Quote from: Charlie on November 19, 2025, 12:22:52 PM

Quote from: NESCACFball24/7 on November 19, 2025, 09:55:11 AMThis could be the first time in a few years we haven't seen an exodus of talent from the league to the transfer portal right after the season looking to move up to the D1 level. Will be interesting to see if this remains true

Only one I know of so far is O'Brien WR from Trinity. I guess he figures on trying the portal although with one year eligibility and an injury prone career do not know how many takers there will be on a one year stint.He does not have the same pedigree as Tomlinson & Lutz of the past or size as well as eligibility. I did hear about rumblings out of Wesleyan that the Freshman WR Kelly could be moving on word is it that Uconn & Stonehill are possible landing targets. At this stage all conjecture.

I am curious when these kids enter the portal do they leave after Christmas break for Spring ball at these programs ?

In the case of O'Brien for Trinity or any senior would that mean forgo graduation if not would that not put them further behind pack not getting a Spring football season in or do they just red shirt for another year.

I do remember the C for Bates Pierotti last year entered the transfer portal but then played this year for Bates before getting hurt.So not sure on the rules for this.

Depends on the situation. For some kids if they are able to graduate early (after this semester) and get to their new school for spring ball it generally give them many more opportunities because they will have another 6 months at the new place.


What you said about kelly is interesting because lets be honest stonehill isnt exactly the pinnacle of football and giving up weseleyan for one of the worst teams in the worst conference in FCS would be kind of strange.

This could be the first time in a few years we haven't seen an exodus of talent from the league to the transfer portal right after the season looking to move up to the D1 level. Will be interesting to see if this remains true

Is it just me or does the league overall just look less talented than it has in the past? The last 3-4 years I had be thoroughly impressed by some of the top end talent these schools had pulled in and this last year I noticed it a little bit but this year there seems to have been a significant drop off.

Quote from: lumbercat on September 17, 2025, 11:31:02 PMOk Thanks

But am I right that not every program is not committing the same amount to this. They have proposed a cap because the biggest programs are sending exponentially more than others.


I'm curious and befuddled on this. I'm going to reach out to friends in the BC program as well. I know things have changed significantly but I'll get a grasp on it.

Thanks for bringing me up to speed.

I cant for sure that every single program is but they all have plans to in the very near future. By not using it they put themselves at a significant recruiting disadvantage. Many programs have turned their "collectives" into ways of guiding donors to the athletic department and donating directly to the program in order to offset some of these costs due to the new regulations around 3rd party nil. I would be surprised if any p4 program is significantly off of that number.

Quote from: lumbercat on September 17, 2025, 10:59:24 PMOk I see what the top players are getting in the major programs, that's pretty well known.

Let me put it this way, with your knowledge of this how many guys on these 100+ man rosters in power 4 programs are being paid more than, say, $50,000 ?

30k for a depth guy and up from there depending on eligibility remaining and potentional like I said. The new revenue sharing allows for 18.5 million divided amongst the team. In order to be competitive in recruiting most all p4 program are using the full amount. The scholarhsip limit at FBS is 85 so really only 85 player are getting paid plus 2-3 walk ons who have their scholarhips paid for out of the revenue sharing. Anybody in the 2 deep is almost definetely making more than 50k. Freshman, regardless of the depth chart on these rosters are often making more than older guys who are 2s or 3s simply because the schools had to pay to get the freshman there in the first place.

FYI I have multiple players going through the recruiting process out of high school right now as well and have had to be apart of many of these conversations between them schools and their families.

Quote from: lumbercat on September 17, 2025, 10:34:25 PMOK -  I'm just doubtful here that there is anything substantial going to these NESCAC transfers beyond tuition, room and board and maybe a modest living allowance.  I Don't buy the cash thing.
 
I base my points on the conclusions I have been able on deduce on the whole NIL thing--

At several D1 schools there is a well documented level of tension between guys on the same team or unit playing next to each other in programs where some guys are being paid big money where other players aren't. They are saying this is prevalent and will impact programs and teams moving forward.

So, why would UCLA or Delaware or any other program pay cash to D3 transfers when so many established D1 players on the same team are getting little or nothing.

I think you have at least some of this wrong.

If USC for example wanted richardson. They would see that he had 20+ other FBS offers and use NIl as another reason to have him go to their school over another. Its a pretty simple transaction. I dont understand the confusion.

