Portal 31

New coaching staff is in place

2012-02-14T22:17:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned in my previous post about new coach Tony Reno, the new coaching staff is in place. The staff will be officially announced tomorrow but here it is:

Offensive coordinator - Kevin Morris: Former UMass head coach had a total of nine years as the offensive coordinator at the I-AA or FCS level with four years at Northeastern followed by five years at UMass before he ascended to the head coaching spot at UMass in 2009. UMass had a 43-19 record and made a trip to the 2006 national championship game during his time as the offensive coordinator.
Defensive coordinator - Rick Flanders: Returns to the coordinating role he held for 12 seasons under Yale coach Jack Siedlecki. Flanders spent the last three seasons coaching defensive backs on Tom Williams' staff. During the 2007 and 2008 seasons, Flanders was the coordinator of a Yale defense which led the FCS in scoring defense.

Here is the rest of the staff listed alphabetically:
Kris Barber, tight ends: A former quarterback at Yale, Barber comes to Yale after spending one season on Tim Murphy's staff at Harvard. Before helping the Crimson winning the 2011 Ivy League title, he spent three seasons at Colorado School of Mines.
Kevin Cahill, special teams coordinator/wide receivers: Cahill spent the last three seasons coaching special teams at the University of Maine. He also had stints coaching running backs and receivers during his four years in Maine.

Larry Ciotti, running backs: Another member of Siedlecki's staff to return to the fold. Ciotti's first season at Yale was 1991 and he helped Rashad Bartholomew become Yale's all-time leading rusher. Ironically, that mark was broken by Robert Carr and then Mike McLeod, both who were coached by Ciotti's. Ciotti won five state titles during a 19-year run as the head coach at Hand High before coming to Yale.

Joe Conlin, associate head coach/run game coordinator/offensive line: One of three coaches Reno hired off of Harvard's staff, Conlin helped the University of New Hampshire to seven straight NCAA tournament appearances before joining Harvard in 2011.
Dave Petzing, outside linebackers: Spent the last two years as a graduate assistant on the Boston College staff and in 2009 was a volunteer assistant at Harvard. His coaching career begin as a student volunteer assistant coach at Middlebury when injuries ended his playing career.
Steven Vashel,, defensive backs: Another member of the staff with stints at Harvard and Maine. Vashel spent the last three seasons coaching defensive backs at Maine and he helped the Black Bears lead the Colonial Athletic Association in pass defense. Vashel got his start coaching in college at Trinity in 1991 and three years later was on the staff at Harvard.
Dwayne Wilmot, recruiting coordinator/defensive line: Another member of the 2011 Ivy League champion Harvard staff, Wilmot spent five seasons holding down both positions at Maine, the school where he was a standout wide receiver.

Catching up with Tony Reno

2012-02-11T12:02:00.000-05:00

With a little bit of a break in my schedule, I was able to sit down with Yale head coach Tony Reno for the first time since the press conference announcing him as the 34th coach in Yale football history. Many of the highlights from the interview are available in this video.

With tomorrow being the one-month anniversary of his official appointment, it seemed to be the perfect time to run a story documenting what it's been like for Reno since getting hired. While I don't intend on rehashing everything that's going to be in the story (since that would defeat the purpose of filing a story), there's some other info that didn't make it into the piece that I can share with you.

First of all, Reno said he has been thrilled with the attitude of the returning players and couldn't say enough good things about the leadership being shown by team captain Will McHale.

Reno said that Yale will line up defensively in a 3-4. The move makes sense since other than Chris Dooley, Yale is left with a lot of unproven players at defensive tackle while the return of McHale, Wes Moyer (who is coming back for a fifth season of eligibility), Brian Leffler, Will Vaughn and Ruan Falbo gives the Bulldogs plenty of options at linebacker.

With three players back who started at offensive tackle (Roy Collins, Wes Gavin and Ben Carbery) and the loss of both starting guards, Reno did not rule out the possibility to moving one of the tackles inside.

The coaching staff is pretty much in place but is not being officially announcement until later this week, according to Reno. Rick Flanders is the only holdover among the assistant coaches and is moving back to being defensive coordinator. Reno also hired Kris Barber, Joe Conlin and Dwayne Wilmot off the Harvard staff he was a part of for the last three years. He addressed the talk that Murphy was a little perturbed with Reno snaring three assistants but Reno said his relationship with Murphy continues to be a good one. Multiple sources have confirmed to me that Larry Ciotti is expected to return to the role of running backs coach he held under Jack Siedlecki.

Finally, spring camp begins on Mar. 28 with the spring game being held on Apr. 21. One change from the Williams' tenure is that the Blue-White game will be exactly that - a game. Williams looked at it as a glorified practice while Reno said the plan will be to have the No. 1 offense and No. 2 defense on one squad and No. 1 defense and No. 2 offense on the other and let the teams go at it.

Report: Morris to be Yale's offensive coordinator

2012-02-08T09:10:00.000-05:00

According to an entry on the coachingsearch.com ticker, former UMass head coach Kevin Morris has accepted the Yale offensive coordinator job.

Morris, a former head coach at WPI as well, had offensive coordinating stints at Stony Brook, Northeastern and UMass. He spent the last three seasons as the head coach at UMass.

Witt on list of official invites to NFL combine

2012-02-07T17:44:00.001-05:00

The list of players heading to the NFL combine was released today and former Yale quarterback Patrick Witt was the only Ivy League player on the list.

That Witt is heading to Indianapolis later this month is not breaking news as I reported this the day that I spoke to his agent late last month but now that the official list was out, I thought it was worth mentioning.

