In The News

From an Essentially Sports story carried by Yahoo under the headline, Russell Wilson Reveals Why His Lawyer Dad Worked at a Gas Station & Shares His Impact on NFL Career (LINK):

Long before he helped the Seattle Seahawks win their first-ever Super Bowl, it was his father who ensured his son got the very best. Recounting a childhood incident, the signal caller revealed why his old man worked at a gas station despite being a full-time lawyer. Wilson says the story rooted in sacrifice still drives him today.

“I go home to my dad. I’m like devastated…I’m like, ‘Dad, you work at the gas station?’ He goes, ‘Yes, son…I’m working extra hours.’” he said on the Good Inside podcast. I said, ‘Why?’ He goes, ‘You want to go to a great school, right? Like, you want to go do all the things you want to do. I got to do extra for you guys. I’m doing anything for you.’ And I remember him saying, ‘I got to buy those books.’”

Green Alert Take: Russell Wilson never fails to credit his father, a former Dartmouth wide receiver from the class of 1977, for the role in played in his life.

Green Alert Take II: This is a peccadillo, I know, but the journalist in me is really annoyed when conversations are transcribed and the result is someone who knows better being quoted as said, "I got to do extra," and "I got to buy those books." I would be really annoyed if I said, "I've got to . . . " and when the story came out someone quoted me as saying, "I got to . . ."

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Tough news out of New Haven where tremendously successful head football coach Tony Reno is stepping down for health reasons just days after turning 54. Reno, who led the Bulldogs to five Ivy League titles in 13 seasons while compiling an 83-49 overall record and a 55-36 Ivy League mark, had announced after the season that he was taking time away to concentrate on his health. Last fall Reno led Yale to the Ivy League's first-ever win in the FCS playoffs and to a one-score playoff lost at eventual national champion Montana State.

From a Yale release noting that the school will be running a national search for a new coach (LINK):

"Given my current health situation, I have made the decision to step down as head coach of Yale Football," said Reno. "When I arrived at Yale 14 years ago, I could never have imagined what this journey would become. The relationships formed, the moments shared, and the people I have been privileged to be surrounded by have changed my life and my family's lives forever. I am deeply grateful to the players, the coaches, and the staff who gave everything they had to Yale Football."

The Yale Daily News largely reprises the release with a few new thoughts at the end of the story HERE.

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EXTRA POINT
The turkeys were back this morning and although I got a pretty good shot of them in a nearby tree, this view out to the White Mountains was too pretty not to share:

Click photo for a better view.

When we were moving from the shoulder of Moose Mountain in rural Hanover, our hope was to find either a house either on a lake or with great views. We succeeded and I never take it for granted.

The Times They Are A Changin'

Justin Lafleur, who inherited the role of Dartmouth's Associate Athletics Director for Varsity Athletics Communications several years ago from longtime SID Rick Bender, has moved on to the University of Massachusetts as its athletics Director of Communications. A UMass graduate, Lafleur posted this before leaving:

This mic’d up with @coach_dobes is probably the most fun I’ve ever had working on and putting together a video. https://t.co/Qqg49O7aGT

— Justin Lafleur (@JustLafleur) January 31, 2026

Green Alert Take: Thanks, Justin, for all your help these past couple of years.

Green Alert Take II: Watching Don Dobes and the energy he still has it's hard to believe he's retiring, but the longtime Dartmouth and Ivy League defensive coordinator made it official at the end of January that he's hanging up his battered hat. (LINK) The suspicion here is that even if retirement "takes," Dobes is going to find a way to use that energy somewhere around a football field.

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EXTRA POINT
Yesterday's PAT recalled a "rafter" of turkeys that I came across a couple of days ago. A group of 24 of the birds stopped by our place yesterday for a nibble. Here's about a minute of the group slowly parading behind our house. Watching how orderly they marched I couldn't help but think we could learn something from the way they neatly merge from two "two lanes" into one.

After finishing up behind our house the birds were spooked by something and took flight. Here's a shot of a few of them high up in the trees at the edge of our field:

And as I write this, they've returned to our side yard and are pecking away in the snow under a couple of ornamental trees that produce little berries.

We Know That Guy!

