Nick Marinaro, a 6-foot-2, 270-pound offensive lineman from Benilde-St. Margaret's High School in St. Louis Park, Minn., tweeted his commitment to Dartmouth HERE.
History-making former Dartmouth assistant Jennifer King appeared on Good Morning America after being promoted to a full-time coaching position in the NFL. She even gives Buddy Teevens a quick mention:
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Craig Haley of STATS Perform has a story under the headline, CAA Football coaches concerned by rise in transfers. The story begins this way (LINK):
James Madison has lost several All-CAA football players, if not All-Americans, to the NCAA transfer portal in the last year.
Maine and Towson saw perhaps their best player depart in the same way.
Villanova? Oh, a couple All-Americans transferred last summer with two more all-conference players exploring options in the portal right now.
These are transfer examples just within CAA Football, but really it's coaches everywhere - especially in the FCS - who seem to be lamenting the transfer portal is spinning out of control.
In another story Rocco says it's not just losing players who transfer up to the FBS that is a concern. From that story (LINK):
“In past years,” Rocco said during a CAA coaches video conference Wednesday, “we were the only option for the undergraduate FBS transfer. Now they have a lot of other options. So a kid that’s leaving Penn State or Pitt or Rutgers, maybe that was going to Towson, Villanova or Delaware, now may end up at Old Dominion or Marshall or a MAC school. So we’re gonna lose some of that pool on the front end.
Green Alert Take: While the portal is becoming a problem for powerhouse conferences like the CAA it may level out the playing field a bit for the Ivy League. For the most part, the Ivies weren't getting Power 5 transfers anyway. And while more and more top Ivy League players will consider graduating and using a final year of eligibility at the top level of Division I football (see Estrada, Drew) it's doubtful many would leave before they earn their coveted Ivy League degrees.
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While Dartmouth and the Ivy League wonder what spring practice will look like this year, at least one of the Big Green's 2021 opponents is already on the field. Weather permitting. From the Manchester Union Leader (LINK):
UNH began practicing Tuesday, but changed its Wednesday practice plan because of the snow that fell Tuesday night. (coach Sean) McDonnell said the weather will often determine how and when his team practices.
“It’s something we’re going to have to navigate every day,” he said. “When we’re talking Maine, New Hampshire and Albany, it’s a lot different than Elon, Richmond and JMU. They’re going to worry about rain, wind — stuff like that. We’re gonna worry about snow, ice and stuff. We’re going to have to anticipate and make decisions based on what we see coming."
Dartmouth is slated to visit New Hampshire on Oct. 16.
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EXTRA POINT
The orange idiot light came on in my car a few days ago warning me that I needed gas. Given that my only driving in these pandemic times is to pick up the mail and escape to a nearby trailhead, that's a rarity. The last time I filled the tank was well before Christmas.
If you gas up every week or so you may hardly notice the prices inching up at the pump. But when you pay about 30 cents more per gallon than your last fill-up, it's pretty jarring.
