Newsletter of The Friends of Dartmouth Football

Newsletter of The Friends of Dartmouth Football
Vol. 6, No. 3 Winter 2015
Newsletter of The Friends of Dartmouth Football
A Conversation With Coach Buddy Teevens
On the Monday after Dartmouth
clinched the Ivy League title Buddy
Teevens sat down with Bruce Wood
of Big Green Alert and shared his
thoughts about Dartmouth finally
making it back to the top of the
mountain and the people who
helped make it happen. Here’s a
lightly edited version of his remarks:
We were in a deep, deep hole.
I’ve said it before and I will say it
again. If I knew how bad it was
before I came back I wouldn’t have
come back.
It was a tough transition. I really
give tremendous credit to the players
who made a leap
of faith way back
when. We didn’t
have much in
terms of facilities. It
was, hey, we are
going to build a
program and they
took a chance.
With successive classes we got a
little bit better and a little bit better
each year. The commitment to
football became stronger and
stronger with (President) Jim Wright
and (Athletic Director) Josie Harper
and the initiatives they allowed us to
start to pursue.
The dedication in the off-season
became greater. The competition
became greater.
It took a while. But there was
progress every step of the way, even
the 0-10 season. It was the mindset,
“not again.”
In addition to the players
2015 Results
who took a chance on us, I
Sept. 19 at Georgetown, Won 31-10
am so appreciative of the
Sept. 26 Sacred Heart, Won 49-7
Friends of Football. It started
with people like Tom
Oct. 3
at Penn, Won 41-20
Parkinson, Rich Weissman
Oct. 10 Yale, Won 35-3
and Ed Simpson. There
Oct. 17 at Central Connecticut, Won 34-7
wasn’t a whole lot of
Oct. 24 Columbia, Won 13-9
involvement but then it
Oct. 30 at Harvard, Lost 14-13
started to grow, with more
Nov. 6
Cornell, Won 21-3
people starting to believe.
Nov. 14 at Brown, Won 34-18
Bob Downey and Chris Jenny
came on board along with
Nov. 21 Princeton, Won 17-10
Byron Anderson and their
support has made a huge
opportunities we didn’t have before.
difference along with people like Bob Same with the addition of FieldTurf.
Rex, Bill Colehower and Rick Taylor,
Whether it was rain, snow or sleet,
who helped show what it would take we were able to put in legitimate
to turn the program around.
practice time. With New England
Doug Floren changed the entire weather that has an impact. Prior to
athletic department culture with the that we had no answers. Leverone
Floren Varsity House. We went from was insufficient.
being maybe a high echelon Division
We now have the ability to go out
III program in terms of facilities to a and do things in a first-class fashion.
high level Division I situation. We We have different uniforms and
had a legitimate major college helmets for our guys. That’s important
weight training facility, a big-time when you are recruiting a 17- or 18locker room and real meeting spaces. year-old guy today. We have the
With Chris Jenny’s help and the
addition of lights we had practice
Continued on Page 12
2
Newsletter of The Friends of Dartmouth Football
Friends Helped Pave The Road To The 2015 Championship
Friends Roundup
The metaphor du jour at the
semiannual meeting of the Friends of
Football (FoF) during Homecoming
Weekend was apparent: Several
times during the hour-plus gathering
in Floren Varsity House various
presenters referred to an assortment
of charts, most of them line graphs
depicting trends over the past decade
of the Second Coming of Coach
Buddy Teevens ’79.
In every instance, the point was
reiterated: The graphs started in the
lower left corner (2005) and moved
steadily to the upper right corner
U.S. Representative John Carney ’78 of Delaware, a former Dartmouth
(2015).
Whatever the subject (wins, defensive back, addresses the team during its visit to Washington, D.C.
dollars, All-Ivy honors) the message
was constant: Football at Dartmouth is on a roll!
