Statesmen Take to Twitter to Introduce Class of 2020

If you want to be on top of all things Hobart Football you should not only follow @HobartFootball on Twitter, but make sure you follow @CoachDrach too.

Coach Drach is taking the Statesmen further into the 21st century but announcing the latest recruiting class on social media. A flurry of tweets over the past couple of days show some very strong student athletes have chosen Hobart for their collegiate careers.

Below are just some of the Class of 2020 that have committed to come to Geneva. I'll have more input and analysis on these "rookies" in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

#GoStatesmen

Rondout Valley's Koonz Brings Brains & Brawn to Statesmen

Rondout Valley Central School (Accord, a suburb of Poughkeepsie, NY) has announced that SR WR/FS Andrew Koonz has accepted an academic scholarship to attend Hobart College this fall. Andrew starred for the Ganders in the classroom, football, lacrosse fields and the basketball court.

According to RVCS AD Jeremy Weber, Koonz "was recognized by the NY State Football Coaches association as one of the Top 30 student athletes in the state." Andrew also earned All Section IX awards in football and helped his lacrosse squad to a Section IX title.

A link to Koonz's highlight reel can be seen here.

What I can see from the film is Andrew uses his height (6'2") and excellent field vision to make plays, finding open lanes to gain yards. Defensively he can blitz, cover well and has good speed (4.6 FYD) that will serve him well in college.

Given his special teams experience at RVCS, I could see him get playing time early in his college career as a KOR or PR while he learns the playbook as an offensive or defensive player.

Either way, Koonz sounds like an excellent get for Hobart as a student athlete. Please join me in welcoming Andrew to the Statesmen Football family!

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Spring Practice Underway

While the Hobart College Class of 2016 prepares to graduate in a few weeks, the work on the 2016 football season has commenced up in Geneva. Spring practice got underway last week with the rising SO, JR and SR classes already keying in on the season opener scheduled for Saturday, September 3rd at Brockport. The Golden Eagles are looking to improve upon last season's 5-5 overall campaign and boast one of the best RBs in the East Region in JR Dan Andrews.

Captains have been named (more on that in a future post) and competitions across all positions are underway. While all roles are important, the most significant position battles in my opinion will probably occur along the OL and LB corps this spring and into preseason camp.

The Statesmen have big shoes to fill with the graduations of Trayvon Toney and Jacob Stanley. Hobart sees three key players on the OL graduate including Brendan Casey, Emiliano Acosta and TJ Scammura.

The FB position is also up for grabs with the graduation of Christopher Holoman. Fortunately the Statesmen have developed a deep roster of talented players.

I'll look to post more recruiting and spring practice notes in the coming weeks. In the meantime, thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Statesmen Sign St. John's Prep's Rodriguez

The Salem News (MA) reports that two St. John's Prep student athletes will continue their college careers at rival Upstate colleges. St. John's, located in Danvers, MA, is one of the top HS football programs in New England. ESPN.com ranked it fourth last preseason in their "Boston High School Report". The Eagles finished 8-3 overall in 2015, losing their final game 14-0 to Xaverian at hallowed Fenway Park (Go Sawx!).

Hobart enticed one Eagles player, DT David Rodriguez to join the Statesmen. He will be reunited with former teammate and St. John's alumni rising Hobart SO LB Brandon Kahari, At 5'10" 250 lbs. the Statesmen probably hope Rodriguez can grow into an interior problem for opposing offensive lines just like former standout (and MA native) DT Troy Johnson '15.

A link to Rodriguez's highlight reel can be found here. The film shows Rodriguez lining up typically on the right interior side of the Eagles 4x4 defense.

Please join me in welcoming David to the Statesmen Football family!

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

St. George's Davis Picks Statesmen

It's taken me a while to locate much on the recruiting front, but it appears that at least one member of the Class of 2020 has received some press.

The Boston Globe recently highlighted the college choices of top HS football players in Eastern Massachusetts. Approximately 60 players were mentioned, but what I noticed was number 14 on the list (which was in alpha order) which read:

Omari Davis    RB/DE      St. George's       Hobart

Davis starred for the undefeated Dragons (9-0) who won the New England Prep School Championship last season. It was the first undefeated run for St. George's in over 60 years! St. George's School is a co-ed boarding school located in Newport, RI.

Davis (#32), whose highlight reel can be seen here, is a north / south style runner. He may need to learn a little patience with letting his OL's blocks develop at the college level as he won't be able to blast through the line quite as easily as he did at the HS level.

Still, at 6' 215 lbs, he has good size and with 4.6 40 yard dash speed, he has potential to be another solid prep school RB Hobart has had in prior years (e.g., Keith Brandon out of NMH). He could also get initial looks as a FB given his size and blocking skills.

