Wednesday, March 18, 2026

Buddy Teevens Award


BYU coach Kalani Sitake was named the winner of the Buddy Teevens Award in December and formally accepted it Saturday at the 89th annual Maxwell Football Club National Awards Gala. The Teevens Award recognizes "outstanding achievement on the field and exceptional leadership that leaves a lasting impact on players, coaches and the game of football at large."

In accepting the award, Sitake said:
"Coach Buddy Teevens stood for everything great in our profession. Buddy's commitment to innovation, combined with his love for his players and care for their safety and the mentoring he gave them, he gave young people the lessons and principles that will expand and extend beyond the football field. It's an honor for me to be connected to his legacy. This is truly special for me."

Peyton Manning, whose family established the Teevens Award, congratulated Sitake in a short video, saying:

"Coach Sitake is the perfect steward of Buddy's legacy. I know Buddy would be very proud of all the work Coach does on and, especially, off the field." 

#

OptaAnalyst has a posting under the headline, Six Key FCS QB Battles Before 2026 Season and Dartmouth will face one of the six schools breaking in a new quarterback this fall. From the story (LINK):

Harvard Crimson

QBs to Watch: Dante Torres (6-3, 205, Jr.), Ty Fein (6-1, 205, So.), Sam Kaiser (6-5, 210, So.)

The Skinny: Here’s another quarterback battle with little proven college experience, but keep an eye on Torres, the projected favorite. He’s a former New York Gatorade Player of the Year who possesses the skills to be extremely successful in Harvard’s offense. He completed 4-of-5 passes for 68 yards and one TD versus Holy Cross last season. Kaiser and Fein are two younger players who are expected to push Torres and will get a real shot at the starting job.

Jaden Craig, who caused Dartmouth all kinds of problems as Harvard's all-time passing leader before using up his Ivy League eligibility, will be a grad transfer next fall at TCU. 

#

One team (other than Dartmouth) not looking for a new quarterback is the Big Green's Week One opponent, Lehigh, which kicked off spring football yesterday morning. The Mountain Hawks, under first-year head coach Rich Nagy, are coming off an undefeated regular season and are ranked No. 8 in a "way-too-early" preseason poll pulled together for the NCAA. From that poll (LINK):

Lehigh | Last year's finish: 12-1 (FCS second round)

Lehigh returns Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year (running back) Luke Yoder, plus first team all-conference quarterback Hayden Johnson in 2026. All-Patriot League tight end Joseph Marranca and defensive back Aidan Singleton are also back.

For all the talk of Patriot League newcomers, we can’t forget about the Mountain Hawks. Lehigh went undefeated with a 12-0 finish in the regular season last year and have two straight years of playoff experience. 

Lehigh has the makings of a top-10 team next year, even after an early playoff exit.

Find Lehigh's spring roster featuring four fifth-year seniors HERE

#

And finally, back to Harvard. This from OptaAnalyst has to stick in the craw of a lot of Big Green fans:


#

EXTRA POINT
It was 8.5 degrees when Griff the Wonder Dog and I headed downstairs this morning, and it's not expected to get above freezing all day.

Last week we had back-to-back days when it topped 60 degrees. That had me doubting Punxsutawney Phil, but maybe he got it right after all. Unfortunately.