This meeting was held on Oct. 10, about four hours
before Dartmouth hosted Yale. The Green’s record was
already 3-0 and it was hard to harness expectations for the
unfolding season that exuded from virtually every pore in
the room. How those hopes evolved into an Ivy League
championship season are well documented elsewhere in
this newsletter.
As Teevens told the gathering of nearly 100 Friends,
including representatives of Dartmouth’s previous 17 Ivy
championship teams, “We have the ability to run the table
… our guys are fired up with confidence … you (the
Friends) have put us in a position to succeed … you make our
kids feel like they’re part of a major college football program.”
Through presentations by assistant coaches Don
Dobes, Chad Nice and Chris Rorke ’89 plus Joey McIntyre
(Director of Recruiting, Operations and External
Relations), the Friends got updates (including superb video
presentations) on resources like championship analytics,
STRIVR (the virtual reality training system), MVP (the
robotic tacking dummy that was featured on several
See Friends, page 4
3
Newsletter of The Friends of Dartmouth Football
Friends Helped Pave The Way
national television shows), and
computerized support for coaches
during recruiting trips.
One distinctive program that
Teevens mentioned is “The
Dartmouth Promise” that focuses
on career development
opportunities for Big Green
players.
“Support for the future is a
promise I make to our players that
differentiates us from the
competition,” said the coach.
This program was described in
greater detail by Donnie Brooks,
the assistant athletic director for
Dartmouth Peak Performance
(DP2), whereby student-athletes
are taught “how to fish” and
develop personal links with
alumni that can lead to postDartmouth career opportunities.
Bob Rex ’57, treasurer of the
Friends group, showed one graph
depicting the financial growth of
the FoF from about $300,000 in
2005 to more than $1.4 million in
2015.
The correlation is apparent
between victories on the field and
funds raised—and their effective
allocation.
One of FoF’s fastest growing
initiatives is the Captain’s Program
led by three-time All-Ivy defensive
end Tom Csatari ’74 that builds on
the leadership of former Big Green
team captains (Csatari was cocaptain of the 1973 Ivy League
champs). Over the past year this
program has grown by nearly 50
percent to include over five dozen
team captains who provide a
bridge to their hundreds of
teammates.
As Associate AD Sam Hopkins
noted, the increased FoF finances
are being used to help
Dartmouth’s football program
remain competitive with peer
institutions on a number of fronts
—personnel development and
retention, technology and
infrastructure initiatives,
recruiting, travel and the chance
to visit intersectional opponents
like Butler and Georgetown.
Drew Galbraith, the senior
associate AD, provided the
positive wrapup, observing, “You
can’t go anywhere without seeing
the positive impact our players are
having on the Dartmouth campus
community.” (J.D.)
4
The September game at Georgetown and
all that went with it was made possible by
the generosity of the Friends of
Dartmouth Football.
Newsletter of The Friends of Dartmouth Football
http://
tinyurl.com/
n84soe9
That
Championship Season
5
Newsletter of The Friends of Dartmouth Football
A Week-By-Week Look At The 2015 Championship Season
WEEK ONE – SEPT. 19 turned out for the first game in
Dartmouth
14 7 10 0 – 31 Memorial Field’s new West Stands.
Teevens: “They were nationally
Georgetown 7 3 0 0 – 10
ranked at that time so it was a big
Tickets were hard to come by as
game for us. It was our first time in
Dartmouth fans filled the majority of
black uniforms, a night game and
the 2,863 seats in sold-out Multithere was a good crowd so there was
Sport Field to see the Big Green
a lot of enthusiasm. Dalyn Williams
begin the successful pursuit of its
and the pass game were hot and
18th Ivy League championship.
defensively we didn’t give them
Georgetown opened the scoring
much. It was a dominant victory.”
on a 31-yard touchdown pass with
WEEK THREE – OCT. 3
4:57 remaining in the first quarter but
the Hoyas would not cross the goal Dartmouth
13 14 14 0 – 41
line again.