Witt is one of 19 quarterback on the list and I can't recall the last Yale player to attend the NFL combine. He will be in Indianapolis from Feb. 23-26, with the final day the one where he works out for the scouts. UConn will be well represented with receiver Kashif Moore, defensive lineman Kendall Reyes and kicker Dave Teggart are also expected to take part in the combine.

DORRELL HIRED BY TEXANS
Karl Dorrell, whose name emerged as a potential candidate late in the search for Yale's new football coach, has been hired as the quarterbacks coach with the Houston Texans.

Duron appears on "The Voice"

2012-02-06T23:26:00.002-05:00

Dez Duron, who saw action at quarterback in Yale's junior varsity games in 2009 and 2010, appeared on NBC's "The Voice" tonight after the Super Bowl but did not the cut as none of the judges pressed the approval button.

Here is a link to the song he performed

Rhodes Trust releases its timeline regarding Patrick Witt

2012-02-04T09:45:00.000-05:00

The Rhodes Trust has declined comment on the allegations, raised in a New York Times story, that former Yale quarterback Patrick Witt's Rhodes Scholarship candidacy was over before he pulled out of consideration because of a scheduling conflict.

Here is the official statement released by the Rhodes Trust, which I just received from Rhodes Trust American Secretary Elliot P. Gerson.

Statement of the Rhodes Trust

On November 1, 2011, Mr . Elliot Gerson, American Secretary of the Rhodes Trust, told the Yale University Institutional Representative for the Rhodes Scholarships, Ms . Katherine Dailinger, that the Trust had learned of a complaint lodged against Mr . Patrick Witt, a candidate for a Rhodes Scholarship. Mr . Gerson asked for a conversation between him and a Yale official regarding the matter. On November 2, Ms . Dailinger told Mr . Gerson that Mr . Witt would phone him the following evening.

On November 3, Mr . Gerson explained to Mr . Witt that the Rhodes Trust had learned of a complaint lodged against him at Yale. On Friday, November 4, Mr . Gerson informed Yale officials that the Trust would require Yale to re-confirm in writing by November 15 its endorsement of Mr . Witt and asked Yale to explain to Mr . Witt the Trust's decision to ask for Yale's endorsement anew.

On Monday, November 7, Mr . Gerson contacted Ms . Dailinger to confirm that the Rhodes position had been communicated to Mr . Witt. Ms . Dailinger replied that she was waiting for Mr . Witt to call her back.

Mr . Gerson has been told by Yale that Mr . Witt was informed on November 8 that his continued eligibility would be contingent upon Rhodes' receipt of this new endorsement.

Mr . Witt initiated communications with the secretary of the Rhodes interviewing committee in Atlanta on November 7 regarding the possibility of scheduling his interview in Atlanta to allow him to play in the Harvard game on the day of the interviews (November 19). He was advised that the arrangements he sought were not feasible in view of Rhodes' standard procedures. The Rhodes interviewing committee in Atlanta was not ever told about the complaint and the Trust's request for re-endorsement because the Rhodes Trust did not want the Committee to be prejudiced should Yale have elected to issue a new endorsement.

On November 13, before Yale's re-confirmation was due, Mr . Witt informed the Rhodes Trust that he was withdrawing from the Rhodes competition.

Elliot F. Gerson
American Secretary
Rhodes Trust

In the e-mail, Gerson repeated what he was quoted as saying in the New York Times story "as to the one question, I can say to you too Jim, as I did to the NYT reporter, that the words used in the original New York Times article, that 'his candidacy was suspended unless the university decided to re-endorse it’ were a very reasonable characterization of what happened."

Preston lands at Lindenwood

2012-02-03T10:59:00.001-05:00

Mike Preston, who coached Yale's offensive line for the last three seasons, has been officially named to the same position at Lindenwood in St. Charles, Mo.

During Tom Williams' tenure at Yale, I thought that no position on the team showed more growth than the offensive line so I think that's a good hire for Lindenwood. He is the third member of Yale's 2011 staff to find a new job as Brian Stark was hired as a West Coast scout for the Denver Broncos, Ikaika Malloe is now the special teams coach at Portland State and now Preston is at Lindenwood, a school which just recently moved from playing in the NAIA to the NCAA.

As for Tony Reno's staff at Yale, look for updates on the new coaching staff beginning next week and perhaps as early as Monday.

The only holdover among the assistant coaches is Rick Flanders, who moves back to being the defensive coordinator after serving as a defensive backs coach for the last three seasons. Former Harvard assistant coaches Kris Barber, Joe Conlin and Dwayne Wilmot are also on the staff. Hopefully the entire staff will be officially announced by the end of next week. Yale is completely background checks on the hires and obviously that is a process where they figure to practice due diligence after former Yale football coach was forced to retire over claims that his resume included inaccuracies.

Speaking of incorrect info, there was a report in the Oregonian that receiver/defensive back David Garlington "signed" with Yale on Wednesday yet his name shows up on Southern Oregon's official list of signees. So I contacted his high school coach at Skyview in Vancouver, Wash. and can report that he will not be a part of Yale's class,

Little commits to Yale

2012-02-01T22:30:00.000-05:00

The Sebastian Little story took an unexpected turn this week.

The Cheshire receiver/linebacker had been heavily recruited by Yale but with the uncertainty surrounding the Yale program after the resignation of head coach Tom Williams, Little ended up committing to Harvard.

