids are skipping this term with seniors coming back next year to play. Any word on increasing roster limits for 2021?

amh63

Interesting article today in the WSJ.  Seems there will be NO D2 and D3 Ncaa football championship events.  Actually, on Wednesday the NCAA announced that it would not hold championships for Fall sports in Div 2 and 3.  For now, Football remains on the table for Div 1.  The Big Ten and Southeastern Conference have canceled non conference games and only play each other.  Sounds a bit like some Nescac posts here.  Even talk of lower level conferences playing in the Spring.

MUC57


amh63

Big 10, except Nebraska and Iowa, have cancelled football. Bet you already knew that.  :D
I'm old! I get mixed up and I forget things! Go Everybody! 🏈 ☠

lumbercat

I think in the next few days we will see the fall NCAA college football season disappear- really hope I am wrong. Maybe the SEC will toe the line.