Davis also played DE for the Dragons and could get a look on the defensive side of the ball. He was named the SGS Athlete of the Week on October 5, 2015 for a 21 rush, 87 yard, 1 TD and five tackle (two TFL) game against St. Mark's.

Overall Davis sounds like a strong student athlete given the academic reputation of SGS and we congratulate and welcome him as part of the Hobart Football family!

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Coaching Carosel Keeps Moving In Liberty League

Yesterday Williams College of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) announced the appointment of Mark Raymond as the new Head Coach of the Ephs Football Program. This comes as bit of a surprise given Raymond's successful 2015 Co-Liberty League Championship season, LL Coaching Staff of the Year award and NCAA playoff appearance by Saint Lawrence University.

Raymond had been HC for the Saints since 2010 and over those six seasons Raymond compiled a 31-30 record, including a 23-8 run over the last three seasons. Although Raymond was 1-5 against Hobart during his tenure, but the last two seasons the Saints vs. Statesmen matchups were classics. Hobart has won the last two games by a combined four points, both games coming down to the final seconds.

This is the third coaching change in the LL since the announcements of Union HC John Audino's resignation and Springfield HC Mike DeLong's retirement. Who will take over the SLU program remains to be seen but the timing is tough for the Saints given Early Decision letters have already gone out and Regular Decision admissions letter don't go out for another month or two. My early guess is that Assistant HC and OC Dan Puckhaber is the likely successor to Raymond given his tenure (joined Raymond's staff as an OL coach before getting promoted to OC in 2012) and familiarity with the institution and it's players.

A link to both the Berkshire Eagle and the Williams Athletics Press Release have more on this developing story.

I'll be back next week with some recruiting news.

In the meantime, thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Offseason Update and Looking Ahead In 2016

I hope 2016 is off to a great start for everyone and apologize that it's been a little while since I've had made the time to cover off on all things Statesmen Football.

I had the chance to catch up with Head Coach Mike Cragg and other HWS staff at the Buccaneers-Falcons game back on December 6th. Ali Marpet '15 had a great game and helped lead the Bucs to a hard fought, 23-19 victory.

A number of articles on Ali's first season were published by the Buccaneers this week and I've posted them on @ITHuddLLe (on Twitter) if you haven't seen them already. A couple of my favorites included this one, which featured Coach Cragg and this film session review by former Jets and Bucs TE Anthony Becht.

While the graduations of SR LBs Trayvon Toney and SR LB Jacob Stanley will be big shoes to fill, Coach was optimistic in the coaching staff's offseason recruiting efforts. As of last Monday, the final Early Decision letters should have gone on and the Class of 2020 will start to come together. Updates on team captains and other newsworthy items will be coming out in the next month or so.

One big news item in the offseason was Ithaca College becoming a full member of the Liberty League. The Statesmen and Bombers will renew their rivalry in what appears to be under the lights of Boswell Field, Saturday, September 17th at 7pm! This is big news for the stability of the LL as a viable football conference but so far the announcement on the seventh LL team did not materialize in January as expected. While rumored this new member would come from PA, it has yet to be confirmed, and given the delay, could have fallen through. While not an issue for the Statesmen's playoff chances in 2016, a lack of a seventh team come 2017 would be a problem for all six LL teams going forward.

This fall Hobart will open the season with back to back road trips to play SUNY Brockport and Endicott College. These OOC games will be followed by a three game home stand against Ithaca, Union and the United States Merchant Marine Academy (who along with WPI and Springfield will depart for the NEWMAC in 2017). After a road trip to LL rival RPI, the Statesmen host Springfield off their bye week. Back to back road trips to WPI and SLU follow leading up to the regular season finale against Rochester for the Centennial Cup.

Also of note was the "resignation" of Union College HC John Audino who has been replaced by former Stony Brook OC/QB coach Jeff Behrman. A link to that story can be found here. Springfield College conducted a national search but ultimately decided to promote OC Mike Cerasuolo to the HC job. A link to that announcement can be found here. Hobart lines up against the Dutchmen and the Pride at the "Boz" on September 24th and October 22nd, respectively.

A couple of weekends ago, Marpet and his former team and classmate Mike Berkowitz '15 returned to campus to meet with incoming recruits and discuss their respective college and professional careers. While most folks know about Ali ending up in Tampa Bay, Mike landed an excellent job with a Goldman Sachs subsidiary in the Albany area and is doing great. You definitely do not need a "business" major to land a great job in Finance, Banking or Marketing if you get a BA from HWS.

Check out this cool highlight video produced by Connor Cough '17 which the recruits got to see during their visit to campus.

I'll be on the look out for more Hobart Statesmen news and thanks for reading!

Go 'Bart!