Earlier today Cheshire coach Mark Ecke e-mailed the Register's lead high school football writer Mike Pucci to tell him that Little was committing to Yale but then sent another e-mail asking Mike to hold off on reporting that info. Finally Ecke got back to Mike and confirmed that Little would indeed be committing to Yale. I know that the previous Yale staff loved Little and saw him as being an outstanding linebacker prospect.

A story in the Meriden Record-Journal, the paper which first reported Little's commitment to Harvard, documents what happened with Little's decision to decommit from Harvard and come to Yale. As the story indicates, the decision to reopen the process was Little's and his family's and not the case of Reno going after a player committed to Harvard.

The Record-Journal also reported that Choate receiver Avery Lewis also committed to Yale. I'll have to check into that in the morning. The Lewis situation was a little bizarre. What I was told originally is that Lewis was set to commit to Yale and all he had to do was make his visit to meet with the Yale coaches last month. However, when he left Yale after his visit, there was no offer made to Lewis and the Choate coaches were left to wonder if they needed to burn up the phone lines to find a landing spot for Lewis, who came to Choate from Texas with the idea of landing at Yale. While it was not as set in stone as what happened with Xavier defensive lineman Sean Marinan, there was some skepticism about Lewis landing at Yale.

Finally, the father of new Yale commit Blake Thomson, a tight end/linebacker out of Battle Ground Academy in Nashville, Tenn. sent me a link to a blog he has been writing documenting his son's recruitment. The blog said that Thomson was set to commit to Harvard only to get word a couple weeks back that he was not accepted. The previous Yale coaching staff did not recruit Thomson but with Reno coming over from Harvard and three of his assistant coaches also being on Tim Murphy's Harvard staff, there was a connection there and now Thomson is bound for Yale.

Tennessee linebacker latest reported Yale commitment

2012-02-01T10:28:00.002-05:00

According to the Battle Ground Academy website, linebacker Blake Thomson has committed to Yale.

There will be an event at the school where five players, including Thomson, will be signing letters of intent. In Thomson's case, it will merely be a ceremonial move since Yale does not give out athletic scholarships.

Thomson was named to the Tennessee Sports Writers Association Division II-AA All-Star guard and was named the Division II-AA Defensive MVP as well as the Academic MVP.

In case you haven't noticed, I have stopped listing the number of players committed to Yale. This is not an accident. I've been getting comments on this blog saying that new Yale football coach Tony Reno is not honoring the promises to recruits made when Tom Williams was the head coach. I have asked the people making those claims to contact me directly at jfuller@nhregister.com but none have done so. I have reached out to all the recruits who committed to Yale before Reno was hired. I've heard back from all but four.

Of the 24 players I had listed as Yale commits before adding in Thomson, I can confirm that 21 of them are still committed to Yale. I've confirmed that Roger Kilgore, Ben Killion, Carl Kreitzberg, Pat McHugh, Matt Rubino and Tommy Undercuffler are still committed to the Bulldogs. Caleb Gilligan-Evans, a running back at Archbishop Stepinac, is meeting with Reno this weekend according to his high school coach Mike O'Donnell

"Caleb has been offered and did verbally commit to Yale in Dec.," O'Donnell said in an e-mail to me this morning. "We will know more after the meeting this weekend."

The status of Christian and Jackson Conway, running backs out of Bronxvlle (N.Y.) is to be determined.

There's an interesting entry on a blog at the Journal News website concerning the Conway brothers and Gilligan-Evans which casts doubt on the Conway brothers being at Yale in the fall.

I'll repeat my request when people have been posting comments to this blog about Yale failing to honor commitments to the players who were recruiting by Williams and his staff, send me an e-mail at jfuller@nhregister.com and I will investigate those claims. Posting anonymous comments to the blog ripping on Tony Reno and Yale is not accomplishing anything.

Report: Malloe lands at Portland State

2012-01-30T10:34:00.001-05:00

According to a story in today's Oregonian, former Yale defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe has been hired as the special teams coach at Portland State.

Malloe will replace Stacy Collins, who was recently hired as the head coach at the South Dakota School of Mines.

Malloe spent the last three seasons as Yale's defensive coordinator but when Tom Williams resigned and Tony Reno was hired to replace him, all the assistant coaches except Rick Flanders were let go.

California RB commits to Yale

2012-01-30T08:11:00.000-05:00

According to a report in the Los Angeles Daily News, Canyon High running back Max Archuleta has committed to Yale.

Archuleta is a 5-foot-7, 170 pounder who is also a top sprinter on the track team. According to the Canyon page on http://www.maxpreps.com/, as a senior Archuleta ran for 170 times for 1131 yards and eight touchdowns. He had two runs of at least 70 yards and had a 96-yard kickoff return

Another reported Yale commit

2012-01-29T12:22:00.000-05:00

Ryan Dillard, a defensive back out of Buford (Ga.) High has switched his commitment from Air Force to Yale according to an Atlanta Journal Constitutiuon blog entry.

The 5-foot-10, 185 Dilliard was a member of three state championship teams at Buford

Marinan not coming to Yale

2012-01-27T20:38:00.000-05:00

Spoke with Xavier football coach Sean Marinan earlier today and he informed me that Yale has rescinded its offer to his son Sean, a Register All-State defensive lineman.

Sean Marinan admitted that he was uncertain where his son will end up going to college.

There is a similar situation playing out with Choate receiver Avery Lewis, who like Marinan recently visited Yale but left without the offer that he had under the former coaching staff.

Patrick Witt responds to allegations raised in New York Times story

2012-01-27T11:19:00.000-05:00

Former Yale quarterback Patrick Witt released a statement through a representative disputing most of the claims in a New York Times story which appeared on the paper's website yesterday and in the paper today.

