Great analysis of the Ephs, nescac1. The offenses in the league could be terrifying this season as Williams does indeed look very strong.

Meanwhile, Wesleyan returns five All-NESCAC starters on offense, including OPY Matt Fitzsimons at QB and his top two targets, Blake Newcomb, and NESCAC Rookie of the Year Donte Kelly. The Cards also return their top rusher, Angelo LaRose.

Jaxon Carroll is back under center for Trinity, as are his top two targets in POY candidate Nolan O'Brien and Darison Hooper. Tate Hoffmeister and Jack Tosone will likely split carries in the Bantam backfield. Tufts returns their QB Hudson Weidman and their leading rusher, Christian Shapiro returns as do WRs Matt Rios and Keller Rogers. 

The league's leading rusher, Connor McClellan is also back for the Panthers as is 2-time All NESCAC RB, Ryan Lynskey for Bates. Colby's leading rusher, Antone Moreis is back along with All NESCAC WR and former league Rookie of the Year Jack Nye. Amherst similarly returns their QB, Mark Hill, their leading rusher, Demitrius Smith and All NESCAC WR Christian Moore is back as well.

Even Hamilton brings back an All-NESCAC passer and his top two receivers, Matthew Kearns and Jack Hoag.

Bowdoin returns almost all of their skill players. We'll see if that's a good thing since they were so abysmal on offense last year with just 11 total touchdowns and barely over 200 yards per game.

Happy reporting day in the NESCAC!

I came across an interview that Devanney had done a few months ago. It's long but there's a TON of great insight into a variety of topics including recruiting philosophy, transfer portal, the major advantages of staff continuity, upcoming impact of in-game technology (tablets, helmet-to-helmet communication, even instant replay). He also gives his opinions on the likelihood of an eventual addition of an out of conference game (the answer may surprise you).

He talks about the loss at Wesleyan, the (for once) legitimate parity in the NESCAC and the reasons for it, and his expectations for Trinity this season. Definitely worth a watch.

There are also interviews with Cosgrove and Hammer on the page.

Updated list of known Trinity Class of '31 commitments and offers (other known offers included):

Commitments:
Luke Benato, DT, Choate, Wallingford, CT
Max Brown, LB, Wachusett, Holden, MA (Bates)
Aidan Cassidy, WR, Iona Prep, New Rochelle, NY (Colby)
Samson Davis, RB, St. Paul School, Concord, NH (Bates, Endicott, St. Anslem)
Jack Donnelly, QB, John Burroughs School, St. Louis, MO (Illinois College, McPherson, Simpson, Westminster)
Luke Gialanella, RB, Pope John XXIII, Sparta Township, NJ
Jack Guinipero, ATH, Pomperaug, Southbury, CT
Thomas Hall, WR, Noble and Greenough School, Dedham, MA (Bates)
Ajani Kromah, WR, Belmont Hill, Belmont, MA
Tucker Larson, DB, Choate, Wallingford, CT (Colby, West Point, Colgate)

Offers:
Maxwell Blake, OL, Dennis-Yarmouth, Yarmouth, MA (Middlebury, Wesleyan, RPI, Rochester, Union)
Eric Camacho, LB, Iona Prep, New Rochelle, NY
John Breton, DE, Hinsdale Central, Hinsdale, IL
Thomas Esposito, OL, Bergen Catholic, Oradell, NJ
Logan Evans, ATH, Haverford School, Haverford, PA (Colby, Dickinson, Franklin & Marshall, Ithaca, Union)
Jarrett Hercules, DL, Seton Hall Prep, West Orange, NJ
Jacob Macarz, RB, Cheshire Academy, Cheshire, CT (Amherst, Colby, Tufts, Bentley)
Alex Menard, OLB, Choate, Wallingford, CT (Colby, Middlebury, Wesleyan, UChicago)
Yemi Onamade, OLB, St. John's Prep, Danvers, MA (Colby, Oberlin)
Willie Reeves, OLB, Iona Prep, New Rochelle, NY
Will Tassmer, OL/DL, Arlington, Arlington, MA (Bates, Endicott, Dickinson)
Ayden Watkins, CB, BC High, Boston, MA (Bates, RPI)
Jacob Webster, OL, Gilman, Baltimore, MD (Middlebury, Tufts, Gettysburg, Carnegie Mellon, RPI)

