Tuesday news and notes

First, here’s a story on Yale’s trip to West Point, New York, over the summer. As part of a team-building trip, the Bulldogs took part in obstacle courses that the cadets use to train. Also, longtime Yale trainer Bill Kaminsky passed away on Tuesday.

Here are some other notes for the first media luncheon of the year…

Typically, the team captain attends the first luncheon of the year along with Tony Reno. Cole Champion, this year’s captain, talked about earning that honor for this season.

“It’s a tremendous honor,” he said. “A lot of responsibility. It’s a goal I set for myself when I got here. As far as responsibility goes, my focus is on empowering other guys. We have a team full of leaders, not just me.”

An interesting side note: Champion wore No. 17 as a freshman. Former captain Will McHale passed down No. 5 to Champion and the DB has been wearing it ever since. Former captain Paul Rice passed down the number to McHale.

Winning words

The Yale football team is assigned an audio book to listen to in the offseason. This year, it was “Win Forever” by Pete Carroll.

“The main piece is to compete in everything you do,” Reno said.

Throughout the offseason and preseason camp, the offense and defense competed in everything. At the end of the competition, the defense edged the offense 7-6. It made for a quicker pace in practice and more game-like conditions. The reward for the defense? A steak dinner. The offense got hot dogs and beans.

Big shoes to fill

Keep in mind the talent Yale lost from last season.

The Bulldogs look to replace an NFL RB in Tyler Varga, the program’s all-time leading receiver in Deon Randall, an All-American in Grant Wallace, one of the best OL to play at Yale in Ben Carbery and a SS that earned a spot in the Tampa Bay Bucs camp in Charles Cook.

Playing offense and defense

Sophomore Karl Marback will play on both the OL and the DL last season. Marback played on the JV team last year.

Stepping in at RB

Though Yale could use as many as four RBs to keep players fresh, expect Candler Rich to get a heavy rushing load beginning Saturday. The Bulldogs will remain a run-first offense.

“He had a great camp,” said Reno of Rich. “He’s done everything he can physically to be ready to play. He’s a lot stronger. He’s put on about 15 pounds. He just looks different.”