Friday, September 12, 2025

Welcome To The Woods

A couple of updates.

First, you still have another day to send along that question you have for Dartmouth football coach Sammy McCorkle. Click HERE and I'll be your proxy and ask it for you. Look for a story featuring his answers your questions Sunday night on BGA Overtime. (And look for BGA OT stories reviewing Ivy League teams as well as Dartmouth’s other opponents this weekend.)

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Second, if you would like to stream the documentary, 8: Ivy League Football & America, I can share a link and the password you’ll need to access it – for free! Just drop me an email at the Questions for Coach link above, or in the contact box over to the right, and I’ll send the information along. Trust me, you’ll enjoy the film.

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Mrs. BGA and I were in town yesterday to do a little banking and I had to laugh when I saw a sign welcoming freshmen to “The Woods.” That nickname for Dartmouth has become almost synonymous not just with the athletic program but with the college itself, and it has none other than former football coach Buddy Teevens to thank.

"The Woods" didn’t come out of thin air. In the early days of his second tenure in Hanover, Teevens was doing whatever he could to breathe life into a moribund program. One of his early gimmicks was as symbolic as it was practical: he recruited a friend with a pickup truck to haul a small granite boulder to the south corner of the visiting grandstands at Memorial Field. His message to the team was simple—if you keep pounding on that rock, day after day, year after year, it will eventually break.

That same mix of toughness and imagination spilled over into his search for a proper nickname for Memorial Field, something akin to “The Swamp,” “Death Valley,” or “The Big House.” With the Big Green still struggling, Teevens began floating ideas, and while he had two possibilities, his strong favorite was “The Quarry,” which played off his granite boulder analogy. He even bounced the two potential nicknames off people he trusted—this writer among them.

To his credit, Teevens took the hint when person after person told him his second option worked better.

And that, my friends, is the true story of how “The Woods” took hold at the college Buddy Teevens loved, and at the top of the home stands in the stadium that now bears his name.


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The latest video look at a position from Dartmouth athletic communications has defensive coordinator Don Dobes and senior Nico Schwikal talking about the linebackers. As per usual, my gently edited transcript of the video is posted below it: 

Defensive coordinator Don Dobes:

It's an experienced group from an age standpoint. It's an inexperienced group from an experienced playing standpoint. Great work ethic. Kind of the baton has been passed on to them by the great linebacking groups we've had over the last 15 years that I've been here. They're totally bought in. They're talented. They’ve been waiting their turn. I'm like everybody else, excited to see what they do. I think it's going to be a pretty ferocious group. They take the coaching. Being the leaders of this defense is very important to them. Their work ethic is second to none.


Linebacker Nico Schwikal:

I think we really come together as a group. The ‘27s and ‘28s really did a great job stepping up, getting ready over the offseason, learning the playbook. You know it's really important to have depth in the linebacker core, so we can play to our different strengths and weaknesses and different packages we're playing.


Dobes:

Teddy G (Gianaris) has played a little bit, so he's got some snaps underneath him. He's a character personality wise, and I think his ability to keep the room light and laughing, but at the same time serious, is a big help for us. Zyion (Freer-Brown) played in our special groups, whether it was special teams or some of our special substitution groups. He can be as good as a lot of the great ones because he combines toughness, physicality, and the ability to run. Nico is the all-time overachiever. He came from Germany. He came to America because he loved football. He learned it by watching YouTube videos.


Schwikal:

A linebacker group, man, this year has been special. You can really feel it. I think the young guys came in, brought good energy. I think we really grew together as a group. We're having fun in the meetings with Coach Dobes, joking around, but really paying attention to details. I think we're all locked in and ready to roll every day. I think we hold each other accountable, and I think that shows on the field as well.


Dobes:

I'm really happy with the juniors, (Steve) Simpkins and Cam Lee. I think Steve and Cam will very much have big roles this season. And then the two sophomores have been doing a great job. Johnny Riley and Sean Chester, I believe, have very, very bright futures.

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EXTRA POINT

From the local news aggregator, Daybreak:

Southern part of Grafton County now in “extreme drought.” Lucky us: It’s the only part of the country east of Texas to hit that status. After this, there’s only “Exceptional Drought” to go. The communities in Drought.gov’s red zone basically run from eastern Plainfield and Lebanon (though not W. Leb) up to Warren and Wentworth and over to Campton. Meanwhile, severe drought has spread in Vermont to take in all of Orange and Windsor counties (plus the rest of central VT and much of the Northeast Kingdom). 

The bad news: We’re in the aforementioned Orange Country and I’m starting to get a little nervous about our well. 

The good news: Another day of full sun is shining down on our solar tracker and building up our credits with the electric company.


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