Transfers often receive more than kids already on the team because they are filling a need. It is not normal for a d1 school to take a d3 kid out of the portal so when they do its for a reason. Players coming from lower levels are also often much more ok taking lower paydays compared to a p4 transfer because they likely were making little to nothing before and are also much more willing to play special teams etc. Either way two players on the same team have the same contract structured the same way.

I think for a nescac fan the amount of money flowing through these programs is hard to grasp. It is absolutely not outside of the norm to pay a 3rd stringer at a p4 school 30-50k. Starters making 300k+. Backups making 75-200k depeding on how much eligibility/potential they have.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/inside-the-college-football-nil-market-how-much-players-at-each-position-are-actually-getting-paid/

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/46050629/college-football-2025-position-cost-transfers#wr

here two articles for context about the money since you are so flabergasted by this concept.

Richardson is the easiest most straighforward example because there is much more information on his recruitment out there. Not that it was the deciding factor but there is no way he chose USC over multiple other p4 offers without a payday being involved.

Quote from: lumbercat on September 17, 2025, 09:55:38 PMOk, thanks for bringing me up to speed. As I said, I am out of my league here.

Forgive my skepticism on this.

My take is Lutz didn't got to Delaware because they offered him Nil money and Helbig didn't go to Wake because he got paid. Those guys jumped at the lifetime chance to play big time college football on kind of a walk on deal.......while obtaining a PG degree. Are you saying they were recruited and offered cash to do it??....sorry I don't buy it.  Again, tell me where I'm wrong here.

They may not have gone for the NIL money but nobody on those FBS rosters are not getting paid at all. From my understanding is lutz was on scholarhsip the whole time and got paid his second year as his playing time increased. Delaware isn't exactly big time college football but I get your point. Helbig was given money from the beginning. Richardson was givne money from the beginning as well. Nobody is saying they were by any means the highest paid on the team but you don't get multiple FBS offers in the portal and not have money thrown at you as part of it. From what ive been told by people at tufts there were schools offering Richardson money to leave before he even entered the portal. In all of those cases they had multiple scholarship offers to go other places.

Quote from: lumbercat on September 17, 2025, 09:12:33 PMA couple of NESCAC kids I am aware of who transferred to D1 went to some solid schools like Delaware but others went to needy programs like Marist, Sacred Heart etc. Most of the transfers made the move to schools with graduate programs to secure a PG degree.

Not sure you can provide specific examples of NESCAC transfers who got much of anything beyond paid tuition as they worked toward a PG degree.

D3 kids are never on "full scholarship" by definition but more NESCAC athletes than you might imagine are paying zero which is essentially the same thing.

Are you saying that NESCAC transfers got NIL money? I'm not well versed on the whole NIL thing but I would doubt it. Please correct me if I am wrong, would love to know which NESCAC transfer might have gotten NIL money.

"full financial aid" at most nescac schools still involves some sort of lower interest loans orwork study requirements. Kids are still on the hook for food, housing etc. Stipends, which anybody on scholarship receives at D1 schools; handle this. FCS and FBS schools do this. Thats another 20k+ towards basic living expenses in kids pockets.

No matter the conference no FBS school is offering a kid in the portal and not offering some amount of NIL in order to attract them especially now with revenue sharing. Delaware I know for a fact has put alot of effort into building up their NIL program with their move to the FBS. Most programs in the top FCS conferences also have NIL programs. Not up to the level of power 4 programs but their top players are still getting something. Many FBS schools also pay for players families to travel to away games and provide free tickets as well which is another hardship taken off of the families.

Last couple of years I can say for a fact that Helbig (Weseleyan Dlineman who went to Wake Forest) got NIl Money, Richardson (USC from tufts) got NIL money and Lutz (delaware from tufts) also received NIL money for his time.

Quote from: The #802 on September 16, 2025, 10:59:03 AMI would guess the transfer portal would impact the NESCAC less than many other D3 conferences. Most players are in the NESCAC for football and academics. Not a lot of players are going to jump at the opportunity to leave a NESCAC after two years to play at UCONN or UMass.

I think you are overloooking the fact that D1 (FBS & FCS schools) are able to not only put kids on full scholarship(tuition, food, housing, etc) but also give them a stipend (~2k/month) and in some cases NIL money as well. Say what you want about football and academics but leaving school with 0 debt and some money put away while playing at a D1 with D1 resources instead of away games at Hamilton or Colby is not a hard sell to most kids unless they come from a very wealth family where finances arent a factor

Quote from: nescac1 on September 08, 2025, 06:47:28 PMI'm not sure where this idea that Tufts will be a bottom-feeder without Berlutti is coming from.  Tufts was 29-14 in the five years prior to the Berlutti era. There is still plenty of talent on hand and Bowdoin has to replace a ton from a defense that struggled last year. If anyone wins that matchup by 25, it will be Tufts. 