Penn
0 6 0 14 – 20
Will McNamara’s eight-yard
Dalyn Williams put on perhaps
interception return for a touchdown
the greatest display of passing in
capped a 21-point run in less than six
school history as he completed 23minutes spanning the first and
of-25 passes for 336 yards and four
second quarters.
touchdowns to lead the Big Green
Coach Buddy Teevens: “We
over a team that one week earlier
played the kind of real solid defense
had defeated No. 4 Villanova.
we expected. Offensively we had
Williams added a game-high 73
some big plays and opportunities, but
rushing yards and two rushing TDs as
we weren’t all in sync yet. But we
he earned national player of the
scored the points that we needed to
week honors. Victor Williams caught
and came off with a good start to the
12 passes for 213 yards and two
season.”
scores as Dartmouth built a 41-6 lead
WEEK TW0 – SEPT. 26 through three quarters.
Sacred Heart 0 0
Dartmouth
21 14
7
7
0 – 7
Teevens: “It was just a complete
7 – 49 execution on both sides of the
The Big Green got a fumble football. Offensively we moved the
recovery for a touchdown from Flo ball up and down the field, putting
Orimolade just 3:18 into the game points up on the board. Defensively
on the way to a 35-0 halftime lead we gave up almost nothing until we
started to substitute.”
and then never looked back.
Dartmouth made use of the big
WEEK FOUR – OCT. 10
play with Victor Williams hauling in
Yale
0 3 0 0 – 3
a 60-yard touchdown pass and David
Dartmouth
7 14 7 7 – 35
Caldwell capping off the festivities
For the first time since the
with a 77-yard interception return for
legendary
1970 season, Dartmouth
a touchdown. A crowd of 7,363
6
and Yale squared off with unbeaten
records. Only the Big Green could
claim that distinction after another
commanding performance by its
standout senior quarterback.
Dalyn Williams broke Jay Fiedler’s Dartmouth record with 435
passing yards and the Big Green kept
Yale’s high-octane offense out of the
end zone before a sellout Homecoming crowd of 11,086.
Dartmouth had 592 yards of
offense and held Yale to 32 rushing
yards and 276 total yards to beat the
Bulldogs for the fourth year in a row.
Teevens: “We knew they were a
very good football team and one of
the preseason selections for winning
the championship so that was a big
hurdle for us. We were very effective
on both sides of the ball. We really
shut them down defensively and
were productive offensively.”
WEEK FIVE – OCT. 17
Dartmouth
7 7 7 13 – 34
Central Conn. 0 7 0 0 – 7
The Big Green defense pitched a
shutout as the only Blue Devils
points came on a fumble in the end
zone. Central managed just 225
yards as Dartmouth finished out its
fourth perfect nonconference slate
since 1980, improving to 5-0 for the
first time since 1997.
Teevens: “We opened the game
with a big touchdown pass on our
first play but I can’t say we were as
emotionally sharp as we were going
into the Penn or Yale games.
Defensively we played well again,
but we weren’t consistent offensively.
We did enough to get a win.”
Newsletter of The Friends of Dartmouth Football
WEEK SIX – OCT. 24 d o w n p a s s w i t h 3 8 s e c o n d s
Columbia
3 0 6 0 – 9 remaining. Dartmouth answered with
Dartmouth
7 6 0 0 – 13 a drive that made it to the Crimson
29 before a blocked field goal on the
Dartmouth forced a three-andfinal play ended the game.
out, drove 75 yards for a touchdown
Teevens: “The entire year our
on its opening possession and then
guys felt that was the championship
had to hang on.
game in terms of preparation on both
The Green was called for a
sides of the football. We put an A+
school-record 17 penalties for 161
effort together and had opportunities
yards. That and an under-appreciated
on multiple occasions to finish them
Columbia D-line that sacked Dalyn
off. We didn’t do it.”
Williams six times ended a streak of
eight straight Dartmouth wins by 21
WEEK EIGHT – NOV. 6
or more points dating back to 2014.