On a whim I queued up a Jason Kelce Youtube video showing him learning what he needed to know about the four-man bobsled before making a run down the track, and look who I stumbled across:

That's former Dartmouth football captain Quinten Arello '23 explaining to Kelce how he hopped in a runaway bobsled while the former Philadelphia Eagles center looked on. Watch the full video, including Arello's climb into the sled, below. (Former Princeton running back Charlie Volker, an Olympic bobsled veteran, also appears in the video.)

Arello did not make the US team for the Olympics, but he did compete on the Cortina bobsled track earlier in the season. Find his season results HERE.

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The Dartmouth has a Q&A headlined Delby Lemieux ’26 impresses at the 2026 Senior Bowl, a key step to NFL draft. Check it out HERE.

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EXTRA POINT
One day last week I was on my way to our little post office when I was reminded one of the disadvantages of driving an EV: They are so quiet they can surprise animals along the road.

Half a "rafter" of wild turkeys was on the left side of the road when my quiet arrival spooked the others, who were about to cross from the right side. Just like that, they took flight over the road.

Here's the thing. While turkeys are surprisingly agile flyers over a short distance, they can weigh upwards of 20 pounds, so their battle against gravity can require a bit of a runway.  If I hadn't slowed as quickly as I did I might have ended up with a couple of drumsticks on my car windshield.

The More Things Change . . .

After a day with no news, we're back . . . .

A StatsPerform story headlined What Are the FCS Conference Realignment Changes in 2026? included these subheds (LINK):

Villanova and William & Mary to Join Patriot League

Sacred Heart to Join CAA Football

NEC to Lose Saint Francis, Gain Chicago State

Tennessee Tech to Move Into Southern Conference

Two to Join, One to Depart Big Sky Conference

North Dakota State Departing FCS

Shortly after reading that, I stumbled across this graphic that contrasts with all that movement.

The graphic is labeled an "animated gif" (meaning it automatically changes), but whether you just look at it or click it, nothing changes for obvious reasons. The Ivy League membership has not changed one iota since its first year of competition in 1956.

Compare that to the Patriot League, which has had these changes in a history that is 30 years shorter:

1986

First season features six schools: Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, Bucknell, Colgate, Davidson

1989

Fordham replaces Davidson.

1997

Towson expands conference to seven teams.

2001

Georgetown expands to eight teams.

2004 Towson leaves conference.

2025

Richmond expands conference back to eight teams.

2026 

Villanova and William & Mary expand conference to 10 teams.

If you think that's a lot of change, here's the CAA Football membership in 2007, and its membership in 2026:

2007	2026
Maine	Maine
New Hampshire	New Hampshire
Rhode Island	Rhode Island
Elon	Elon
Towson	Towson
Stony Brook	Stony Brook
Richmond	Albany
James Madison	Bryant
Delaware	Campbell
Villanova	Hampton
William & Mary	Monmouth
UMass	NC A&T
Hofstra	Sacred Heart
Northeastern
Richmond

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EXTRA POINT
For Christmas in 2024 we received a bird feeder that sends video of each visitor to a phone or tablet, and uses AI to identify the type of bird. The AI can be a little funky, but it's fun to check in and see who is stopping by. Yesterday we had no fewer than 138 birds visit by noon. Given that it's sunny and bright this morning, I wouldn't be surprised if we top 200 by midday today. Gonna have to lay in some more birdseed before long. ;-)

Who Knew?

Did you know that Dartmouth offensive line coach Keith Clark can thank all the time he spent in the weight room while taking a medical redshirt season as a freshman at Lafayette for the start of his college coaching career?

It was during the hours spent around the weights that he got to know a young defensive line coach. Fellow you may have heard of  by the name of Tim Murphy. Hear that story, learn about Clark's introduction to coaching in Italy as a newly minted college graduate, how valuable connections have been in his career, and much more in this video:

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Dartmouth athletic communications has a story about graduating wide receiver Daniel Haughton, who despite having his senior season ended by an Achilles injury showed why his teammates elected him a captain by continuing to support his team, and mentoring young players. Haughton explained:

"If I had sulked, that would have given leeway to the rest of the room to do the same. I didn't want the fact that I was on a scooter and couldn't walk change how I showed up and approached the task at hand. I showed up to meetings five minutes early, showed up with a notepad, asked questions and was vocal in the meeting room."

Haughton has two years of eligibility remaining and hopes to use them as a grad transfer.

Find the story headlined Haughton’s Setback Leads To New Perspective HERE, and his Dartmouth bio HERE.

