FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[Trin9-0]

With 26 incoming first year players announced this cycle, Trinity's recruiting class is certainly smaller in quantity than in recent past. They've averaged 31.5 over the previous 6 years:

2024 - 29
2023 - 32
2022 - 33
2021 - 29
2020 - 31
2019 - 29

Here's the full class of Bantams to be:

NAME

SCHOOL

TOWN

STATE

Position

Height

Weight

Nikolas Lukis	Westfield	Westfield	NJ	Athlete	6'2"	185
Connor Fahey	St. Joseph	Trumbull	CT	Cornerback	5'10"	170
Shane Lewis	Spring-Ford	Royersford	PA	Cornerback	5'10"	170
Zach Strauser	Hamden Hall	Hamden	CT	Cornerback	6'	185
Kenneth Forbes	Salisbury School	Salisbury	CT	Defensive Line	6'4"	230
Jacob Harkins	Xavier	Middletown	CT	Defensive Line	6'2"	260
Lucas Harkins	Xavier	Middletown	CT	Defensive Line	6'2"	260
Max Wallace	La Salle Academy	Providence	RI	Kicker	5'10"	180
Nolan Eilender	Seton Hall Prep	West Orange	NJ	Linebacker	6'	220
Jack Rees	Duxbury	Duxbury	MA	Linebacker	5'11"	220
Lucas Candiotto	St. Sebastian's	Neeham	MA	Offensive Line	6'5"	305
Nathan Kennedy	Brookfield	Brookfield	CT	Offensive Line	6'2"	285
Jake Mulrey	St. Sebastian's	Neeham	MA	Offensive Line	5'11"	250
Davian McDonald	Williston Northampton	Easthampton	MA	Quarterback	6'2"	180
Justin Bourque	St. Sebastian's	Neeham	MA	Running Back	5'11"	210
Jack Carroll	Greenwich	Greenwich	CT	Safety	5'10	180
Joshua Stahl	Pembroke Hill	Kansas City	MO	Safety	6'	190
Jacob Tobias	Rumson-Fair Haven	Rumson	NJ	Safety	6'	205
Alex Wilson	Westford Academy	Westford	MA	Safety	6'1"	185
Teddy Galbraith	Carmel	Carmel	NY	Tight End	6'5"	215
Ethan Burke	South Windsor	South Windsor	CT	Wide Receiver	6'1"	190
Joshua Genwright	Archbishop Stepinac	White Plains	NY	Wide Receiver	6'	175
Shane Hanlon	Northern Highlands	Allendale	NJ	Wide Receiver	6'	185
Nick Krakovitz	Haverford	Haverford	PA	Wide Receiver	6'2"	190
Nathan Smith	Staples	Westport	CT	Wide Receiver	6'	180
Nick Thomas	Rumson-Fair Haven	Rumson	NJ	Wide Receiver	5'10"	175

As is typical, more than half the class hails from either CT or MA. There's five from the Garden State this year. Trinity seems to have made a concerted effort to reload at Wide Receiver; they had 8 in last year's class and another 5 for this year (the most of any position group). Also, for the second year in a row there's only one incoming Quarterback for the Bants.

Wesleyan has also announced 26 commits this cycle (down from 31 last year). It would logically appear that the NESCAC roster limit is making an impact. Just five future Cards from in-state, but lots of geographic diversity with players from VA, TX, CA, FL, NC). Interesting that there is not a single Quarterback listed in the incoming class for Wes.

Midd appears to be announcing their class throughout the month (just two listed thus far). Bowdoin indicated they're announcing their class starting tomorrow. At the time of this posting Colby has listed just three, and Hamilton only two. Nothing yet from Tufts, Amherst, Bates, and as usual Williams is likely to not share their recruiting class via social media.

[Charlie]

Curious to see how Trinity works these numbers. Theses numbers might not be official. There roster last year was at 100 players graduating roughly 23 and adding 29 players this would put them at 106. If roster limits I am assuming is at 80 now that would mean 26 players are going to get cut or already have been cut.

What I am not understanding is this just for 2025 or with playoffs in 2026 will this be gone seems like NESCAC is hurting themselves by the lower roster sizes for any type of playoff runs against schools able to recruit in larger numbers.

[westcoastnescac]

oh YAYYYYY Roster limit discussions are back

[The Mole]

planned roster cap is 84 (with Williams and Amherst leading the charge for limitations). The top half schools are trying for a workaround (JV schedule) to avoid cuts.

[nescac1]

Not sure what happened with the NESCAC Ravens, but Thomas Perry is now on the Steelers' tryout minicamp roster:

https://steelersdepot.com/2025/05/steelers-release-2025-rookie-minicamp-roster/

[Brady12]

Not sure what happened with the NESCAC Ravens, but Thomas Perry is now on the Steelers' tryout minicamp roster:

https://steelersdepot.com/2025/05/steelers-release-2025-rookie-minicamp-roster/

Here is some more info.  Good luck to him. https://www.pennlive.com/steelers/2025/05/pittsburgh-steelers-invite-hyped-up-former-small-school-star-to-rookie-camp.html?outputType=amp

[Trin9-0]

Trinity announced the team captains for the 140th season of Trinity College football:
Nolan O'Brien, WR, Sudbury, MA
John Fiore, S, Bergen Catholic, NJ

[nescac1]

I don't think this has been previously posted: all-conference Trinity lineman Jordan Atkinson has transferred to Georgetown. 

