Marist, as well, will have a bit of an advantage over Dartmouth because it has a bye week before playing host to the Ivy Leaguers on Oct. 19.
If Dartmouth's other two nonconference opponents have something of a scheduling advantage before playing the Big Green the opposite can be said for Colgate, unless testing yourself against a ridiculously hard schedule is an advantage, as in iron sharpens iron. The Raiders open with Villanova and then are at FBS Air Force, visit traditional CAA power William & Mary and then play NCAA semifinalist Maine before visiting Hanover. In other words, Dartmouth will be their fifth game, the equivalent of halfway through the Big Green season!
Here are the 2019 schedules for Dartmouth's nonconference opponents:
JACKSONVILLE
Aug. 29 at Richmond
Sept. 14 at Presbyterian
Sept. 21 vs. Dartmouth
Sept. 28 vs. Ave Maria
Oct. 5 at Dayton
Oct. 12 vs. Morehead
Oct. 19 vs. Davidson
Oct. 26 at Butler
Nov. 2 vs. Stetson
Nov. 9 at Drake
Nov. 16 at Marist
Nov. 23 vs. San Diego
COLGATE
Aug. 24 Villanova
Aug. 31 at Air Force
Sept. 14 at William & Mary
Sept. 21 vs. Maine
Sept. 28 at Dartmouth
Oct. 5 vs. Lehigh
Oct. 12 vs. Bucknell
Oct. 19 at Cornell
Oct. 26 at Holy Cross
Nov. 2 at Georgetown
Nov. 9 at Fordham
Nov. 16 at Lafayette
MARIST
Sept. 7 at Georgetown
Sept. 14 vs. Stetson
Sept. 21 vs. Cornell
Sept. 28 vs. Drake
Oct. 5 at San Diego
Oct. 12 Bye
Oct 19 vs. Dartmouth
Oct. 26 at Davidson
Nov. 2 vs. Butler
Nov. 9 at Dayton
Nov. 16 vs. Jacksonville
Nov. 23 at Valparaiso
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Spend even a little time around the Dartmouth football program and you'll hear credit being given to strength coach Spencer Brown for helping the Big Green get bigger, stronger, faster and more successful thanks in no small part to a program developed to also keep players healthy.A Sports Illustrated story pulls no punches in explaining the importance of a strength coach like Brown. From SI:
In today's college football, a strength assistant is the most important hire that a head coach makes. He matters more than either coordinator because he spends more time with players than any other staff member. The NCAA strictly limits how much contact head and position coaches can have with players, but there are fewer restrictions on strength coaches, who run workouts almost year-round.
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If you haven't been watching Jeopardy for the past couple of weeks you've been missing game show history. (LINK)
Earlier this week a clue in the category Five Jeffs had us smiling. The answer in the form of of a question, of course, was: "What is NIKE?"
We were smiling because the Jeff who named the iconic sneaker/sportswear company was That Certain Dartmouth '14's distance coach at Hanover High School, Jeff Johnson, also known as NIKE employee No. 1.
I have gotten to know a lot of great coaches in my years covering sports and here's a promise. If I ever try to name the Mount Rushmore of the best I've ever met at any level, Jeff Johnson is absolutely certain to be on it, if not atop it. (I only hope that when we pore through boxes of papers some day we find the full-page, handwritten notes on yellow legal paper that Jeff wrote to TCD'14 before she ran in states and New Englands each year. They are inspirational treasures.)
You can learn a little more about Jeff Johnson HERE.
And here's an answer you haven't seen on Jeopardy but might come in handy some day. "Dimension Six."
The question: "What was Phil Knight going to call his shoe company before Jeff Johnson came up with the name NIKE?"