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The FCS Football Central On SI site has a piece headlined, Ranking the top 15 FCS transfer portal quarterbacks for the 2026 season that features a familiar name. From the story (LINK):

7. Jackson Proctor (South Dakota)

Jackson Proctor's transfer to Northern Illinois didn't quite work out, and he now returns to the FCS level. He spent four seasons at Dartmouth, showing his dual-threat ability with over 600 yards rushing on 7.8 yards per carry. He also completed 70% of his passes for 2,355 passing yards, 18 passing touchdowns, and only six interceptions. He's expected to compete with longtime backup Nevan Cremascoli, but Proctor will almost certainly be featured in South Dakota's offensive attack.

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Speaking of transfer quarterbacks, Cornell has one coming from South Dakota State. Heading to Ithaca is 6-foot-3, 200-pound Preston Otter, a Phillips Exeter Academy product from Hemlock, Mich. Find a comprehensive look at the new Big Red quarterback prospect HERE.

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Still on the subject of transfers, the Monmouth team Dartmouth faces next fall is welcoming new players from Penn State, Penn, Holy Cross, Lafayette (2), Richmond and Charleston Southern.

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This is from a FootballScoop a story under the headline Ole Miss assistant Joe Judge makes polarizing comment about significant others expecting children in-season (LINK):

"It is a day-by-day production business. He has to be ready to perform and go out there and play."

"Why I say that is, you need to let him sleep," Judge says their message to the expecting mothers was. "He needs to be in another room. Detached. We had to explain to the mother, like listen, he isn't waking up for midnight feedings."

"Now after the season, he's full metal jacket, you can do whatever you want with him and he can change every diaper. But in-season he's gotta have different priorities."

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One of the most prominent Dartmouth graduates in the Winter Olympics is the subject of a story that first appeared in The Athletic. It was picked up by Yahoo under the headline, She's married to Marie-Philip Poulin. But Laura Stacey has emerged as a star of her own for Canada. Find the story about the former Big Green ice hockey standout HERE, and her Dartmouth bio HERE.

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EXTRA POINT
One day after I complained explained that there will be days when there's nothing to post on BGA, along comes a day like this when I have almost more than I can use. Go figure.

Uh . . .

I warned you recently the day was coming when BGA would go dormant until there was something to report. Welcome to that day.

That said, if you take a peek over there to the right you will see something new at the top of the column.

No, Dartmouth hasn't "released" its 2026 schedule. Maybe it's still being held captive. ;-)

Whatever. The new addition offers a peek at what next season will bring. Times will be added when they are available and watch for at least one of the games to be shifted to a Friday night for TV purposes.

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EXTRA POINT
It's only about a mile and a half to our tiny, one-room post office and each morning Griff the Wonder Dog and I hop in the car and head up the road to see what new junk mail has been tucked into our PO box.

The radio in the car always kicks on when I start the car, and because I'm beyond weary of the news out of Washington, my station of choice for the past few months has been Vermont classical.

It doesn't work with every station, but for this public station the car radio shows the title of the music it is playing. Maybe it's been the rotten weather we've had lately, but I found myself entranced by a piece called The Lark Ascending by Ralph Vaughan Williams, and was able to pull up a recording of it to listen to when I got back home. If you are curious, you can hear it for yourself HERE.

In Good Company

Screenshot from an ESPN piece headlined 2026 NFL draft Big Board rankings: Mel Kiper's top prospects (LINK):

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And this from a Pro Football Focus story headlined PFF Senior Bowl Grades: Grading standouts from one-on-one and team drills (LINK):

Outside of a single snap at right guard back in 2022, Delby Lemieux had never played anywhere other than tackle during his four-year career at Dartmouth. Despite that, Lemieux kicked inside to center for the week and more than held his own in team drills. He did have one errant snap, but he wasn’t downgraded once in pass protection and looked stout against interior defenders in the run game.

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From a New York Times story headlined Meet Miles Teodecki, the QB recruit who chose the Ivy League over the Power 4 (LINK):

Teodecki, who ranks No. 710 overall and the No. 41 quarterback in the 247Sports Composite, is Penn’s highest-rated recruit of the modern era (since 2000) and the school’s only top-1,000 signee in the last 10 years.