The Bill Connelly 2026 SP+ ratings with data will be released later this week but he did share a listing of every college football program in America. Here's his preseason ranking of the NESCAC among D3 programs:

35. Trinity
58. Wesleyan
92. Williams
100. Middlebury
123. Tufts
137. Amherst
149. Colby
192. Bates
195. Bowdoin
202. Hamilton

It looks like Middlebury's strategy for the Class of '31 is to get the BEEF locked in early. The following have announced their commitments to Midd:

Timothy Jaracz, OL, Lawrence Academy, Groton, MA
Brennan Apple, OL, Haverford School, Haverford, PA
Ethan Ali, OL, OL, Phillips Exeter, Exeter, NH
Blake Noggle, OL, McLean, McLean, VA
Matthew Shivas, OL, Delbarton, Morristown, NJ
Graham Spencer, DB, Newtown, Newtown, CT
Finn Kilmartin, RB, St. Joseph, Trumbull, CT

Midd has also offered:
Jack Naylon, OL, Cardinal Mooney, Sarasota, FL
Logan Smith, OL, Winston Salem, Virginia Beach, VA
Maxwell Blake, OL, Dennis-Yarmouth, Yarmouth, MA
Xander Mishkin, OL, West Linn, West Linn, OR
Jordan Devine, DE, BC High, Boston, MA
Liam Geib, S, Hoggard, Wilmington, NC
Harlan Hubbs, WR, Woodward Academy, College Park, GA
Alex Menard, OLB, Choate, Wallingford, CT
Charles Cavanaugh, ATH Severna Park, Severna Park, MD
Chris Pangaro, WR, Taft, Watertown, CT

Quote from: nescac1 on July 23, 2026, 02:28:27 PMI'm definitely watching this Williams recruiting cycle closely with the word out that the Ephs, after a slow and steady decline in institutional commitment to athletics over the past 20 years, have reversed course and will once again care about putting winning teams on the field going forward (well at least until the new athletics complex is completed in five years, but hopefully beyond that as well!). 

It does seem like the football team has an unusually high number of committed recruits for this point in the cycle (three weeks in, basically), so hopefully a sign of a big class still to come.  Here is who I've seen so far, including, for those who announced them, other offers.  As always, a lot of big, seemingly physical dudes, as Williams continues to lean into a physical ground-and-pound style.  QB will be a huge position of need for this team given that Johansen, McHugh, and Renzella could all be graduating (though Johansen and/or McHugh could potentially return as both retain eligibility), leaving only one incoming FY who I expect to stick at QB as his primary position, at least for this season.     

Edit: solid QB recruit just added to the list. 

Jon Cerullo, 6'2 270 C/DT, Milton
Vincent Petti, 6'2 270 OL/DL, Middlesex
Coley Hucks, 6'3 225 DE, Ransom Everglades
Isaac Sprung, 6'2 195 WR/S, Stuyvesant (Trinity, Wesleyan, Middlebury, Denison)
Benicio Quinones, 6'2 185 RB/LB, Poly Prep (joint baseball/football recruit)
Owen Coyne, 6'4 180 WR/S, Marblehead (Colby, Wesleyan)
Myles Petitjean, 6'2 285 OL/DL, Taft School (Wesleyan, Amherst, Tufts, Bowdoin, Middlebury)
Drew Okeefe, 5'10 200 ATH/K/P, Central Catholic (Endicott)
Sam Florens, 5'11 170 K, Pine Crest School
Caedon Afsharipour, 6'2 210 QB, Loomis Chaffee (Bentley, Middlebury)
Louis Baay, 6'2 190 DB, Houston Memorial (Tufts, Johns Hopkins, Amherst, Midd, WashU, Carnegie Mellon)
Anthony Trapani, 5'7 175 RB, Chaminade (RPI)

