Recruiting Roundtable

Hope this finds everyone in the Hobart College Football family well.

As usual, there hasn't been a ton of news over the off-season and from what I can see, the social media commitments for student athletes (likely ED1&2 accepts) have cooled off. At this point, we are likely waiting until mid-May to get to find out and "meet" the rest of the Class of 2026.

What we do know right now is this:

The current spring roster has 64 Statesmen on it. A few quick facts on this group are they consist of:

13 SR, 24 JR and 27 SOs. By way of comparison, the fall 2021 roster had 93 total on it. Based on that I'd expect this fall's FY class to be approximately 30 student athletes, give or take. 

Position-wise the current roster's breakdown is:

15 DB, 1 DE, 6 DL, 1 PK, 13 LB (includes inside and outside), 1 LS, 8 OL, 5 QB, 4 RB, 4 TE and 6 WR.

One key missing piece is JR LB Bryan Aguilar. He was Hobart's leading tackler (85 total) last season, but he did have that bad collision with Emmett Forde '22 in the ECAC bowl game and appears to be taking care of his health, according to my sources. Whether or not we see him again in a Statesmen uniform remains to be seen. Either way I wish him the best. 

Based on the above it would appear Hobart has good depth in the secondary, at QB, RB, TE and the LB corps. What seems a bit "light" to me are the OL and DL numbers. Even 6 WRs is a bit low compared to prior seasons. Given that, it's not a surprise to see what's come in so far in the recruiting roundup.

As of this writing, I have posted on 15 known Statesmen commits, the vast majority of which are coming up to Hobart from NJ and PA. 

Position-wise these 15 were:

6 DL/OL, 5 DB/WR (one - see Ruscetta above - is potentially a TE based on his size), 1 LB, 1 PK, 1 QB and 1 RB (who also played DB, but I view RB as his likely landing spot coming into camp).

I imagine the next 15 or so incoming student athletes will fill out other open needs. The Statesmen coaching staff has consistently stated they prefer quality over quantity, and these 15 to date do not disappoint. 

I'll probably take a break from posting for a bit but will make any updates I find out about as they happen.

Thanks as always for reading and go 'Bart!

Yorktown's Lyon Commits to Hobart

We take a break from recruits coming to Geneva from the Garden State to tell you about a NYS prospect for a change. Yorktown HS SR PK Vicente Lyon indicated he was "Committed" to coming to Hobart and joining the Statesmen football program.

With currently SO PK Tobias Weffering as the only PK on the roster, Lyon will have some opportunities early on to compete for kicking duties. Weffering had a solid FY debut, going 3-for-3 on PATs, 2-for-3 on FGs and averaging 35.9 YPP and 51.1 YPKO.

Lyon had a solid SR year for YHS, going 5-6 on FGs (with what appears was a long of 36 yards), 22-22 on PATs and kicking 14 TBs. You can see him in action via his highlight reel here. 

It appears as though the Statesmen beat out offers from Utica, WNE and Wilkes to win his PK services (he also was recruited by Trinity of CT and UNH).

Please join me in welcoming Vicente and the extended Lyon family to the Hobart College Football one!

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Montclair High's Tobin is Heading to Hobart

Looks like the NJ pipeline remains strong as Montclair HS SR DL / OL Wyatt Tobin announced on twitter that was "excited to announce my commitment to Hobart College. I would like to thank my family, friends, teammates, and coaches for helping me every step of the way."

Stealing him from Montclair State's backyard (kind of joking here, but we did beat out Trinity (CT), Misericordia and Franklin & Marshall offers to land him), the Statesmen have to be excited about Wyatt's size (6' 6" and 230 lbs.) and skill as a DL/OL prospect. 

You can check out his highlight reel here.  

The tape shows he's an able blocker at RT, but he's more likely to see the field as a DE unless he bulks up. He does have a good first step as a pass rusher and he shows good understanding of holding his ground / gap assignment as a DL in 3 or 4 techniques. 

Please join me in welcoming Wyatt and the extended Tobin family to the Hobart Football one!

Thanks as always for reading the blog. Hopefully I'll have some more recruiting news to share next week.

Go 'Bart!

The NJ to Geneva Connection Continues - Notre Dame's Peterson Commits to Statesmen

Notre Dame HS SR WR Marcus Peterson announced on twitter that he was "Beyond blessed. It's just the start @HobartFootball" in declaring his commitment to attend Hobart and play for the Statesmen last week via Twitter. 

Hailing from Ewing, NJ, Peterson joins an already stacked class of incoming players from the Garden State. He caught 36 passes for 609 yards and 10 TDs his SR season and was ranked as the second leading receiver in the state, "non-public A" according to his highlight reel which you can view here.

As you can see from the tape itself, Peterson plays more of a slot WR role and has a tremendous burst once he catches the ball. At 6' 1" 175 lbs. he has good size, but what really stands out to me is his route running and ability to separate from defenders. 

Please welcome Marcus and the extended Peterson family to the Hobart Football one! I'll have some more recruiting news soon.

Thanks as always for checking in and go 'Bart! 

Nottingham's Henry is Coming to Hobart

Last week Nottingham Senior HS OLB/DE/TE Dorian Henry tweeted out that he was "Honored to announce that I have committed to Hobart College!!" He added the following statement on his feed:

Yet another NJ recruit, Henry hails from Hamilton Township, just outside of Trenton. He tallied 46 tackles and 8 sacks in his senior season, and based on his highlight reel, is a strong pass rusher who can go at the QB from a 2 or 3 technique. He is a solid run stopper but at 6' 1" 210 lbs. will probably need to bulk up some to take on college level OL.

