Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Coach DeWall Is Going to the Gulls

Earlier today Hobart Athletics announced the appointment of Hobart OC Kevin DeWall '00 as Head Football Coach for the Endicott College Gulls (Beverly, MA).

While certainly a loss to the Hobart Football program on one hand, you can't be surprised on the other. Coach DeWall has done a masterful job in helping the Statesmen become a Top 10 D3 program and coaching some all time greats (like maybe a future NFL player.....).

While the NEFC will present some challenges, Endicott has made the D3 playoffs in the past and has a lot of access to talent being so close to Boston and it's overall NE ties.

I have no doubt Coach DeWall will be a great hire for Endicott College and make the Gulls not only perennial NEFC championship but also D3FB playoff contenders for years to come.

The only downside is who am I am going to bug for Hobart FB player interviews for "In The HuddLLe" going forward? Usual channels have been less, ahem, responsive, but that's a rant for another day. As an aside Frank did say he will pull Coach's Interview from last November for a #TBT post on this blog or on our @ITHuddLLe handle.

The official press release can be found here.

Congratulations to Coach and Go 'Bart!

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Marpet Takes On The NFL Combine

Today is the start of SR OL Ali Marpet's final major audition for a NFL draft pick. Marpet turned some heads successfully bench pressing 225 lbs. an impressive 30 times. Mike Loyko, a Patriots and Draft Analyst, summed it up best saying "the D3 kid knows where the weight room is".

What's especially impressive is that only four other OL prospects did more than 30 reps. Marpet also ran a sub five second 40 yard dash, proving he has the speed to go along with his strength.

Other publications cited Marpet consumes 7,000+ calories a day to maintain his 307 lbs. frame which got a lot of amused and amazed reactions on social media.

The hard work is paying off and getting noticed. After today's successful bench test, Marpet interviewed with the Super Bowl Champion Patriots (who is my favorite NFL team - sorry Bob Riley ;).

Additional agility and other tests await, but today was a big A+ for Ali in keeping his draft stock on the rise.

More new recruit news and Marpet draft tracking will be coming in the next week.

Thanks for reading and Go Bart!

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Hobart Releases 2015 Schedule

The Hobart College Statesmen will hit the road six times this fall in what appears to be one of the toughest regular season schedules in some time. The obvious highlight is the NCAA Round 1 rematch against Empire 8 Champion Ithaca College in Week 3. Butterfield Stadium is one of the most picturesque in football, at any division, and should be a great venue for local fans and alumni. Hobart hasn't played in Ithaca in the regular season since the 2003 (a hard fought 14-7 win for the Bombers).

After opening once again vs. Dickinson in PA, Endicott of the NEFC will travel to Geneva for Hobart's home opener on Sept 12. The Statesmen will embark on back to back road trips, to Ithaca and then open Liberty League play down in Kings Point vs. the USMMA. The Statesmen will then return home to host LL rival WPI. Another road trip to Springfield on Oct 10 will be the just prior to Hobart's bye week (Oct 17).

Hobart will host RPI and St. Lawrence (in what most will likely view as the LL title rematch game) on Oct 24 and Nov 7. The annual rivalry game at Union happens to fall on Halloween, Oct 31. The 2015 regular season finale will be at the UofR as the Statesmen will look to retain the Centennial Cup against Rochester and rising LL ROTY QB Daniel Bronson.

Overall there's not a lot to nit pick against here with the addition of a two time conference champion OOC game / NCAA playoff rematch. With SLU emerging as a potential Top 25 program in their own right, 2015 could shape up to be quite a year for Hobart.

A link to the 2015 schedule can be found here.

Thanks for reading and go Bart!