And this:

“My dad is my biggest role model, and my goal is to be as much like him as possible. He’s a great man,” Teodecki said of his father, Steve, who played quarterback for the Quakers in the 1990s. “If (the NFL) doesn’t pan out, then the dream is to be an NFL general manager. I want to do business, and being in the business side of football sounds like the most fun form of business to do. If not (that), the goal is to be financially free and hopefully be able to retire by the time I’m 50 and spend time with my wife and kids in the future. … I can control my destiny more towards those goals at Penn.” 

Teodecki is a three-star prospect who originally singed with Kansas State. He also held offers from BYU, Cincinnati and Colorado State among others. Brown, Cornell, Fordham, Harvard, Princeton and Yale reportedly also offered.

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Regarding Clemson coach Dabo Swinney's complaints about another coach tampering with his roster, the always entertaining Steve Spurrier had this to say (LINK):

"I thought by now, somebody would've told Dabo, 'Dabo, there ain't no rules anymore.'"

It would seem that's true. After an ESPN story noted Montana LB Tuliaupupu granted 9th year of eligibility by NCAA (LINK) this post went viral:

🚨🚨THIS IS INSANE🚨🚨

Montana linebacker Solomon Tuliaupupu is returning for his 9TH YEAR playing college football.

Tuliaupupu was in the same high school recruiting class as Micah Parsons.

Parsons is an All-Pro and been in the #NFL for five seasons already.

Ridiculous 🤯 pic.twitter.com/BuXbWGqwRI

— MLFootball (@MLFootball) February 10, 2026

In case you just scanned that post, here's the money part:

Tuliaupupu was in the same high school recruiting class as Micah Parsons.

Parsons is an All-Pro and been in the #NFL for five seasons already. 

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EXTRA POINT
This is an oldie, but a goodie. With the Winter Olympics in full force and a lot of people watching short track speed skating, we bring to you today a 15-second video from way back when That Certain Nittany Lion '16 did a pretty fair imitation of eight-time medalist Apolo Anton Ohno's "It's all about the experience." That Certain Dartmouth '14, who was interviewing him, lost it when the Ohno impressionist's trademark facial hair came off.

Striking Gold

Quiet times in the Dartmouth football-sphere so . . .

NEF IS GOLDEN.🥇@DartmouthSkiing’s Tanguy Nef claimed gold in the Alpine Skiing Men’s Team Combined for Switzerland 🇨🇭. 🌿⛷️ pic.twitter.com/S9zQg9mBHs

— Ivy League (@IvyLeague) February 9, 2026

Tanguy Nef '20, who earned four All-America honors in his three years competing for Dartmouth, posted the fastest time in the slalom to help Team Switzerland win the inaugural men's team combined.

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An NBC Sports story from before the Games began, headlined The Ivy League school that’s intertwined with the Winter Olympics, notes that . . .

"Dartmouth is the lone college or university to have at least one current or former student on every U.S. Winter Olympic team dating to the first Winter Games in 1924 in Chamonix, France."

Find the story HERE.

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Coming into the '26 games Dartmouth had won 12 gold medals, nine silver and five bronze medals. Nine of the gold medals have been won in women's hockey.

Gold Medal Winners
John Shea 1932 Speedskating (2)
Peter Kirby 1964 Bobsled (Canada)
Gretchen Ulion 1998 Hockey
Sara Tueting 1998 Hockey
Cherie Piper 2002 Hockey (Canada)
Gillian Apps 2006 Hockey (Canada)
Cherie Piper 2006 Hockey (Canada)
Katherine Weatherston, Hockey (Canada)
Gillian Apps 2010 Hockey (Canada)
Cherie Piper 2010 Hockey (Canada)
Gilliam Apps 2014 Hockey (Canada)
Laura Stacey 2022 Hockey (Canada)
Tanguy Nef 2026 Skiing (Switzerland)

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EXTRA POINT
Because about the only thing we get this time of year is junk mail, I decided last week I would hop in the car and check our PO Box only every other day. My resolve lasted just one day.

I can claim that I weakened only because it's a much-appreciated daily car ride for Griff the Wonder Dog, which it is. But the truth is, there's always the hope that something good is going to come in the mail. Unfortunately, that usually happens only before birthday, around Christmas, and the start of the football season when I hear from BGA readers.

That's all for now folks. Griff and I have to get to the post office before the window closes. ;-)