Friday, January 12, 2024

This And That

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Harvard won a share of the Ivy League title last fall despite being the only team in the conference without a returning starter at quarterback. Now with two returning starters at the position, the Crimson is the pick for the 2024 Ivy League race in Craig Haley's Never-Too-Early Outlook for 2024 FCS Season. From the story on The Analyst site (LINK):

Harvard let a potential outright title slip away to a three-way share title last season, but it’s surely the team to beat with the return of quarterback Jaden Craig, running back Shane McLaughlin, and much of the back seven on defense. However, Penn has a big three on offense with quarterback Aidan Sayin, Malachi Hosley and Jared Richardson.

Notably, the league loses key quarterbacks in Nolan Grooms (tri-champ Yale), Nick Howard (tri-champ Dartmouth), Jake Willcox (Brown) and Blake Stenstrom (Princeton).

Green Alert Take: A thought and a possible correction. The thought: While Nick Howard has indeed used up his Ivy League eligibility, Dartmouth brings back Jackson Proctor and Dylan Cadwallader, the team's two leading passers last year. As for prolific Brown QB Jake Willcox, he was quoted in the Daily Herald after the Dartmouth game as saying he'll be back in 2024 (LINK).

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Former Dartmouth defensive lineman Jaylin Rainey '23, a fifth-year senior last fall, is headed to Samford as a grad transfer:


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The Ivy League team headed to the Ivy League Japan Bowl went up on BGA Daily yesterday afternoon with seven former Dartmouth players named: Zion Carter '23, John Paul Flores '22, Josh Greene '23, Nick Howard '23, John Pupel '22, Noah Roper '23 and Nicholas Schwitzgebel '24 .(LINK):


Green Alert Take: The headline probably should have said Ivy League (Minus Yale) Japan Bowl Roster. Surely there's an explanation why the count of players from each school looks like this:
12 - Brown
9 - Penn 
8 - Harvard 
7 - Dartmouth 
6 - Columbia
6 - Princeton 
4 - Cornell 
0 - Yale  
Green Alert Take II: While I'm at it, I hope first dibs on roster spots went to current seniors ahead of players who grad transferred elsewhere. It's wonderful for players who graduated a year (or even two years ago) to have the opportunity, but it would be disappointing if players still in school were passed over because the Ivy League doesn't want to lose the game.

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The final fall standings for the Learfield Director's Cup are out. Per the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) website, "The LEARFIELD Directors' Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today. Points are awarded based on each institution's finish in NCAA Championships." North Carolina, Stanford and Texas are 1-2-3 after the fall.

Here's where Ivy League schools sit in the standings (LINK):

17 - Harvard 
30 - Princeton 
82 - Columbia
85 - Yale 
117 - Brown
153 - Cornell 
153 - Penn
Dartmouth did not figure in the rankings because it didn't have any teams advance to the NCAA Championships.

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It seems as if just about every day the D1.jobs ticker has another opening in the Dartmouth athletic department. These three came in today's email:

Associate Athletics Director for Media Strategy and Brand Advancement (Dartmouth College / Hanover, NH): Primary leader, to plan, direct, and implement goals and initiatives that continuously elevates the overall brand and storytelling related to strategic communications, media and public relations.

Assistant Director - Content Creation (Dartmouth College / Hanover, NH): Will serve as the primary contact for specific sports, working closely with the coaches and student-athletes on storytelling aligned with the DCARD strategic priorities

Executive Associate Athletics Director for Peak Performance (Dartmouth College / Hanover, NH): Leads the Dartmouth Peak Performance (DP2) team in Athletics by developing and implementing innovative and data-driven performance systems designed to help student-athletes maximize their potential.  

Green Alert Take: There was a time when I knew virtually everyone in the athletic department. These days I know almost no one outside of the football offices.

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A correction on the chart last week listing Ivy League coaches having won the most conference games at each school. Princeton should have (and now does) have Dick Colman atop the list. He was 61-23 in Ivy play between 1957 and 1968. Thanks for pointing out the mistake!

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EXTRA POINT
Driving up our snow-covered dirt road yesterday I had to shake my head yet again. Jauntily swinging a blue sack of mail back and forth as she walked by and waving hello with a sweet smile was a woman I've seen many times both at our little post office and on her way to or back from it. She makes the hilly round-trip walk of more than a mile almost every day. One morning last week it was single digits and yet there she was, swinging her bag, smiling and sharing a wave as I went past in the other direction. Did I mention she's 90 years old?

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