On offense he was a strong TE with able hands and good speed, so we could see him join this unit, which is not very deep.

Please join me in welcoming Dorian and the extended Henry family to the Hobart Football one!

I'll have more recruiting news soon. 

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart! 

Morris Catholic's Galella Set to Join Statesmen

Back to recruiting news, and the latest is Morris Catholic SR WR/DB Dante Galella (Denville, NJ) tweeted last week he was "committed" to going to Hobart College. His announcement included the following:

Gallela is a speedy and shifty runner who can get open and break away after the catch. Standing 6'1" and 175 lbs. he has decent size that will bulk up over his college years. He's a strong cover corner which is where I could see him potentially land, especially after the graduation of players like Jared Leake '21.

You can check out his highlights here. 

Please join me in welcoming Dante and the extended Galella family to the Hobart College Football one!

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

2022 Schedule Released

This weekend the Hobart Football team released their fall 2022 schedule. You can check it out below (it's not up on the HWSAthletics.com website just yet):

Now let's break it down. 

Initial Thoughts/Observations

The 2022 slate is basically a mirror of the 2021 one, just a flip flop of the home and away games. This was kind of expected and good news overall, because you never know when a team may back out of a game (which has happened a handful of times over the last few years - I'm looking at you SJF, so please don't do it again this year). 

The Highlights

Team 128's campaign opens with a Friday (likely night) opener against Alfred University, a solid Empire 8 opponent. Away games vs. SUNY-Morrisville and Keystone should be winnable. Saint John Fisher had a rebuilding year in 2021 (4-6), but they should be improved this season. Week 3 will be an interesting test to say the least. 

An exciting Homecoming and Family Weekend home game for the LL opener vs. Ithaca in Week 5 could / should be another night game. It was back in 2016 and this year it will once again be a highly anticipated matchup. The Bombers have a new HC on the sidelines after Dan Swanstrom went back to Penn. Ithaca JR/SR QB A.J. Wingfield as well as several other first-team All-Conference players should be back and it wouldn't surprise me if Ithaca is looked at as a preseason LL favorite. We will see. 

A bye week comes at the mid-point of the season (Week 6), which is perfect timing in my opinion. Especially with two LL road games - at RPI and SLU - directly after in Weeks 7 and 8.

Another big rematch against Union will be at home in Week 9. Union will have a new starting QB in 2022. Whether or not they reload or rebuild remains to be seen. I expect playmakers like Irabor and Ross, Jr. to be back. 

The season wraps on the road in Week 10 vs. Buffalo State (who also has a new HC) and at home for Senior Day against Rochester. I'm always a fan of the last regular season home game being at the Boz. 

The Main Issue

I know I've beaten this dead horse for a while now, but I simply cannot believe the school didn't manage to figure out a way to schedule a home game for these players and seniors on the College's 200th birthday / Bicentennial celebration weekend. Nope, it's just the longest road trip of the season. Just horrible planning by the Administration. 

Look, I get football isn't the be-all-end-all, but when you look at the recent ADOD and other fundraising results, I'd dare say this alumni base is one of the Colleges' historically most engaged and generous. Maybe this was the "only weekend" they could make it work. Either way, the schedule flip by the LL post-2020 didn't help things either, as I've written about previously on this site. Regardless, it's a huge miss and missed opportunity for the Colleges. 

Looking Ahead

We still have many months of waiting ahead, so I'll go back to recruiting news in my next few posts, but I felt the schedule release warranted a mention. I think this is a very strong slate of games and with a couple of really key games at home. Maybe this could be the season we thought we would have had in 2020 before the pandemic sunk our collective hopes?

Time will tell, and we've got a way to go before September. 

Thanks as always for reading and go Bart!

Avon High's Engle Selects Statesmen

I've been waiting to write this kind of post for quite some time. Now, the Hobart coaching staff can correct me, but I am pretty certain this is the first time in 30 years that a former Avon High School Falcons football player will become a Hobart Statesmen one.

That last one (the old guy) was me, back in 1992. The new, and vastly improved, version is SR QB Tabor Engle. A 6'3" 210 lbs. three-sport athlete (also stars on the hardwood and baseball diamond), Tabor was a big reason AHS had one of its best seasons in recent years, winning 7 games and advancing to the CTHSFB State quarterfinals.

Engle took to Twitter last week to announced that he's "Excited to announce my commitment to Hobart College to continue my academic and athletic career. Thank you to my family, friends, and coaches for all the support."

An athletic pocket passer who can roll out and run, Engle has a strong arm and good field vision. You can see that in his highlight reel here.

Please join me in welcoming Tabor and the extended Engle family (from my hometown of Avon, CT) to the Hobart Football family!

Thanks as always for reading and go 'Bart (and AHS Falcons)! 

Statesmen Get a Big Commitment from Urbina

Former Myers Park HS (Charlotte, NC) and Coach T. Barnes (Los Angeles, CA) SR OL Luis Urbina announced on Twitter today that he is "COMMITTED TO HOBART AND WILLIAM SMITH COLLEGES!"

Urbina is a big prospect, standing 6' 4" and weighing in at 320 lbs. Based on his highlight reel he starred at RT and played guard, using his size and athleticism to overpower would be tacklers and pass rushers. 

I will say this is an interesting get for the Statesmen, and I'm hopeful it could pan out well for both. Based on his bio, it certainly seems like Urbina has the grades (3.8 GPA), but his other offers were from other midwestern, regional colleges.

Congratulations to Luis and the Hobart coaching staff on this commitment. It could be a literal big one down the road, in more ways than one.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!