Cornell
3 0 0 0 – 3
Teevens: “They were wellDartmouth
0 14 7 0 – 21
coached, played hard across the
Dartmouth managed more than
board and had as good a defensive
front as we saw all year. It was the 200 yards both on the ground and
worst officiated game I have seen in through the air and pitched a shutout
my coaching career. Some of it was after the visitors’ opening possession
our lack of discipline and retaliating but struggled again with penalties
in situations that should’ve been against the winless Big Red.
Dartmouth held Cornell to just
officiated and weren’t, but we were
194 yards of offense and limited an
responsible for our actions.”
opponent to 10 points or less for the
WEEK SEVEN – OCT. 30 sixth time in eight games before a
Dartmouth
10 0 3 0 – 13 national TV audience.
Harvard
0 0 0 14 – 14
Teevens: “Cornell having not had
a win at that point played into our
A national TV audience saw No.
psyche a little. You come off a huge,
22 Dartmouth jump out to an early
emotional deal with frustration and
lead, make an epic goal line stand
now you’ve got to ramp it back up. It
and have a defining win over No. 15
was a solid defensive performance.
Harvard in its sights before the
Offensively it was just hit or miss.”
bottom fell out in the final minute in
a battle of unbeatens.
WEEK NINE – NOV. 14
Shutting the Crimson out at the Dartmouth
14 7 13 0 – 34
midway point of the fourth quarter, Brown
0 6 0 12 – 18
Dartmouth saw Harvard get on the
It was while singing the alma
board for the first time on a 39-yard
mater after a pillar-to-post win that
TD pass on a fourth-and-12 play. Still
the Big Green found out that Penn
leading, 13-7, with less than three
had defeated Harvard and it was tied
minutes left, Dartmouth lost the ball
for the Ivy League lead.
on a fumble at midfield. The
Turning the ball over six times,
defending champs then converted all Dartmouth managed just 281 yards
three of their third-down oppor- of offense but made them count. The
tunities, the last a five-yard touch- defense was poised for another one-
7
touchdown game before Brown
scored twice in the final five minutes,
the last on a fumble recovery.
Teevens: “Post-Harvard people
started to pressure us and our
numbers went down in the pass
game. We didn’t have the big strikes
we had earlier in the season but we
did what we had to do.”
Princeton
Dartmouth
WEEK 10 – NOV. 21
0 7 3 0 – 10
0 0 7 10 – 17
A dramatic final minute delivered
the Big Green its first Ivy League
championship since 1996.
Trailing, 10-7, Dartmouth tied
the score on a field goal with 4:54
left. After the Big Green defense
forced a three-and-out the offense
took over at its own 37 with 2:01 left.
Five plays later Dartmouth was at the
Princeton 12 with 31 seconds
remaining and the title on the line.
On first down, senior Kyle
Bramble, who had saved the day two
plays earlier with a fumble recovery,
collected a screen pass and rumbled
in for the winning touchdown with
24 seconds left. Princeton made it
only to the Dartmouth 44 before time
ran out.
Teevens: “The big thing was
finishing. We talked about that all
year long. We had to make plays in
that last six minutes of the game and
we did. It was great to finish on that
note. There was great enthusiasm
and energy in the stands. The student
population showed up despite the
fact that it was the middle of exams.
It was great to see the response from
the alums and the ’90 team, which
had come back. It was a great day for
Dartmouth College, let alone for
Dartmouth football. I couldn’t have
been happier for our guys.”
Newsletter of The Friends of Dartmouth Football
Ivy League, Media Outlets Honor Ivy League Champions
FIRST TEAM ALL-IVY
Senior DB David Caldwell
Senior OL Jacob Flores
Senior DL Cody Fulleton
Senior CB Vernon Harris
Senior WR Ryan McManus
Senior LB Will McNamara
Junior LB Folarin Orimolade
Senior DT A.J. Zuttah
Coach Buddy Teevens was
named the New England Head
Coach of the Year in the FCS by
the Gridiron Club of Boston. He
was selected New England
Coach of the Year by the New
England Football Writers’
Association and Region I FCS
Coach of the Year by the
American Football Coaches
Association.