The statement said that the statement that his Rhodes Scholarship candidacy was suspended at the time that he said he was withdrawing from consideration for the scholarship because the final interview was scheduled in Atlanta at the same time Yale was set to play its season finale against Harvard. The statement also said that the alleged sexual assault is a matter that the university deemed to be closed since no official complaint was filed.

Finally, the story questioned Witt's academic standing saying he is not currently enrolled at Yale nor has he graduated. However, Witt only needs to submit his senior essay to complete his requirements and graduate. Here is the entire statement:

Statement on behalf of Patrick Witt in response to New York Times article

On January 27, 2012, The New York Times published a story regarding Patrick Witt, senior quarterback for Yale University, referencing Patrick’s decision to forego his pursuit of the Rhodes Scholarship in order to compete against Harvard in his final college football game.

This was a difficult decision for Patrick, as his candidacy for the Rhodes Scholarship represented a high honor and an opportunity to explore his personal academic interests in international affairs at Oxford. Patrick respects the academic traditions of both Yale and the Rhodes Trust, and he remains grateful for the opportunities each has afforded him.

The New York Times story incorrectly connects Patrick’s decision to forego the Rhodes Scholarship with an informal complaint process that had concluded on campus weeks prior to his withdrawal – a process that yielded no disciplinary measures, formal reports, or referrals to higher authorities.

To be clear, Patrick’s Rhodes candidacy was never “suspended”, as the article suggests, and his official record at Yale contains no disciplinary issues.
Patrick formally withdrew his candidacy for the Rhodes Scholarship on Sunday, November 13, in an email to both the Regional Secretary and the American Secretary of the Rhodes Trust. He withdrew after being informed in an email from the Regional Secretary on November 8 that the Rhodes Committee would not reschedule Patrick’s final interview, which would overlap Yale’s football game versus Harvard on November 19. Though disappointed, Patrick understood the fairness of this decision and accepted it as conclusive.

As this decision process unfolded, Patrick became aware that an anonymous source had contacted the Rhodes Trust with false information purporting to reference an informal – and confidential – complaint within the University. In light of this, and given the short period of time between this occurrence and the potential final interview, the Rhodes Trust asked for an additional letter of reference for Patrick from Yale. By that time, however, Patrick had already informed Athletic Department officials that he intended to withdraw his candidacy due to the inability to reschedule his final interview, and that he would issue a statement to this effect following the Princeton game on November 12.

Patrick’s inclination to forego the Rhodes Scholarship in the event of an irreparable scheduling conflict is a longstanding matter of public record. For example, The New Haven Register article entitled “Patrick Witt Places ‘The Game’ Over Rhodes Interview” was published before Patrick was notified of the initiation of any informal complaint process. That article quotes Patrick as follows: “The commitment I made to this team I believe would come first and I would want to honor that. It wouldn’t feel right letting them down for not being there for the Harvard/Yale game.”

Regarding the informal complaint referenced in the New York Times article, Yale offers students both informal and formal avenues to address certain issues. An “informal” complaint is heard by a committee of university community members, but no fact-finding process occurs and there is no burden of proof required for filing a complaint. In Patrick’s case, no formal complaint was filed, no written statement was taken from anyone involved, and his request to the Chairman of the committee for a formal inquiry was denied because, he was told, there was nothing to defend against since no formal complaint was ever filed. Further, while the committee can refer an informal complaint into a formal process if more substantial disciplinary action may be warranted, it did not do so in Patrick’s case. At that time, all parties, including the University and Patrick, considered the matter ended.

Regarding the information contained in the informal complaint, neither Patrick nor the other parties are permitted by confidentiality rules to discuss details of the matter, though it is important to note that the committee took no further action after hearing the informal complaint. Patrick is aware that the informal complaint was filed by a person he had known for many months prior and with whom he had engaged in an on-again, off-again relationship beginning in the Spring of 2011 and ending about two months before the informal complaint was filed.

Finally, as to Patrick’s academic standing at Yale, he has completed all necessary coursework and will graduate upon submission of his senior essay this spring, as is standard for all students in his major.

Another reported Yale commitment

2012-01-27T10:50:00.000-05:00

According to the ESPN recruiting database, offensive lineman Braden Meador out of Montgomery (Tex.) High has committed to Yale.

He is the 22nd known Yale commitment.and according to ESPN, he held offers from Houston, Tulane, Air Force, Texas-El Paso, Columbia, Dartmouth and Holy Cross.

Eric Williams following his brothers to Yale

2012-01-26T22:33:00.000-05:00

It's tough enough for a family to have one son to able to enroll and play football for Yale but when Eric Williams arrives at Yale in August, he will be the third member of his family to suit up for Yale.

It started with Sean Williams, a former starting defensive end/linebacker who graduated in 2010, was the first. He was followed by Scott who came in as a quarterback but moved to defense and will be a senior in the fall. Eric Williams was a highly-touted quarterback prospect who led Cleveland's St. Ignatius to Ohio's Division I title. The 6-foot-3 Williams passed for 2,132 yards and 23 touchdowns as a senior after transferring in from Oregon.

Earlier this evening, I spoke with Williams' father Larry, the athletic director at Marquette, about Eric's commitment.

"I am very happy to have Eric follow in his brothers' footsteps," said Larry Williams, who played with the NFL's Cleveland Browns from 1986-88. "We couldn't be more pleased.