100% agree. Lets be very candid about berlutis career at Tufts. He was a very talented player but his best year came when he had two of the best receivers we have ever seen in the league in Lutz(delaware and NFL) and Richardson(USC). The year after lutz left his numbers fell off a little but last year without either of them his number fell off a cliff and it was clear that he significantly benefited from those two being there. Almost any starting qb at one of the top 2-3 teams in the league during this period SHOULD have looked like a world-beater with those two at wideout.

Quote from: TheBoyfromBrunswick on August 14, 2025, 12:27:27 PMGreetings all, I haven't been able to find much so I'm searching for answers here. Any updates on NESCAC alumni/transfers pursuing NFL or D1 dreams? D1 Camp season is in full swing so I hope someone has heard an update!

Jordan Atkinson from trinity is supposed to be a decent contributor at Georgetown this year. Also heard Ty Richardson who transferred from Tufts is starting for UC Davis this year.

Let's be real if any nescac teams hosts a game at Fenway it would be tufts(you know cuz they are actually in Boston). My guess would be a tufts Wesleyan game.

Quote from: Brady12 on July 05, 2025, 04:58:57 PMWould love to see a Amherst/Williams game at Fenway.

Quote from: Trin9-0 on July 05, 2025, 10:38:20 AMCoast Guard and Merchant Marine will be playing the Secretaries Cup game at Fenway this fall. VERY cool!

A while back there was some discussion about the possibility of a NESCAC game there given the numerous connections between the league and the Red Sox and the existing Frozen Fenway ice hockey involvement.

Maybe this opens the door further...?

He went to the UConn Pro day. It is rare for power 5 programs to allow other schools prospects at their pro days. Makes sense he went to a g5 one instead

Quote from: lumbercat on March 27, 2025, 01:35:02 PMI am told that Perry did not participate in BC Pro Day. It was posted here that he would be a participant at BC.
Maybe he opted for another New England area Proday---HC, Dart, Bryant, Merrimack?

Rooting for the kid, but thought BC would be best for him in terms of exposure.
Hope is not dropping off the NFL radar.
Bryant ProDay in RI is said to be strong venue for Patriot interest so maybe he attended there.
Encouraging to see him mentioned by ESPN even it's a mock.

Quote from: lumbercat on March 24, 2025, 12:00:52 PMUnless a kid is a solid power 5 level talent I've always scratched my head when marginal D1 prospects who are academically qualified choose a lower or mid level D1 program over the Ivies. Just me I guess, it's an individual decision but back in the day I would have jumped both feet into an Ivy opportunity.

I think you are overlooking the fact that there are alot of high academic schools that still offer great experiences and most importantly offer full scholarships and often nil money that is not available for ivy league players.

Quote from: Scoops on March 12, 2025, 03:08:36 PMAmherst is no longer a destination within the league. Nothing against Coach Mills and his work there, but the days of the Lord Jeff/Mammoth dominance are just over. I think a big part of that is that Amherst is no longer getting the best New England recruits at this level, and the league has embraced more of a national approach to its recruiting as a whole. And if Amherst has to stack up to a Wesleyan or Tufts or Trinity with national kids, they're not particularly as appealing to a kid from a powerhouse football state.

On top of that, they're just not evolving with the rest of the league. Most of the chatter says that Amherst and Williams are the two main programs who have held the league back from expanding to 9 games in the past, eliminating the roster limit, and accepting the NESCAC playoff bid. If I'm a kid who cares about football, what's the draw to Amherst other than their past success?

Quote from: Bantamsdad69 on March 11, 2025, 12:11:28 AMI was looking through Amhersts roster and they seem so small compared to the rest of the players in the NESCAC. Is it a recruiting philosophy issue? I would think that Amherst could land some of these bigger players but they don't. Anyone from this board have any insight?

The dynamics have shifted significantly in the league. You cant just get away with recruiting the best in new england. Trinity has been succesful with it but you still need that group of out of region kids to put you over the hump. What interesting is Tufts and Wesleyan have done a great job of this but have lacked the depth that come from recruiting at a high level within the region to get them over the hump. I would argue they have had more top end talent than the rest of the league the last few years; them leading the league in transfers to D1's being a prime example of this. However without the ability to build a complete roster especially the jumbos have been dissapointing in the lack of winning they have been able to do with those guys.