Great work, nescac1. Add another to the list as Louis Baay, a DB from Houston Memorial High, announced his commitment to Williams today (also had offers from Amherst, Middlebury, Tufts, Carnegie Mellon, Johns Hopkins, Washington U). Very interesting that the Ephs have solidified nearly half of next year's class by the end of July. Thus far I've seen seven Trinity commitments for the next recruiting cycle:

Luke Gialanella, RB, Pope John XXIII, Sparta Township, NJ
Thomas Hall, WR, Noble and Greenough School, Dedham, MA
Samson Davis, RB, St. Paul School, Concord, NH
Ajani Kromah, WR, Belmont Hill, Belmont, MA
Luke Benato, DT, Choate, Wallingford, CT
Jack Donnelly, QB, John Burroughs School, St. Louis, MO
Jack Guinipero, ATH, Pomperaug, Southbury, CT

I'll be paying particularly close attention to Samson Davis as I played with his father at Trinity!

The following have been offered by Trinity (other offers included):
Jacob Macarz, RB, Cheshire Academy, Cheshire, CT (Amherst, Colby, Tufts, Bentley)
Yemi Onamade, OLB, St. John's Prep, Danvers, MA (Colby, Oberlin)
Alex Menard, OLB, Choate, Wallingford, CT (Colby, Middlebury, Wesleyan, UChicago)
Tucker Larson, DB, Choate, Wallingford, CT (Colby, West Point, Colgate)
John Breton, DE, Hinsdale Central, Hinsdale, IL
Maxwell Blake, OL, Dennis-Yarmouth, Yarmouth, MA (Middlebury, Wesleyan, RPI, Rochester, Union)
Jacob Webster, OL, Gilman, Baltimore, MD (Middlebury, Tufts, Gettysburg, Carnegie Mellon, RPI)

One of, if not, the best things about NESCAC football is the rivalries. The history speaks for itself with nine NESCAC rivalry games having been played more than 100 times. 

Amherst	Williams	139 games
Bowdoin	Colby	136 games
Amherst	Wesleyan	130 games
Wesleyan	Williams	130 games
Bates	Colby	128 games
Bates	Bowdoin	127 games
Trinity	Wesleyan	124 games
Amherst	Trinity	120 games
Amherst	Bowdoin	103 games

Obviously, Williams-Amherst is historically the biggest rivalry in the NESCAC. Wesleyan has a great (little  ) rivalry with the purple schools as well, but it's certainly a tick below given neither Amherst, nor Williams view Wesleyan as their main rival. Wes winning the Little Three four straight years probably raises the rivalry-meter but not to the same level of Williams-Amherst. 

Meanwhile, Trinity sees Wesleyan as their biggest rival but alas Wes seems to care more about the Little Three. It makes sense as the series had been lopsided in Trinity's favor for so long. Perhaps that's shifted a little given the Cards' recent success against the Bantams, but certainly not all the way. It's probably the best current NESCAC rivalry as they've both been at the top of the league battling head-to-head for the league title the last few seasons.

It's always seemed to me that Bowdoin-Colby was the bigger rivalry in CBB triumvirate but I would be interested to hear others opinions on that.

My guess is that Middlebury views Williams as their biggest rival. Hamilton may feel that way about Middlebury but you can't really be rivals when you've lost to them for 30 consecutive years.

Does Tufts have a NESCAC rival? Recently they've had a great series with Wesleyan and I think the cache of NESCAC night games has added to that. Trinity-Williams was huge in the '90s and early '00s when their week 2 match-up often decided the league title, but it has lost some luster as the Ephs became far less dominant.

I'm hopeful that the NESCAC finally accepting their NCAA playoff bid won't diminish the value of these historic rivalries. There are, of course, many other examples across the country where this hasn't been the case.

Quote from: Brady12 on July 06, 2026, 05:19:24 PM

Quote from: CoachDustyWoods on July 06, 2026, 01:29:52 PMTwo big time players to watch this year from Hamilton: Freshman tailback Dan Kai and Quarterback Owen Butz. Both had storied high school careers out of Harrisburg PA as a one two bunch carrying/throwing the ball. Expect them to continue that rapport for the Continentals this fall

Is there a list of all Hamilton recruits?