"When he (Sean Willians) did finally make the decision to go to Yale, I remember being incredibly proud 'wow, my kid is going to Yale, that is pretty cool.' Then I had to realize it was my kid going to Yale and not me, I don't have anything to do with this. He did it all on his own. I tried to temper my enthusiasm but I can't help but be proud to have all three of them attend just an unbelievable institution."

Eric Williams was at the top of the list of quarterback prospects being pursued by the previous coaching staff. When Tom Williams resigned and there was a period of uncertainty before Tony Reno was hired as Yale's new football coach, it didn't impact the recruitment of Williams.

"Well it was a really exciting season for Eric," Larry Williams said. "He transferred to Cleveland St. Ignatius and did a wonderful job leading them to a state championship so that ride was absolutely a thrilling run. Because of that, we didn't spend a lot of time thinking about the recruiting piece or anything else. The former coaching staff stayed close to Eric and for that we are very appreciative. When the change in coaches occurred, quietly we were pulling for Coach Reno because we knew him through his recruitment of both Sean and Scott and couldn't have any more respect for any coach in the United States so we were very happy that he got the job."

It didn't hurt that starting quarterback Patrick Witt was graduating and Eric Williams would have a chance to come in and compete for a starting position as a freshman.

"That was not lost in the process," Larry Williams said. "It is a very exciting prospect to go in and be able to participate at a young age, that is quite alluring. That is just on the football side, the academic side speaks for itself I think.

"He is very talented. His athleticism is quite good, he can wiggle and make somebody miss but what really sets him apart is his ability to deliver a ball accurately into a tight window. He was able to do that through his entire senior year and was very instrumental in them turning things around from a 4-6 team to a state championship team. That is one of the hardest states to win in the nation at the big school level there is some pretty good competition. Week in and week out they played (teams) with two, three, four guys who were going to major (problems). There were plenty of challenges along the way and what set him apart is to deliver a ball accurately no matter what the route, being a dig or a deep out or the long ball."

There is another son in the Williams' family as Louis is currently an eighth grader so we'll have to wait and see if he becomes the fourth member of the family to come to Yale. Larry Williams said he will likely enroll at Marquette High in Milwaukee in the fall.

"There's a lot of pressure on him now," Larry Williams said. "He is biggest of the boys, I finally have an offensive linemen out of the group."

Eric Williams certainly fills a need as Yale did not bring in a quarterback last season and have just three QBs on the roster in sophomores John Whitelaw, Henry Furman and Jake Semones.

Williams becomes the 21st known commit and only quarterback.

As I did some checking around, I found some players on Yale's recruiting radar who committed elsewhere including linebacker Tyler Drake, the brother of Yale defensive end Dylan Drake, who committed to Penn, and offensive lineman Jake Eldenkramp, who is going to Washington.

I have a bunch of e-mails and calls out there so hopefully I'll be able to bring more recruiting updates in the next couple of days.

New York Times story claims Patrick Witt was accused of sexual assault

2012-01-26T19:32:00.000-05:00

I felt I should share a link to a New York Times story that claims that former Yale quarterback Patrick Witt was accused of a sexual assault by a fellow Yale student and was no longer a candidate for the Rhodes Scholarship at the time that he withdrew his name from consideration.

I have contacted both Witt and a Yale spokesperson for comment.

As for the story, it does seem to be a little thin on details as the writer of the story points out.

Quoting the story directly:
Many aspects of the situation remain unknown, including some details of the allegation against Witt; how he responded; how it was resolved; and whether Yale officials who handle Rhodes applications — including Richard C. Levin, the university’s president, who signed Witt’s endorsement letter — knew of the complaint.

Neither Yale nor the Rhodes Trust would confirm any information about the alleged assault or the claim that Witt was no longer being considered for the Rhodes in the story. The most pertinent information came in the 18th paragraph when the Times reported that the accuser filed an informal complaint. Quoting the story "In September, according to people with knowledge of the situation, a female student went to Yale’s Sexual Assault Harassment and Response and Education Center, claiming Witt had assaulted her in her dormitory room. The woman later made a complaint to the University-Wide Committee on Sexual Misconduct, created last July as part of Yale’s new approach.

Like many colleges and universities, Yale offers accusers a choice between making a formal complaint and an informal one. This student chose the informal process. In that process, an individual or a few members of the committee are charged with resolving the issue, without a full investigation or a finding of guilt or innocence. The most significant outcome might be an agreement to move the accused to a different dorm."

Witt's accuser has not gone to the police nor filed an official complaint with Yale according to the Times story.

As for the claim that Witt was no longer considered to be a Rhodes candidate, I interviewed Eliot P. Gerson, the American Secretary for the Rhodes Trust, on Nov. 10 (three days before Witt withdrew his name from consideration for the Rhodes because he could attend his Rhodes interview and play in the season finale against Harvard). At that time Gerson spoke of Witt in terms as an active candidate for the Rhodes. Perhaps he was just being protective of the Rhodes Trust and not mentioning that Witt was no longer considered to be a Rhodes finalist but at no point in our interview was there ever the slightest bit of hedging on Gerson's part about Witt's status as a Rhodes finalist.

Another another commit

2012-01-25T16:49:00.000-05:00

Thanks for a reader of this blog for pointing out the commitment of Mission Viejo (Calif.) Aaron Reuland, according to a blog post in the Orange County Register.

Reuland caught 35 passes for 532 and four touchdowns as a seniior.

A little recruiting update

2012-01-25T14:38:00.000-05:00

Can't really file this under the "new recrui" category since I reported on Junipero Serra High of San Mateo, Calif. lineman Luke Longinotti being committed to Yale back in August. But since recent mentions of Longinotti listed him as undecided, I contacted his high school coach Patrick Walsh who said "yes, Yale is his choice still."

