One thing.

How many times has CWRU played a Friday game during the regular season?  I can't recall that.

Quote from: AndrewB on August 26, 2026, 11:53:58 PM

Quote from: Patrick Coleman on August 26, 2026, 09:37:18 PM

Quote from: unionpalooza on August 26, 2026, 03:42:00 PMThe talent pool from which Mt. Union and Williams can recruit are not the same.

This is not because of the size of the school, though.

But the point of this discussion was wether a NESCAC team would be a serious contender for a Stagg Bowl appearance.  Not with the small enrollment and low acceptance rate.  Unless they give special consideration to football players and compensation to them (NIL), they won't be playing in the National Championship game  anytime soon.  If you went to a Mega Camp this summer, out of the 50 best prospects, how many would be acceptable to these schools.  Maybe 5, but every single one, I would bet, would be accepted into Mount Union or Whitewater. 

Here's the thing.  CWRU has higher average SAT scores than some of the NESCAC schools.

But guess what?  Coach Debaljak admitted in an interview a year or two back that recruited football players get an extra thumb on the scale in the admissions office.

I'm pretty sure it's the same for football players in the NESCAC.  They will not necessarily meet all of the same academic admission standards that the rest of the admitted students do, and as a result, the talent pool they recruit may be larger than one would think.

Gee.  Only 84?  Really?

I didn't know that.

Why such a restrictive rule?

CWRU usually has well over 100 on the roster, not that that necessarily produces great results.

That'll be one of the big stories to follow this season.

From looking at the NESCAC board, it appears that their recruiting classes are generally not super huge.  CWRU seems to have brought in a larger class those most of those schools.

Granted, that's not necessarily a reflection on the quality/caliber/talent level of the players, but I am thinking that it might affect the ability to practice effectively, and possibly affect depth.

We'll see. 

Amherst v. Williams has always been one of the most attended games in D3, right?

I hope that the CWRU ladies produce a serious contender this season.  Last year's second round loss was hugely disappointing.

It looks like we have a great goalkeeper and a few graduate students that can light it up!

Well, the CWRU men weren't world beaters last year, but I'm hoping that the influx of new players will help out.

Well folks.

Now that the NESCAC champ will be competing in the playoffs, maybe that will increase the chances of a NE Stagg Bowl team.

Any thoughts on that?

I mean, consider this.  The Ivy League didn't compete in the I-FCS playoffs until just last year or so, and they definitely proved that they can contend in the playoffs.

Maybe it'll be the same for the NESCAC in D3.  We'll see!

That would be a boon to D3 schools with a large number of graduate programs like CWRU.  We could recruit a lot of 5th year transfers to Master's programs.

Some of the best law school courses I've ever had were taught by adjunct professors who were practicing lawyers who brought a lot of personal experience into the classroom.

Well, I think that the Coast Guard Academy would be a wonderful choice.  It makes for a really interesting career, simply because instead of just having a national defense mission, as other branches do, the Coast Guard has that, PLUS a maritime law enforcement mission, and a search and rescue mission.

In my Army Logistics days, I worked with Coasties at military seaports in Beaumont, Corpus Christi, and New Orleans; they provided maritime security during deployment/redeployment military outload operations at seaports.  I also worked with some Coasties in Kuwait during Operation Iraqi Freedom at the Port of Ash Shuaibah.  There were active duty Coast Guard staff officers there, as well as one reserve "Port Security" unit with their swift boats; definitely combat oriented.  It'd be a great place to spend 20-30 years.  He'll nearly always be stationed near the coast/beach, or if nothing else, at cool places like Kodiak Island, AK or Hawaii.

And even if he goes to school there and only does his minimum five years of service, he'll have the leadership and managerial experience to make him very marketable in the civilian world, in addition to having a degree from a prestigious, top notch educational instituton!

Again, I enjoy the Secretaries' Cup game more than the Army/Navy game.  I try to watch the latter every year and cheer for Army, but to be honest, I had to work with too many West Point grads during my previous Army Officer career to be a big Army football fan (I did ROTC at John Carroll and went to Case Western Reserve U. for undergrad).

The first year class includes some impressive O-Line prospects like Trey Donovan, Buka Odeluga, and Matthew Iannicca.  Those are the kinds of O-linemen we need to be bringing in as true freshmen and developing.

Among transfers, I like both the TE from Wofford and Sergio Beltran from Bates.  I'd pencil both in as starters and immediate impact players.  Beltran was already all-NESCAC.

I am also intrigued by freshman QB Alex Bryson.  6'4" and 210 is impressive at that position.

I like our class of newcomers, after reading the media guide.  I sure hope that our new O-Linemen can step up. 

Being picked 4th out of, essentially, 12, is not a bad place to be.  It's a bit higher than I expected. 

Hopefully we can contend.

I liked Coach Debs' and Kavcic's interview at Media Day. 

Gee, no word on PAC football media days?

When Case and Western Reserve merged in 1967, they continued to field separate football and other athletic teams until 1970.

A 5'9" 260 pound FULLBACK?

Dang, that's like either a mini-fridge or perhaps Craig "Ironhead" Heyward.  You know, a human fire hydrant.

Maybe he'll be the short yardage or goal line back; or perhaps a lead blocker.

It'll be interesting to see if he is quick or explosive enough to truly tote the mail at that position.