FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[NESCACFball24/7]

Did any of the guys who hit the portal from nescac schools land anywhere? It seems like the success of guys (Tomlinson, Richardson, lutz, helbig) from the past gave a false sense of how easy it is to transfer up

[Brady12]

Did any of the guys who hit the portal from nescac schools land anywhere? It seems like the success of guys (Tomlinson, Richardson, lutz, helbig) from the past gave a false sense of how easy it is to transfer up

Also I heard a couple rumors of players transferring for other reasons (not necessarily football related) but as I do not have confirmation don't want to start a potentially false rumor. Wondering if anyone has confirmation of any players and potential impact on their current program.

[lumbercat]

Did not realize that new Detroit Lions OC Drew Petzing is a Middlebury guy. He was OC for the Arizona Cardinals for the past 3 years, now moving to the Lions. Never knew of his Middlebury ties.

[Trin9-0]

A few more NESCAC commits from the Nutmeg State:

Tyler Rebick, DE, Avon Old Farms (Simsbury) — Amherst
Quinn O'Neill, TE, Hall (West Hartford) — Bates
Cam Stewart, K, Avon Old Farms (Simsbury) — Hamilton
Kayden Davis, S, Northwest Catholic (West Hartford) — Wesleyan

A few more:

Sam Barrett, DB, Fairfield Prep — Bates
Daniel Batstone, LB/RB, Canterbury — Trinity
Conor Casagrande, LB, Hand — Trinity
Oliver Fricke, DB, Fairfield Prep — Wesleyan
Ryan Murray, DL, Fairfield Prep — Williams
Jake Zullo, OL, Notre Dame-West Haven — Middlebury

A name to watch here is Conor Casagrande who is the younger brother of Brian Casagrande who was a 3x All NESCAC LB at Trinity.

[nescac1]

Updated list of Williams 2026 commits, including other offers they announced (where applicable) via social media.  Given that Williams typically brings in between 19-24 players, I suspect this is nearly the entirely class.   

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)

[lumbercat]

Off topic but hoping our Williams friends might offer some assistance. Why can I never get a reservation at the Willams Inn? Thought I would try earlier this year for the Bates game weekend. Same result as in past attempts. Fully booked. Guess I'll never get a room there.
Wondering if anyone with local knowledge might recommend another hotel in the area.

[dman]

For lodging in and around Williamstown, I would try Fairfield Marriott or Maple Terrace and in North Adams, Hotel Downstreet or Porches. Tourists is more high end but also very popular.  The Williams Inn is about half the size of the old one and fills up quickly especially on fall weekends.

[lumbercat]

DMan-
Thanks for the local knowledge- much appreciated.

[Trin9-0]

A recent Trinity football fundraising communication shared some specific examples of what have become "essential for programs preparing for postseason play" These include:

• Sideline tablets, filming station & game-day operators
• Coach-to-player helmet communication system
• Athlete monitoring and performance data
• AI recruiting platform

I was not aware that NESCAC or even D3 programs allowed coach-to-player helmet communication. The advent of sideline tablets, performance trackers and AI recruiting aids really illustrates how advanced the game at the D3 level has become.

I suppose it should not be surprising, but it's good to see evidence that (at least some) NESCAC teams are not planning to merely accept their bid to the NCAA playoffs, but are proactively seeking the resources necessary to compete at the highest level nationally.

[Patrick Coleman]

In-helmet radios are expected to be approved in D-III for this year.

[muleshoe]

A recent Trinity football fundraising communication shared some specific examples of what have become "essential for programs preparing for postseason play" These include:

• Sideline tablets, filming station & game-day operators
• Coach-to-player helmet communication system
• Athlete monitoring and performance data
• AI recruiting platform

I was not aware that NESCAC or even D3 programs allowed coach-to-player helmet communication. The advent of sideline tablets, performance trackers and AI recruiting aids really illustrates how advanced the game at the D3 level has become.

I suppose it should not be surprising, but it's good to see evidence that (at least some) NESCAC teams are not planning to merely accept their bid to the NCAA playoffs, but are proactively seeking the resources necessary to compete at the highest level nationally.

We got a very similar outreach from Colby for sideline tablets and helmet comms. My understanding is that the tablets might be a requirement for participation in the playoffs, but not 100% sure that is the case. Has anyone else heard the same?