Longinotti is listed as being 6-4 and 270 pounds and was named the WPAL Defensive Lineman of the Year after recording 53 tackles and five sacks as a senior.

Counting the recent commitment of tight end Stephen Buric out of Easlake High in Tarpon Springs, Fla., that is 19 known commitments for Yale.

Former Yale QB among new assistant coaches

2012-01-23T09:52:00.000-05:00

According to a report in the Harvard Crimson, Harvard assistant coaches Kris Barber, Joe Conlin and Dwayne Wilmot have been hired by new Yale head coach Tony Reno.

Barber is a former Yale quarterback who spent one season as the receivers coach at Harvard. He cut his teeth at Division II Colorado School of Mines where he was the passing-game coordinator for a program which reached the Division II playoffs in 2010.

Conlin came to Harvard last season to coach the offensive line after spending seven seasons on the staff at New Hampshire where he had stints coaching the safeties, defensive line and offensive line.

Wilmot, also a first-year coach at Harvard in 2011, coached the defensive line for the Crimson after spending five seasons as the defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator at Maine. There's no word what positions the three will have at Yale.

Reno, who spent the last three seasons as an assistant at Harvard, was hired earlier this month as the 34th coach in Yale football history. Defensive backs coach Rick Flanders was the only assistant coach retained by Reno.

Mixed results for Patrick Witt in all-star game

2012-01-22T01:04:00.000-05:00

Former Yale quarterback Patrick Witt was on the field for the NLFA Collegiate Bowl for three drives and two of them resulted in points but overall Witt was just 2 of 7 for 21 yards in the National team's 20-14 win over the American team on Saturday night at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

Witt, who set Yale's career records for passing attempts, completions and yards, made his first appearance in the second quarter. His first pass went for went for an 18-yard completion to Indiana's Demarlo Belcher. He was 2 for 3 for 21 yards on the drive, which resulted in an 8-yard TD run by Syracuse's Antwon Bailey.

Witt returned for the first two possessions of the fourth quarter and he was 0 for 4 on those drives although the second one, aided by outstanding field position following an interception, results in a 45-yard field goal by Washington's Erik Folk.

Witt to play in NFLPA Collegiate Bowl today

2012-01-21T08:12:00.000-05:00

Former Yale quarterback Patrick Witt will play for the National team in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl today at 6 p.m. at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles.

Witt, who set Yale's career records for passing yards, attempts and completions, will split time at quarterback with Miami's Jacory Harris and G.J. Kinne of Tulsa. Witt will wear No. 5 in thegame, which is being televised by NBC Sports Network (formerly Versus). Another one of his teammates is UConn offensive lineman Mike Ryan while another offensive lineman on the National team is center Mike Caputo, Witt's former teammate at Nebraska.

What's interesting about the preparation leading into the game is that no NFL scouts have attended practices because juniors who have declared for the draft are allowed to play in the game.

Marinan visiting this weekend

2012-01-20T20:04:00.000-05:00

Among the recruits being hosted by Yale this weekend is Xavier Register first team All-Stater Sean Marinan.

According to an e-mail I received from his father and high school coach, the younger Marinan will visit Yale and is expected to make his decision next week.

The 6-foot, 251-pound Marinan was a two-way starting offensive linemen who led the Falcons to the Class LL title as a junior and senior.

Add a couple of names to Yale's commitment list

2012-01-18T19:59:00.004-05:00

Looks like you can add the names Luke Thomas out of Sacred Heart Prep in Atherton, Calif. and Cole Champion from St. Thomas Aquinas of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. to the list of Yale commitments.

I received an e-mail yesterday about Thomas, who visited Yale in November and has already been accepted. I reached out to Sacred Heart Prep coach Pete Lovorato who said in an email "he was undoubtedly our most valuable player before he was hurt. Teams we played against had to game plan around him to have any chance to move the ball. He started at our strong side defensive end and was also playing fullback on offense."

The 6-foot-1, 215-pound Thomas was credited with 24 tackles and six sacks in five games on the Sacred Heart Prep page on MaxPreps. As a junior he was credited with 94 tackles and 5 1/2 sacks.

I saw a tweet by Chris Nee from rivals.com saying that Champion, a safety, committed to Yale following a campus visit over the weekend. No words is his St. Thomas Aquinas teammate Tyler Drake (brother of Yale DE Dylan Drake) will also be heading to Yale. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound Champion led St. Thomas Aquinas with 52 solo tackles and also had a sack and two fumble recoveries.

I know somebody posted a comment about Luke Longinotti, a lineman from Junipero Serra High in San Mateo, Calif. being a Yale commit. I reported his commitment to Yale back in August but in a feature on him in the San Jose Mercury News on Dec. 22 and again in the paper's all-area package he is not listed as committed to Yale. I will attempt to confirm that information before I add him to my list of committed players.

Here's what I have in terms of committed players and as the new of Scott's commitment shows, it's likely far from being complete.