SECOND TEAM ALL-IVY
Senior DB Troy Donahue
Junior P Ben Kepley
Senior OL Niko Mamula
Senior RS Ryan McManus
Senior LB Zach Slafsky
Senior QB Dalyn Williams
Senior WR Victor Williams
David Caldwell
Jacob Flores
HONORABLE MENTION ALL-IVY
Senior DB Chai Reece
Senior DE Sawyer Whalen
Senior LB Eric Wickham
Senior QB Dalyn Williams won
the George “Bulger” Lowe Award,
the Heisman Trophy of New
England.
Cody Fulleton
Vernon Harris
Ryan McManus
Will McNamara
Folarin Orimolade
AJ Zuttah
ALL-NEW ENGLAND
Senior OL Jacob Flores
Senior CB Vernon Harris
Senior LB Will McNamara
Senior DT A.J. Zuttah
ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT I
LB Will McNamara was a finalist for Junior LB Lucas Bavaro
the Bushnell Cup as the top Senior RB Kyle Bramble
Senior OL Jacob Flores
defensive player in the Ivy League.
8
Newsletter of The Friends of Dartmouth Football
Big Green Begins To Reload With Early Decision Talent
QUARTERBACK
Cole Douglas, 6-1, 200
Irmo, S.C./Dutch Fork
Threw for 2,050 yards with 14
touchdowns and seven interceptions
for a 9-3 team. Completed 50.9
percent of his attempts. Left-handed
thrower who is son of all-time Citadel
quarterback Jack Douglas. Coach
Teevens: “A talented, versatile
quarterback/athlete who can throw
and run. We’re excited to have him.”
Jared Gerbino, 6-4, 220
Rochester, N.Y./Rush-Henrietta
Passed for 1,400 yards and 19
touchdowns and despite playing on
two sprained ankles ran for 676 yards
and six touchdowns as a senior. AllGreater Rochester Area Offensive
Player of the Year as junior. Teevens:
“Another QB/A. A big, strong guy
with growth potential. He should be
competitive.”
Jake Pallotta, 6-1, 190
Massillon, Ohio/Jackson
Completed 58.8 percent of his
attempts for 1,911 yards with 18
touchdowns and eight interceptions.
Ran for another 459 yards with three
touchdowns. Second team All-Ohio
Division I. Also a talented safety.
Teevens: “A gifted, multisport athlete at
a highly competitive high school. He
throws it well and can run it also.”
WIDE RECEIVER
Hunter Hagdorn, 6-0, 180
Manvel, Texas/Manvel
Two-star receiver who caught 36
passes for 595 yards and 10
touchdowns as a senior, averaging
16.5 yards per reception. Finished
high school career with 62 grabs for
992 yards. Offers from Illinois and
Colorado State as well as Harvard
and Cornell. Teevens: “One of the
top recruits in the Houston area. He’s
had play from a lot of IA programs.
He could contribute early.”
Brandon Hester, 5-11, 180
El Cajon, Calif./Christian
Caught 23 passses for 290 yards.
Averaged 12.6 yards per catch with
three touchdowns. Finished career
with 44 catches for 537 yards. Twoway player who added 29 tackles
and a 31-yard interception return for
a TD as a senior. Teevens: “We liked
what we saw when he was on
campus. An intelligent guy who will
bolster the receiving ranks.”
TIGHT END
Hamilton Day, 6-6 1/2, 240
Hyattsville, Md./DeMatha
Helped a team stocked with
Division I talent to its third consecutive conference title, the top
ranking in Maryland and the No. 3
ranking nationally. Offered by Army
and originally committed to
Richmond. Teevens: “A big, rangy
guy with great growth potential. A
tight end who has the ability to play
inside and turned down a scholarship
to play for us.”