Eight NESCAC schools announced their full recruiting classes via social media, and nescac1 tracked down all the future Ephs and shared them on this board. Middlebury remains the only NESCAC school who has not announced any incoming first year players.

Here's the full list of what has been announced:

Amherst 25 players
Bates 24 players
Bowdoin 23 players
Colby 24 players
Hamilton 29 players
Trinity 29 players
Tufts 30 players
Wesleyan 20 players
Williams 24 players

I find it interesting that Wesleyan's recruiting class size has gone from 31 in 2024 to 26 last season and now down to 20 this year.

Quote from: nescac1 on May 29, 2026, 02:17:34 PMHere is the final list of folks I've seen in terms of Williams recruits (including other offers they announced).  None of this is official, and may be a small number of additional recruits (but not many, at 24 players this is already a large class by Eph standards), as Williams does not report:

Ryan Murray - 6'4 225 Edge, Fairfield Prep (Middlebury and Hamilton)
Walker Moore - 6'5 230 TE/DE, Bronxville (Middlebury and Amherst)
Jack Fabiano - 5'11 190 RB/LB, Masconomet
Flynn Collins - 6'4 315 OL/DL, Jesuit H.S. (Air Force and Middlebury)
Finn Ryan - 6'1 195 DB, St. Paul's (Wesleyan, Amherst, Middlebury, Colby and Bowdoin)
Evan Sood - 6'1 230 LB, Williston
Jack Kripke - 6'3 230 DE, Brentwood School
William Machnik - 5'10 180 CB/WR, Deerfield
Danny Montesano - 6'4 240 TE/LB, Saint Joseph (Middlebury)
Benjamin Quinn - 6'3 250 DE/OL, Randolph H.S. (Trinity and Hamilton)
Michael Ballan, 5'10 WR/CB, Ramapo H.S. (Bates)
Joe Capasso, 5'11 185 QB, Notre Dame H.S.
Steele Haubner, 6'1 260 C/OG, St. Joseph H.S. (Amherst, UChicago)
Jake Falls, 6'2 205 ATH, Duxbury (Rochester)
Dante DaCosta, 6'3 190 WR/DB, Pascack Valley (Bates, Colby, F&M)
James Deyermond, 6'4 235 TE, Eldred (Cortland, Gettysburg, Alfred)
Gage Turnbull, 6'4 305 OL, Legend H.S. Colorado (Air Force, Hamilton, Middlebury, Fort Lewis, Sioux Falls)
Drew Weiler, 6'3 215 QB, Lakeridge Oregon
Brendan Healey, 6'2 255 DE/OL, Hawken H.S. (Tufts, Wooster, Beloit, Denison)
Quinn Rucker, 6'1 190 ATH, South Mecklenburg HS. (Muhlenberg, Puget Sound, Defiance, CMU, Bentley, HSC)
Frank Jordan, 5'11 205 DE/FB, Chicopee H.S. (Bates)
Zach Konetzni, 5'10 170 QB/TB/DB, Glen Ridge H.S. (Bates)
Van Hellmann, 6'2 215 LB, Exeter (Georgetown, Bucknell, Army)
Aiden Clark,  5'8 190 TB, Naperville H.S. (H.S. class of 2025 but maybe did a gap year)

This is wildly speculative, but I think based on combo of team needs and just how they look as recruits, a few FYs to watch are Aiden Clark and Jack Fabiano at TB, Finn Ryan at DB, Walker Moore at TE, and at least one of the guys coming in on the edge (Hellmann, Kripke and Quinn in particular) as potential early contributors.

It seems like a strong OL class as well, but with Williams bringing four starters (including Cam O'Brien returning for a fifth year) back plus former starter and now-captain Michael Sheskey coming back from injury, as well as several huge upperclassmen who have played a fair number of snaps on the OL behind them, I can't imagine any of the new linemen seeing much time until they are sophomores. 

