Archive For The “Lafayette” Category
It was a surprise. Well, to me, anyway.
Most people assumed that Lafayette head coach John Garrett was safe as the Leopards’ head coach. Though his five year record wasn’t great, he had beaten bitter Rival Lehigh in two out of the last three Rivalry games, despite a tough 17-10 loss to Lehigh the final week of the year.
Listening to the post-game press conference, I also didn’t pick up on some of the signs that his job security might be in jeopardy. Garrett was a bit prickly, but it was understandable – he had just lost a game to Lafayette’s Rivals. “The future is bright for Lafayette football,” he said, not letting on that he might not be a part of that future.
But by Monday, the announcement was made – after five years leading the Leopard football team, “Lafayette College will not renew the contract of head football coach John Garrett,” a short press release stated. “A national search for his replacement will begin immediately. Defensive coordinator Doug McFadden, who just finished his 12th season with the program, will serve as its interim head coach.”
This winter’s Lafayette offseason took a decidedly interesting turn as a result.
One name that will not be on this list was Notre Dame coordinator Brian Polian, who somewhat inexplicably showed up in the rumor mill when some “insider tweets” linked him as “being close” to signing as Lafayette’s new head coach. May Lafayette fans and I were deeply skeptical, and today that skepticism was justified, as he announced that he’s joining his former boss Brian Kelly at LSU.
Polian, a former head coach at Nevada, never made an ounce of sense as Lafayette’s head coach – he had no ties to the area, had already been a head coach at a Group of Five school, and it seemed clear to me that he was going to command an astoundingly high salary.
I don’t have any super-insider viewpoint as to whom Lafayette will be hiring to lead the Leopards next year. But I do have a list of ten candidates that I think could be in the running, in alphabetical order.
The Patriot League could very well be in a huge bind assuming the Ivy League goes forward with their college football restart plans.
According to Mark Blaudschun of TMG Sports, the Ivy League is considering two plans for their 2020 college football season – neither of which allow for any out of conference games.
13 out-of-conference games involving Patriot League teams would be on the chopping block, and when you add to it the Patriot League presidents’ guidance to not fly to games, every single member of the Patriot League is affected. If you add to that the fact that the opening of the college football season is going to at best start in late September (yes, you read that correctly), the Patriot League would count as one of the most deeply affected by Covid-19-influenced delays and decisions in the entire college football landscape.
It is a bind to be sure – but not one that should see the Patriot League cancel the 2020 football season.
If we start with the assumption that the season will start late at best, and we assume that the TMG Sports report is accurate (and nobody has come forward to deny the basic thrust of the report), it should be possible to craft a nine-week Patriot League football season with seven league games and two out-of-conference games. There are a lot of moving parts, and the Patriot League would need some partners. But it should be possible.
Below, we’re going to do a quick once-over of Lehigh’s game notes and possible injuries, then we’ll dive right into 5 things to look for with Sacred Heart, my Keys to the game, and the cherry on top will be my Fearless Prediction.You can read my Colleg…
LFN: So it must be interesting being back here coaching in The Rivalry. Tom Gilmore: It is. I mean, you know, when you step back and you think this is the most played game in college football, that’s pretty neat. And it’s such a big rivalry. It’s …
LFN: Did you have a pretty busy class schedule this year?S Sam McCloskey: I got here late today as well. Tuesday through Thursday is pretty busy. Monday and Friday, actually, I’ll have class.LFN: What are you studying now? And how has that …
There is something about Eastern Pennsylvania that keeps drawing people back.I see it all the time – from expats who move across the country, but still watch the Eagles on Sundays. Once you’ve been to the Lehigh Valley, warts and all, it seems li…
There is something about Eastern Pennsylvania that keeps drawing people back.I see it all the time – from expats who move across the country, but still watch the Eagles on Sundays. Once you’ve been to the Lehigh Valley, warts and all, it seems li…
All season I have done a statistical breakdown of Lehigh’s opponent, position by position. As a change of pace, I’m going to do something different this week with the “Game Breakdown” and do a head-to-head comparison of both teams – doing a stat breakdown of both teams still, but doing more of a “Tale of the Tape” to compare both squads to see who might reign supreme in this huge football game.
Something that sometimes gets lost in The Rivalry is the importance of seniors on both sides. For so many of these seniors, it’s not only their final college football game, it is also their final time wearing a football helmet and a jersey. I’ve found that seniors find it in themselves to play the best games of their careers. So seniors in the starting lineup are of great weight to me.
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All season I have done a statistical breakdown of Lehigh’s opponent, position by position. As a change of pace, I’m going to do something different this week with the “Game Breakdown” and do a head-to-head comparison of both teams – doing a stat breakdown of both teams still, but doing more of a “Tale of the Tape” to compare both squads to see who might reign supreme in this huge football game.
Something that sometimes gets lost in The Rivalry is the importance of seniors on both sides. For so many of these seniors, it’s not only their final college football game, it is also their final time wearing a football helmet and a jersey. I’ve found that seniors find it in themselves to play the best games of their careers. So seniors in the starting lineup are of great weight to me.
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We’re approaching the end of 2017, and it’s been an interesting year where Lehigh football fans have experienced a multitude of emotions: anger; sadness; redemption, and, finally, joy.
As you all know, the Mountain Hawks came back from the precipice of a disastrous season to come back and win back-to-back Patriot League championships and back-to-back FCS Playoff appearances.
In that vein, I thought I’d share the best and most-read LFN pieces from last season, from No. 10 to No. 1.
Going through all my stuff from the past year, these were the pieces that really stood out to me.
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