With that, no one has more than three returnees from last year's all-league team (Trinity and Bates each have three).  Between that, and at least half the league with new QBs (including the three top QBs in the league graduating), could be the hardest Nescac year to handicap in quite some time. 

[LochNescac]

I don't think this has been previously posted: all-conference Trinity lineman Jordan Atkinson has transferred to Georgetown. 

With that, no one has more than three returnees from last year's all-league team (Trinity and Bates each have three).  Between that, and at least half the league with new QBs (including the three top QBs in the league graduating), could be the hardest Nescac year to handicap in quite some time. 

So who is accepting the "handicap challenge"...?

[Trin9-0]

So who is accepting the "handicap challenge"...?

1. Trinity
2. Wesleyan
3. Middlebury
4. Tufts
5. Williams
6. Colby
7. Bates
8. Bowdoin
9. Amherst
10. Hamilton

[SpringSt7]

Worth sharing during the handicapping exercise that Williams QB Owen McHugh is out for the season with a torn UCL (Tommy John surgery)

[nescac1]

I think (even with the tough Williams QB news, which is a huge bummer for McHugh and the team) that Trin 9-0's prognostication is a very fair one.   

Trinity, Wesleyan, Tufts, and Williams all will have QB's who have maybe never played a meaningful snap at the position, and Bates and Bowdoin will also have new starters at QB, which is of course a huge wildcard for all of them.  Middlebury on the other hand returns strong talent at the skill positions but loses multiple guys from the trenches who were among the best in NESCAC history, which has to have a big impact. Wesleyan and Tufts both lose a TON everywhere but also have been able to reload effectively in recent years.  Given all Wesleyan has to replace, just how fortunate they were in close games last year, and with continuity at least in the skill positions for Midd, I'd give them the pre-season nod at second.   

Trinity will have loads of talent and depth everywhere as always and two elite offensive skill players to help out the new QB.  The Ephs will have to rely on defense and the running game, what else is new, while they once again search for an answer an QB, but on the plus side for Williams, they return a ton of rising sophomore defenders (including five who were at least part-time starters) who were thrust into big roles right away and figure to improve with experience, and a fair amount of offensive talent outside of the QB position.     

I think Bates is very much on the rise but might be a year away from the top half of the league, still, having the best returning offensive weapon in the league is a great place to start.  Bowdoin/Amherst/Hamilton feel like the bottom three (with Amherst the best of that bunch, thanks to a strong defense and seeming to have found their QB late last season), and two through seven feels more or less like a total crapshoot. 

So, I'll go with 1. Trinity, 2. Middlebury, 3. Tufts, 4. Wesleyan, 5. Williams, 6. Colby, 7. Bates, 8. Amherst, 9. Hamilton, 10. Bowdoin. 

[Trin9-0]

Great insights, nescac1. Brutal news about McHugh. I'm a little higher on Bowdoin than Amherst. The Polar Bears nearly upset both Tufts and Wesleyan last season, losing both games by a combined 5 points. They also topped the Mammoths by 28 points in Amherst.

Bates similarly lost a few heartbreakers last year. There's only so many wins to go around for the Maine schools but I think all three are solidly in the middle tier which leaves Hamilton, Amherst and now possibly Williams fighting to remain out of the basement.

On an unrelated thought... does anyone else feel that perhaps it's better that the NESCAC won't be sending a representative to the D3 playoffs this season? After decades of waiting for a shot to see how our little league stacks up against the rest of the nation it would be a shame for our first attempt to be in a year when we might not have the strongest squad(s).

Curious to hear what everyone else thinks.

[nescac1]

I'm down on Bowdoin because that system has the potential to give up just massive big plays without guys who can make a ton of big plays in the offensive backfield and Koy Price was a really unique talent for them who did everything for four years, plus they also lose Gozdeck, Fiore, Young, Reidy, just a ton of playmakers on defense, and then on offense they lose their QB and best weapon by far in Hoggard.  Even with all those defensive aces they gave up 26 ppg last year, this year figures to be well north of 30. 

Amherst brings a lot back from a defense that was put in terrible situations again and again by a non-existent offense and features I'd say the best returning defensive player in the league.  Marek Hill seems like he may be ready to be their first legit QB in quite some time and if they can do ANYTHING on offense or at least not turn it over a ton, their D can maybe carry them to three-ish wins.  Their OL and skill guys are still big question marks but maybe some FYs can help there and they at least have some decent receivers returning.

As for Williams, you never want to lose your QB1 but I will say that McHugh was shaky enough down the stretch that he was benched for a senior on one leg who couldn't throw the ball down the field in the Amherst game, so I suspect there might have been some competition at that spot anyway this fall.  The Ephs have some young QBs who seem like capable runners at least, plus Owen Johanssen who made a lot of big plays as a spot option at QB last season, so I suspect they lean into the option game once again behind a typically massive offensive line and a slew of capable H-Back / TE types.  They really need Jon Oris to stay healthy at TB as I'm not sure what they have behind him. 

[The Mole]

Have to include Dylan Connors from Wesleyan in the conversation for best returning defender in the league. He certainly benefited from 6 other 1st Team All NESCAC defenders, but he was all over the field in every game: 8.5 TFLs, 1 sack, 7 PBUs, 2 picks and a blocked punt for a TD. Many of those plays made at critical junctures.

Probably another NESCAC season without an unbeaten champion.