Carson Franks, a safety/wide receiver from State College, Pa., completes a Christmas-week hat trick of Dartmouth commitments. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound Franks, who had 54 tackles, two interceptions and two passes defended in 61/4 games this fall, also plays basketball for the Little Lions. He tweeted his college decision HERE.
Excited to announce I have committed to Dartmouth College🌲🏆 #TheWoods pic.twitter.com/OK0UNEbQ7g
— Carson Franks (@CarsonFranks11) December 22, 2020
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Here's the list of commitments BGA Daily and loyal readers have compiled to date. And once more, with feeling: Additions and corrections aren't just accepted, they are encouraged ;-)
• Ejike Adele, 6-2, 245, DE, Westminster School/Atlanta Ga.
• John Ballowe, 6-2, 215, LB, Collegiate School/Richmond, Va.
• James Coslet, 6-3, 255, OL/DL, Watchung Hills/Watchung, N.J.
• Cayman Duncan, 6-6, 295, OL, Kinkaid School/Houston
• Carson Franks, 6-1, 195, S, State College/State College, Pa.
• Remington Gall, 6-4, 185, WR, Avon/Avon, Ind.
• Alex Geraci, 6-4, 215, TE/DE, Don Bosco/Cornwall, N.Y.
• Jackson Gerard, 6-2, 187, WR/QB/ATH, St. Francis/Warrenville, Ill.
• Davis Golick, 6-2, 200, P, Woodward Academy/College Park, Ga.
• Micah Green, 6-1, 220, LB, North Central/Indianapolis
• Sean Harmon, 6-5, 225, TE, Bishop Blanchet/Seattle
• Dillon Holifield, 6-1, 188, S, Roswell/Roswell, Ga.
• Q Jones, 5-11, 185, RB, Fountain-Fort Carson/Fountain, Colo.
• Zachary Lytle, 6-5, 230, DE, St. Paul’s/Winnipeg, Man.
• Braden Mullen, 6-3, 215, LB, Loyola Academy/Glenview, Ill.
• Jackson Proctor, 6-2, 195, QB, Kent HS/Kentwood, Wash.
• Painter Richards-Baker, 6-2, 170, ATH, Christ School/Arden, N.C.
• Charis Spence, 6-1, 205, LB, Eagles Landing/McDonough, Ga.
• Konstantin Spörk, 6-5, 250, DL, Phillips Andover/Cologne, Germany
Green Alert Take: By this time in a normal year I would have received a list of the "early decision" commits for inclusion in The Green Line newsletter I've pulled together for the Friends of Dartmouth Football three times a year for at least the past decade. But as you my have noticed, this is not a normal year and TGL is, unfortunately, on indefinite hiatus. That being the case, I don't know which of the commits are confirmed early decision and which won't receive their official acceptance and be abel to make everything official until spring.
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While Dartmouth is gaining a player from the town that is home to Penn State, Happy Valley may be gaining an Ivy Leaguer. PennLive reports that Harvard graduate transfer offensive linemen Eric Wilson is backing away from Auburn in response to the firing of coach Gus Malzahn and is now considering joining the Nittany Lions. (LINK)
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Donnie Brown, who got his start as a defensive assistant at nearby Hartford (Vt.) High School before stints at Dartmouth as well as coaching at Brown and Yale, has been fired as Michigan defensive coordinator. (LINK)
Thinking about coaching? Brown's career arc suggests making friends with the folks from Bekins or Allied Van Lines is a good idea. Here are his coaching stops:
1977-82 assistant Hartford HS (Vt.)
1982 defensive assistant Dartmouth
1983 defensive coordinator Mansfield
1984-86 defensive coordinator Dartmouth
1987-92 defensive coordinator Yale
1993-95 head coach Plymouth State
1996-97 defensive coordinator Brown
1998-99 defensive coordinator UMass
2000-03 head coach Northeastern
2004-08 head coach UMass
2009-10 defensive coordinator Maryland
2011-12 defensive coordinator UConn
2013-15 defensive coordinator Boston College
2016-20 defensive coordinator Michigan
Green Alert Take: I first met Brown when he coached at Hartford High, got to know him better when he was at Dartmouth, and have followed his career closely. I haven't known many coaches as intense or as beloved by those who play for him. He very nearly ended up as head coach at Yale, where as interim baseball coach in 1992 he led the Bulldogs to the league championship and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. I'm pretty sure that if Yale football had hired him he'd still be in New Haven celebrating the twilight of a very successful career.
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More craziness from trying to play football in a worldwide pandemic, courtesy of STATS Perform (LINK):
Most FCS schools didn't compete in the fall due to health and safety concerns over the pandemic. Only 17 of 127 FCS programs - 13.4 percent - played at least one game, and only four went above four games. There were 55 games, including 34 against FBS opponents.
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A little Christmas-week trivia for you: "A Visit from St. Nicholas" was published anonymously on this day in 1823. It first appeared in New York's Troy Sentinel newspaper.
Clement Moore, a graduate of what is now Columbia University, was eventually credited with writing the poem that begins with the memorable line: "Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse."
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EXTRA POINT
As was the case at Thanksgiving, That Certain Dartmouth '14 has made the difficult – but responsible – decision to remain in Gunnison, Colo., this week and not travel home for the holiday. Instead we will set up an iPad overlooking the tree on Christmas morning so we can celebrate with her the exchange of gifts via Facetime.
I can only shake my head at news that the nation's airports are the busiest this week that they have been since the start of the pandemic and shudder to think what it will mean a month from now.