Aaron Ault, DE Lake Brantley (FL)
Austin Carter, LB/RB Choate
Christian Conway, RB Bronxville (NY)
Jackson Conway, RB Bronxville (NY)
Cole Champion, DB St. Thomas Aquinas (FL)
Caleb Gilligan-Evans, RB Stepinac (NY)
Roger Kilgore, WR/DB Bishop Ahr (NJ)
Ben Killion, OL, Wootton (MD)
Carl Kreitzberg, OL West Salem (OR)
Pat McHugh, DL St. Anthony's (NY)
Mikhail Reece, DL Gaither (FL)
Matt Rubino, WR, Holy Spirit (NJ)
Luke Thomas, DE/LB Sacred Heart Prep (CA)
Tom Undercuffler, DB Berlin
Adam VanValkenberg, LB Lake Brantley (FL)

In regards to the Ross twins (Derrek and Dusty) out of Oak Hills High in Cincinnati I did see a tweet from a Cincinnati Enquirer reporter saying they have committed to Yale. I called their HS coach to try to get confirmation of that. I know that the previous staff was extremely high on the two linemen so that would be two key additions to an ever growing list of commitments.

Report: Brooks headed to Colby

2012-01-18T12:52:00.000-05:00

According to the http://www.footballscoop.com/ site, former Yale defensive line coach Duane Brooks will be named the head coach at Colby College, a Division III school in Waterville, Maine.

Brooks spent the last 15 seasons at Yale and he wore a few different hats as in addition to his defensive line coaching responsibilities, he also coached Yale's JV team in recent years and was also the liaison between Yale and the NFL scouts.

Colby is coming off a 3-5 season.

A little more about recruiting

2012-01-18T00:14:00.001-05:00

Doing a little checking around the internet, I found links to three stories or blogs which might interest Yale fans.

Leading off, the Ross brothers out of Cincinnati (Dusty and Derrek) were much sought after lineman prospects by Tom Williams' staff. Well, the Cincinnati Enquirer had a report on Tuesday that they had narrowed their list of schools to Yale and Brown Their coach at Oak Hills High was among the first people I attempted to contact when I started trying to track down some recruiting information but have yet to hear back.

Another lineman of interest is Niko Padilla out of Parish Episcopal in Dallas (the same school which produced Yale freshman defensive back Charles Cook) and I found an ESPN blog saying he is planning to visit Yale this weekend

Also, another player expected to be on campus this weekend is Mission Viejo (Calif.) receiver Austin Reuland according to a blog on the OCVarsity.com site.

Finally, in "the one that got away" department, reports out of Washington have offensive line prospect Michael Kneip choosing to be a preferred walkon at Washington over a chance to come to Yale.

Stark hired by Broncos

2012-01-17T20:38:00.000-05:00

The first member of Tom Williams' staff that I've heard about finding work elsewhere is Brian Stark.

The offensive coordinator for the last three seasons (a role he shared with Kefense Hynson this past season) has been hired as a West Coast scout for the NFL's Denver Broncos.

Stark was also the quarterbacks coach during his time at Yale and Patrick Witt set Yale career records for passing completions, attempts and yardage.

Update on Choate players on Yale's radar

2012-01-17T14:19:00.000-05:00

Just heard back from Choate football coach Erik Cooper and he gave me the latest on the his players who have been recruited by Yale.

As previously reported on this blog, linebacker/h-back Austin Carter committed to Yale over the weekend. Cooper said that receiver Avery Lewis is visiting Yale this weekend. As for the other two players, quarterback Kyle Nolan out of Branford has committed to Georgetown while offensive lineman Matthew Porter is "more focused on Patriot League and Division 3 options at present" according to Cooper.

Add another name to Yale's recruiting class

2012-01-17T12:20:00.000-05:00

I just heard back from Jason Stokes, the head coach at Gaither High in Tampa, Florida and he has informed me that Gaither defensive Mikhail Reece has committed to Yale.

Reece is a 6-foot-5, 245-pound defensive end who had 83 tackles including 5 1/2 sacks as a senior.

He was listed by one of the recruiting databases as a player planning to vist Yale last weekend which is why I reached out to Stokes. His response was "he has told me he committed."

Latest on new Yale commit

2012-01-17T11:07:00.001-05:00

It's didn't take long for Tony Reno to make his presence felt in recruiting circles.

There have been a couple of comments posted to my blog from parents of players who committed to Yale after being a part of the group of about 15 recruits who visited campus last week.

The father of Austin Carter got in touch with me and confirmed that he has committed to Yale.

Carter is a native of Vero Beach, Florida who was just 5-foot-10 and 162 pounds at the end of his junior season. He is now 6-1 and 222 with a 33-inch vertical leap and played linebacker/h-back last season as a postgraduate at Choate.

According to his father, Austin had 92 tackles, 9.5 sacks, 15 tackles for losses and two interceptions at linebacker and as a fullback he averaged 7 yards per carry and nearly 20 yards per catch at Choate.

Carter drew interest from pretty much every Ivy League team with Penn, Princeton and Dartmouth pushing hard. David Carter said that his son took a visit to Penn the weekend before heading to Yale and the Quakers were in the lead. However, when he visited Yale and met with Reno.

Choate has formed a nice relationship with Yale in recent years with five players in Yale's freshman and sophomore classes on the Yale roster including starting offensive tackle Roy Collins and defensive end Allen Davis.

I have reached out to the Choate coaches to check up on Carter and some of the others who have been on Yale's recruiting radar (Mattew Porter, Avery Lewis, Kyle Nolan).

I also contacted St. Igantius coach Chuck Kyle to get to update on Eric Williams, who was the top quarterback target of the previous Yale staff. Kyle said "at this point in the process, Yale University is at the top of Eric's list. I am sure now that the coach is in place, the situation will be clarified very soon."

Two of Williams' brothers played football at Yale. Sean Williams is a former starter at defensive end/linebacker while Scott Williams will be a senior on the 2012 Yale team. Scott Williams came to Yale as a quarterback but was moved to defense is now listed as a linebacker.