They also mentioned some equipment technology that tracks helmet and shoulder pad contact data. Sounds like a really cool development on the player safety front, and I'm glad to see that the College is investing in it. 

[Trin9-0]

We got a very similar outreach from Colby for sideline tablets and helmet comms. My understanding is that the tablets might be a requirement for participation in the playoffs, but not 100% sure that is the case. Has anyone else heard the same?

They also mentioned some equipment technology that tracks helmet and shoulder pad contact data. Sounds like a really cool development on the player safety front, and I'm glad to see that the College is investing in it. 

From what I understand tablets and helmet comms were both recently approved at the D3 level but are not mandatory (which screams competitive imbalance if a particular school isn't investing in the technology). However, the NESCAC schools given their donor bases should have no excuse to foot the bill.

[Trin9-0]

Shout-out to the reigning National Champion Trinity men's basketball program on their third consecutive NESCAC Championship! The Bants defeated rival Wesleyan 80-55 to cut the nets down in Middletown for the second straight year. Trinity joins the 2012-'14 Amherst squads as the only programs to win three consecutive men's hoops league championships.

The Bantams are likely to be the #1 overall seed for the NCAA playoffs. Wesleyan, Tufts and (hopefully) Amherst and Bates should all receive at large bids when the bracket is revealed later today.

[nescac1]

Just looking at Williams next year, it will be really interesting what happens at the skill positions, where there is for the first time in a long time loads of talent, depth and versatility, but some positional question marks:

Owen Johansen is a lock to be the starting QB and is maybe the best overall athlete in all of NESCAC, certainly top five.  He is SO effective as a runner but also the Ephs need to keep him upright as obviously they are a different team without him, and his passing really evolved over the course of the season as well, so I suspect he will look to run more judiciously early in the season. Johansen was hurt as a FY so if the Ephs are lucky, maybe he sticks around for another season after this one, though could also imagine him trying to get a D1 opportunity. 

Former starting QB Owen McHugh will be back from injury and likewise has two years of football eligibility if he chooses to use them.  He is a obviously a very high-level back-up who can play some downs as a wild-cat QB but would also fare well I suspect at receiver, where two more converted QBs are likewise in the picture.  Henry Machnik looked very good at receiver after making the switch mid-season and I suspect he moves to that position full-time, at least for this season.  Mikey McGrath also saw some snaps there before getting injured and gives more depth at WR this year.  Obviously Zach Falls is the Ephs' main target and was pretty much unstoppable all year, with the potential to get even better as an upperclassman.  And there is still Holden Gehring as an option but he's so important as a CB and may also be a primary returner so seems like it's more risk than needed to play him as a WR again as well, given all the other options Williams has at the position. 

Jimmy Montesano was also having a huge year at TE before getting hurt and his return to the lineup will be huge for the Ephs as he's the most talented TE in the conference.  The rest of that unit is a bit of a mystery, a slew of FYs coming in with TE experience so perhaps one breaks in early, so the Ephs need to keep Montesano healthy. 

In terms of QB depth, Drew Renzella is another capable back-up returning for one more year.  Unfortunately, Mustafa Mozawalla, who looked like the QB of the future, has transferred to NYU so I gather has quit football altogether.  The Ephs are bringing in three H.S. QBs this year (one of them looks more like a TB in college however and another looks like a potential ATH type as well) so maybe one of them can take up that mantel for whenever Johansen and McHugh have both departed.  Ideally, at least one of Johansen or McHugh sticks around for a fifth year. 

The offense does lose its all-NESCAC starting backfield and their physicality will be tough to replace, Jon Oris as a powerful inside runner despite his size and Riley O'Connell as a versatile and extremely physical fullback.  They also lose some depth at the TE position.  Matt Bott is sure to get a lot of carries, he showed a good amount of big-play potential as a sophomore, and maybe Jon Marvan, who was a big-time H.S. player who had to recover from a devastating injury, will be ready to share the load as the more physical back as a senior.  Or perhaps Marvan makes the move to FB and replaces O'Connell there, he's the right size certainly.  If not Marvan, the Ephs will always find one of their best overall athletes to move to that FB/HB role.  TB is also spot where I suspect we will see some FYs get an opportunity. 

The Ephs have six OL with starting experience returning so that should definitely be a position of strength as well.  Offensively, Williams just needs to stay healthy and they could put up massive numbers all year.  The defense is a much bigger question mark.