OFFENSIVE LINE
John Lass, 6-5, 280
Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East
Ranked one of the top 20 recruits
in South Jersey by the Philadelphia
Inquirer. First-team All-West Jersey
American conference as a junior and
senior. Second-team All-South Jersey.
Won Mini Max High School Award.
Teevens: “An offensive tackle who
had a lot of interest at different levels.
A rangy guy who moves his feet well.
He had an ACL tear late in the year
that has been surgically repaired.”
LINEBACKER
Ross Andreasik, 6-2, 210
Glenbard, Ill./Glenbard West
DuPage County all-area pick.
9
Led team with six interceptions while
earning All-West Suburban Silver
honors. Could play safey, nickel or
outside linebacker. Helped team go
14-0. Teevens: “A good-sized guy
who runs real well. He could play
any one of the four positions. His dad
played for Coach Spurrier at Duke.”
SAFETY
Ryan Roegge, 6-2, 210
Marietta, Ga./Walton
Posted 138 tackles to finish
second in the county as a senior.
Picked off two passes and blocked
one kick. Offered by Air Force and
onWisconsin’s radar. All-5-AAAAAA
selection. One of four teammates
headed to the Ivy League next fall.
Teevens: “He’s a good-sized guy,
kind of like a Colin Boit, Troy
Donahue or David Caldwell.
Athletic, tall, physical and smart.”
KICKER/PUNTER
Davis Brief, 6-1, 180
Warwick, N.Y./Warwick Valley
Averaged 44.4 yards per punt
over high school career. Kicked nine
field goals including a career-long
47-yarder. Reported to have 95
percent of his kickoffs reach end zone.
Twice chosen Eastbay All-American.
Teevens: “A nationally ranked kicker
and punter and an orchestral level
drummer.”
LONGSNAPPER
Grant Jaffe, 6-5, 225
Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif/
Santa Margarita
Big longsnapper who saw time
on the offensive line in high school.
Well-regarded by snapping guru
Chris Rubio. Father and grandfather
went to Dartmouth. Teevens: “A
talented long snapper and defensive
end with good size who can run
well.”
Newsletter of The Friends of Dartmouth Football
Recruiting information
Here is contact information if you have a name for the
Dartmouth coaches. Potential recruits should fill out the
questionnaire at: dartmouthcollegefootball.com
DUANE BROOKS Defensive Line
duane.e.brooks@dartmouth.edu/603-646-9093
Northern California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana,
Wyoming, Oregon, Washington
MIKE BRUNO Nickels
michael.bruno@dartmouth.edu/603-646-1236
Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada,
Utah, Alaska
Memorial Field Reborn
DON DOBES Defensive Coordinator, Linebackers
donald.h.dobes@dartmouth.edu/603-646-3593
Illinois, New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania
KEITH CLARK Offensive Coordinator, O-Line
keith.p.clark@dartmouth.edu/603-646-3150
Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia
SAMMY McCORKLE Asst. Head Coach
Secondary, Special Teams
sammy.mccorkle@dartmouth.edu/603-646-2008
Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee
KYLE METZLER Recruiting Coordinator
Tackles, Tight Ends
kyle.metzler@dartmouth.edu/603-646-3577
Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Virginia, Washington, D.C.
CHAD NICE Running Backs
chad.b.nice@dartmouth.edu/603-646-3145
Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan,
Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota,
South Dakota, Nebraska
CHRIS RORKE Pass Game Coordinator, Quarterbacks
christopher.j.rorke@dartmouth.edu/603-646-3568
New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode
Island, New Hampshire Vermont, Maine
JERRY TAYLOR Wide Receivers
jerry.w.taylor@dartmouth.edu/603-646-9924
Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Hawaii
Find the recruiting rules for alumni, sports and friends:
dartmouthsports.com/friendsguide
10
The sculpture “The Hill Wind Knows Their
Name” by Dimitri Gerakaris '69 was a
centerpiece of the Veterans Day Weekend
dedication of Memorial Field’s new West
Stands before the Cornell game. The stands
were filled for the sold out Homecoming win
over Yale.