While Williams has three QB recruits, as usual two of them look more like athlete types who could end up at a number of different position. 

Great homework nescac1. Tufts also got around to posting their incoming class of 30 (linked below). When's the last time a NESCAC school brought in more freshmen than Trinity? Here's the updated list of commits we know about:

Amherst 25 players
Bates 24 players
Colby 24 players
Hamilton 29 players
Trinity 29 players
Tufts 30 players
Williams 24 players

That leaves only Bowdoin, Middlebury and Wesleyan.

Quote from: Patrick Coleman on May 25, 2026, 09:10:12 PMSignificantly more than one senior returning, as Jeff Devanney said in our podcast interview with him last week:
https://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/2026/05/18/atn-podcast-408-nescac-countdown-bomber-boss-mascot-madness/

Thanks Pat! Great interview; especially the roster limit conversation. It sounds like there will be 6 (SIX!) returning grad students for the Bants which includes the aforementioned Nolan O'Brien who will be a POY candidate.

Brady, the Bants do indeed look poised to make another run. They'll need to figure out Wesleyan and always seem to struggle in Vermont, but getting the Cards and what looks to be a strong Eph team in The Coop should help.

On offense Trinity returns Jaxon Carroll at QB, four starting O-Linemen and their top TE, Jamieson Hodlin. Carrol will have his top two WRs back in O'Brien and Darison Hooper. In addition, Devanney sounded very excited about reincorporating WR Pat McCaffrey back into the mix after he missed all of last season with a back injury. They do lose Tyler DiNapoli in the backfield, but (somewhat surprisingly) both Jack Tosone and Tate Hoffmeister averaged more rushing yards per game than DiNapoli last season.

On defense, the Bantams bring back all three starting defensive linemen, including Matt Hickey who was 2nd Team All NESCAC last year. Linebackers Lincoln Moore, an All-NESCAC 1st Teamer, and 2nd Teamer, Ethan Krauss, return. In the secondary, Shane Mosia who was 2nd team All-NESCAC and named a co-Captain this year, and Tyler Roberts are back.

A lot of it will come down to Carroll who was 2nd in the NESCAC last year in passing efficiency and and TD passes but with the pieces around him he should be expected to do more in '26. I'm hopeful this is the year Trinity can put it all together for 9 weeks and earn the league's first ever postseason bid.

Quote from: Brady12 on May 20, 2026, 05:24:44 PMI believe Trinity had 85 players last year with 22 being Seniors. With O'Brien coming back how can they bring in 29 players? 

The 2025 Trinity roster listed 83 names (23 Seniors). I'm not sure if anyone other than O'Brien are returning for a Graduate year, but assuming he's the only one and nobody else has transferred or left the team it would leave 61 players. If you add in 29 freshmen that puts the number of players reporting for camp at 90. With the roster limit at 84 players, it seems like a pretty reasonable number when you factor in potential injuries that could pop-up along with a handful of roster cuts.

Updated list of NESCAC commits announced by school:

Amherst 25 players
Bates 24 players
Colby 24 players
Hamilton 29 players
Trinity 29 players

Hamilton has announced their full class of 29 incoming players via twitter.
Bates has begun sharing their class as well; up to 10 thus far.


Also, in case you missed it, the reports of Nolan O'Brien's departure from The Coop have been greatly exaggerated. It was announced that he will return to the Bantams for a graduate year and resume his role as captain along with safety Shane Mosia.



O'Brien will be just the 10th Bantam to serve as captain for multiple seasons joining:

W.W. Barber - 1883, 1885, 1886, 1887
Ephraim McCook 1888, 1889
W.P. Brown - 1899, 1900
A.B. Henshaw - 1908, 1909
Mickey Kobrosky - 1935, 1936
Brian Fabrizio - 2001, 2002
David Midura - 2001, 2002
Ben Sherry - 2009,2010
Brian Casagrande - 2020,2021,2022

Quote from: Brady12 on May 06, 2026, 04:50:01 PMAny other schools list their incoming class? 

It's been surprisingly quiet, with only three league schools making any kind of announcements (at least via twitter).