Newsletter of The Friends of Dartmouth Football
Looking Ahead To The 2016 Dartmouth Big Green
View From The Press Box
By Bruce Wood
Big Green Alert
Dartmouth earned 18 All-Ivy
League commendations this year and
all but two of the players honored by
the conference coaches will be gone
next fall. Most notable of those is
Dalyn Williams, a four-year starter
who graduates as the school’s alltime passing leader.
If the rest of the Ivy League is
licking its chops, Big Green coach
Buddy Teevens doesn’t seem worried.
“People take a look and see we
are losing a lot of good players but
we have recruited effectively,” he
said. “We will have more untested
guys next fall but they are good
players. We’ve got a lot of talent.
“This is now a championship
caliber football program. It’s not just
a flash in the pan, or a one-shot
deal.”
The Outlook
Holding the inside track at
replacing Williams under center is
Bruce Dixon IV, the strong-armed, 6foot-4, 230-pound freshman who
finished the year second on the depth
chart. Teevens and his staff were high
on him coming into the program and
they like both his athleticism and his
poise. Sophomore Jack Heneghan,
who started the year as the backup,
will also be in the running.
The graduation of Kyle Bramble
and Brian Grove will be felt but
sophomore tailback Ryder Stone
returns after leading the team in
rushing last fall. Sophomore Abrm
McQuarters heads up a deep corps of
runners behind him.
Dartmouth will miss Ryan McManus and Victor Williams but
speedster Jon Marc Carrier and
dependable Houston Brown combined for 50 catches last fall. Cam Skaff
caught four TD throws at tight end last
year and starter Stephen Johnston will
be back after missing 2015.
Junior Zach Davis and classmate
Dave Morrison had a combined 19
starts on the line last fall, where
freshman Matt Kaskey played in
seven games with one start.
The Big Green graduates its top
seven tacklers and 10 of the top 12.
Juniors Brandon Cooper and Zach
Husain both played in every game on
the line with Husain and freshman
Jackson Perry in for the unforgettable
goal line stand against Harvard.
First-team All-Ivy Flo Orimolade
heads up a linebacking corps where
junior classmate Alex McCrory saw a
lot of time and soph Eric Meile
showed promise. Junior Lucas Bavaro
was a solid, part-time starter at nickel.
Danny McManus split time on
one corner and junior classmate
Charlie Miller was a standout taking
over at safety late in the year for Troy
Donahue. Sophomores Colin Boit
and Kyran McKinney-Crudden both
came on strong last fall.
Placekicker Alex Gakenheimer
and punter/holder Ben Kepley, both
with All-Ivy on their resumés, return.
Also back for another year is
longsnapper Graydon Peterson.
All-Ivy punt returner Ryan
McManus will be missed but younger
brother Danny filled in nicely last
year when he was injured.
11
The 2016 Schedule
Sept. 17
Sept. 24
Oct. 1
Oct. 8
Oct. 15
Oct. 22
Oct. 29
Nov. 5
Nov. 12
Nov. 19
New Hampshire
at Holy Cross
Penn
at Yale
Towson
at Columbia
Harvard
at Cornell
Brown
at Princeton
The 2016 Dartmouth team will
face a challenging nonconference
schedule that features visits by two
teams from the powerhouse Colonial
Athletic Association.
The campaign opens against
CAA member New Hampshire,
which this fall advanced to the
NCAA playoffs for the 12th year in a
row, the most consecutive
appearances by any school in the
country. The Big Green will renew
acquaintances with longtime rival
Holy Cross the next week before
playing host to fellow Ivy League
champion Penn in the conference
opener.
After a visit to the Yale Bowl
Dartmouth will entertain Towson, the
CAA team that played for the NCAA
championship at the conclusion of
the 2013 season.
Highlighting the rest of the
schedule are the Oct. 29 Homecoming game and the season-ending
contest at Princeton on Nov. 19.
Dartmouth will have four Ivy
League road games and three
conference games at home next fall.
Newsletter of The Friends of Dartmouth Football
Conversation With Coach from Page 2
recruiting website and video that
allows us to really broadcast what
we are doing.
All of that demonstrates the
importance football holds to the
institution.
We also have more security with
our coaches. We’ve been able to
elevate salary so there hasn’t been
constant turnover.
My whole premise in building a
program was to bring in good people
and we’ve done that with the
coaching staff as well as the players.
The opportunity was there with Keith
Clark and Don Dobes. I think they
saw this was a wonderful opportunity professionally and for their
families. Sammy McCorkle I had
known for a long period of time.
He’s a good guy, a solid family man,
an excitable coach and a great
teacher. It’s that way right on
through the ranks. We’ve got some
older guys, some younger guys and
some in the middle. The collective I
think is as tight as the team is.
We now have the ability to go
out and recruit the full NCAA
allotment of days, which we just
didn’t have the funds to do in the
past. We can also have coaches
recruit during the summer at different
camps around the country, which has
been tremendously important.
Now we run a legitimate championship program at the Division I
level and results have followed.
This group of seniors is kind of a
culmination in terms of the stuff we
talked about 11 years ago. They’ve
been boosted up on the backs of
those who went before them. I really
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hope and I think a lot of the guys
who were here before take a lot of
pride that they started this.
We won the championship this
year but we’re not done. People take
a look and see we are losing so many
good players. Well, what we have
done is recruit far more effectively.
We are a lot more attractive for
someone who truly values football,
wants a top-shelf education and likes
the culture that we have created.
We have good players in our
program. They aren’t as experienced
as the guys who are graduating, but
this year’s seniors were the guys that
were backing people up at one point.
The new guys coming in now
know what it takes. Leadership
percolates throughout the program.
The young guys saw what the seniors
did, and how hard they worked.
They know if they want to have a
similar result they have to work just
as hard. I think we have a group of
people who it is very, very important
to. They know what it takes and I
don’t expect that to change.
Going forward, the approval that
we received for the new indoor
facility will make us competitive with
anyone in the country at this level.
People are now talking about
Dartmouth and a national ranking,
competing for championships and so
forth. That was maybe a distant
thought a long time ago. But now it’s
here and I am so deeply appreciative
of everyone who played a role in
making it happen.
12
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The Top 25
STATS Top 25 with ranking, record, poll
points, first-place votes and previous
week's ranking:
1 Jacksonville State (10-1) 3662 (135) 1
2 North Dakota State (9-2) 3468 (2) 2
3 McNeese State (10-0) 3401 (10) 3
4 Illinois State (9-2) 3227 6
5 Portland State (9-2) 2652 11
6 Sam Houston State (8-3) 2574 10
7 Chattanooga (8-3) 2445 8
8 James Madison (9-2) 2407 12
9 Charleston Southern (9-2) 2377 9
10 South Dakota State (8-3) 2314 5
10 Coastal Carolina (9-2) 2314 4
12 Richmond (8-3) 2260 14
13 William & Mary (8-3) 1988 7
14 Fordham (9-2) 1747 13
15 UNI (7-4) 1716 15
16 Montana (7-4) 1376 17
17 Southern Utah (8-3) 1372 20
18 Citadel (8-3) 1259 25
19 Harvard (9-1) 1170 19
20 DARTMOUTH (9-1) 751 21
21 Grambling State (8-2) 582 22
22 North Carolina A & T (9-2) 549 16
23 Eastern Washington (6-5) 430 18
24 Eastern Illinois (7-4) 340 NR
25 Bethune-Cookman (9-2) 301 NR