Thus far, aside from Trinity, Amherst has shared 24 members of their incoming class. Not sure if there will be more.
Hamilton has announced 12 commits with more to come.

It's May 1st which means NESCAC programs can officially announce their incoming recruiting classes (or choose not to, if you're Williams).
Here's who Trinity is bringing to The Coop this fall:

NAME

SCHOOL

TOWN

STATE

Position

Height

Weight

Daniel Batstone	Canterbury School	New Milford	CT	RB	5'11"	195 lbs
Conor Casagrande	Daniel Hand	Madison	CT	LB	6'1"	215 lbs
Dylan Bean Crooker	Ridgefield HS	Ridgefield	CT	OL	6'1"	255 lbs
Tomas De Maria	Christopher Columbus	Miami	FL	OL	6'4"	300 lbs
Jay Diaz	Choate Rosemary Hall	Wallingford	CT	S	5'10"	190 lbs
Thomas Diemar	Bernards	Bernardsville	NJ	LB	6'1"	210 lbs
Demitrias Fletcher	Cheshire Academy	Cheshire	CT	RB	5'10"	185 lbs
Bryce Flower	Wayne Valley	Wayne	NJ	WR	6'1"	190 lbs
Chris Gibson	Red Bank Catholic	Red Bank	NJ	CB	5'10"	160 lbs
Matt Halloran	Boston College High	Boston	MA	TE	6'3"	215 lbs
Caleb Hatch	Brooks School	North Andover	MA	OL	6'3"	290 lbs
Ryan Hinckley	Weston High	Weston	MA	TE	6'2"	200 lbs
Kyle Knox	Springside Chestnut Hill	Philadelphia	PA	OL	6'2"	280 lbs
Luke Langella	Ramsey High	Ramsey	NJ	S	6'0"	200 lbs
Charlie Leach	Marshfield High	Marshfield	MA	LB	6'0"	220 lbs
Jordan Louis	Fairfield Prep	Fairfield	CT	DL	6'2"	240 lbs
Brady McCormack	Medfield High	Medfield	MA	CB	5'10"	175 lbs
Declan Miller	Chaminade	Mineola	NY	OL	6'2"	260 lbs
Carl Monks	Rivers School	Weston	MA	QB	6'1"	190 lbs
Johnny Nosal	Springside Chestnut Hill	Philadelphia	PA	S	6'2"	205 lbs
RJ Peterson	Somers High	Lincolndale	NY	OL	6'4"	255 lbs
Henry Pizzotti	Columbus Academy	Gahanna	OH	DL	6'2"	215 lbs
Michael Rimas	Roxbury Latin	West Roxbury	MA	DL	6'3"	250 lbs
Nathan Rivera	North Attleboro High	North Attleboro	MA	OL	6'2"	250 lbs
Jackson Shealy	Porter-Gaud High	Charleston	SC	RB	5'9"	175 lbs
Jackson Slack	Salisbury School	Salisbury	CT	S	6'	200 lbs
Anthony Trujillo	Summit High	Summit	NJ	DL	6'1"	250 lbs
Nick Weil	Staples	Westport	CT	ATH	6'	190 lbs
Joseph Yessis	Ramapo High	Ramapo	NJ	WR	6'	190 lbs

The class size (29) indicates last year's slightly smaller class may have been more of a blip than a trend for Trinity who has averaged 29.8 incoming players over the past 7 recruiting cycles.

2025 - 26
2024 - 29
2023 - 32
2022 - 33
2021 - 29
2020 - 31
2019 - 29

As usual, Connecticut (8) and Massachusetts (8) make up the majority of the class. A year after bringing in 5 recruits from New Jersey Trinity nabs 6 from the Garden State (much to the chagrin of Nescacman, I'm sure). With a haul of 7 WRs last year there's only 2 in this class. Meanwhile last year the Bants had only three Offensive Linemen, while this year they add 7 new faces to the OL room. I'm somewhat surprised that for the THIRD year in a row Trinity has brought in only one Quarterback.
 
It appears Hamilton is the only other league school to begin announcing their recruiting class (they've shared three).