As for Eric Williams, he led St. Ignatius out of Cleveland to the Ohio Division I title, passing for 297 yards including two touchdowns in a 34-13 win over Pickerington Central in the state championship game. Williams finished with 2,132 yards and 23 touchdowns. The Ohio Division I state final was televised and I was very impressed with the way Williams threw the ball. Williams is 6-3 and 190 pounds and according to his recruiting profile on rivals.com, he has been offered by Cincinnati and Eastern Michigan.

Williams moved to Cleveland from Oregon where he lived with his mom and other family members including his brother Sean. As a junior at Jesuit High in Portland, he threw for 1,405 yards with 13 touchdowns and five interceptions.

With the graduation of record-breaking QB Patrick Witt and no quarterbacks brought in during the most recent recruiting class, securing an impact quarterback is a priority. Williams would most certainly hit the criteria.

Also, I just got off the phone with one of my Yale sources who confirmed that reports of every assistant coach except Rick Flanders being let go is indeed accurate. My source did not hear of any names of potential replacements but I imagine that Reno will be moving quickly to put a new staff in place.

Time for Yale football program to move forward

2012-01-13T14:00:00.001-05:00

There's no way of sugar coating it, the last two months have been perhaps the most trying and humbling in the proud history of the Yale football program.

The removal of Tom Williams as the head coach over issues surrounding the accuracy of his credentials, back to back days when Yale lost to Harvard in the junior varsity and varsity games by a combined score of 82-13 and concerns among alumni who the process of finding a new coach was handled has resulted in some frayed nerves and discontent for some parties.

The good news is that Tony Reno, who was named the 34th coach in Yale's illustrious history, could be the type of galvanizing figure to help Yale put the recent checkered past in the rear-view mirror.

You could see the relief in the faces of the returning Yale players who were in attendance at the press conference now that he have a head coach. The players have been thrust into a situation not of their making. Yesterday was the first time I saw any of them since the end of the season but people I've spoken to who run into them on campus say that they have been understandably downtrodden. Hopefully last night's team meeting with Reno helped perk up the returning players. McHale, who got a know Reno a little bit when he was being recruiting as a high school senior, sounded fired up about the ability to move forward with Reno at the helm.

"I firmly believe he is the right guy for the job, he has everything we are looking for and more," McHale said. "He is a dynamic leader, he's a motivator, an excellent recruiter. I really couldn’t be more excited."

On the other end of the spectrum is the fate of former head coach Tom Williams. Former head coach Jack Siedlecki was welcomed back for the press conference and Carm Cozza would have been there had he not headed down to his place in Florida for the winter.

Williams, who was forced to resign, was obviously not there. The only staff members I saw where the holdovers from the Jack Siedlecki regime as the rest of the coaching staff watched the live stream of the press conference from the Yale football offices.

"It is tough that something like that happened," McHale said. "We are all appreciative of what Coach Williams brought to this program but at the same time what's done in done and we need to look forward."

Reno is walking into a difficult situation. Those two months without a head coach came during a pivotal time in recruiting. Other Ivy League coaching staff have been circling around Yale recruiting targets (just as Yale would do if the circumstances were reversed). They've lost out on some kids as a result of the uncertainty including Cheshire's Sebastian Little, who committed to Harvard. Although Reno, who helped the Crimson secured Little's commitment, can't talk publicly about a recruit like Little I am sure he sees the irony in how things worked out in that situation and how his efforts as a key recruiter at Harvard cost Yale a prized prospect. That being said, when I spoke the assistant coach Rick Flanders yesterday he thought Yale was not too bad off in terms of recruiting the class they were looking to secure before Williams' ouster.

"It’s trying but it probably more trying for the recruits, their parents," Flanders said. "But 90 percent of the kids who were on the board are still on the board. They are looking at Yale for the right reasons and it had to do more with the institution and opportunity (to earn a Yale degree) than a specific person. Tony will salvage a great class and we will get this group that is coming back off and running."

At both Reno's press conference and Williams' there have been the standard "how are you going to beat Harvard" question. I know the 45-7 pounding Yale suffered at the hands of the Crimson in November is still fresh on people's minds but in my opinion Yale is not as far behind Harvard as some people might think.

People remember the ill-advised fake punt on 4th and 22 late in the 2009 game which set up Harvard to win the game but neglect to recall that the Bulldogs were in position to win that game before the fake punt ended up six yards shy of the first down which would have enabled Yale to run out the clock. In the 2010 game, won by Harvard 28-21, Yale outgained Harvard 337-178 and possessed the ball for nearly 38 of the 60 minutes.

Yes, there are some holes to fill especially on defense. You don't lose guys like Jordan Haynes, Geoff Dunham, Jake Stoller, Drew Baldwin (all multiple-year starters) and not miss what they brought to the table. However, Reno vowed to have an aggressive, attacking mindset in offense, defense and special teams. It is sorely needed on defense. Too many times the combination of a lack of a pass rush and soft zone coverage enabled teams to pick the Yale defense apart.

McHale leads a talented group of returning defensive starters which includes sophomore safety Nick Okano and speedy defensive ends Allen Davis and E.J. Conway.

Before Reno begins coaching the Bulldogs, he needs to add to the talent pool. The next two weekend there figures to be close to 30 prospects (somewhere in the vicinity of 15 each weekend) on Yale's campus. Some of them will be the 10-15 commits who have been approved for early admission to Yale and the Bulldogs need to make sure those players are still in the fold while also trying to lock up pledges from the uncommitted players on their radar.

When Yale begins spring practice in April, the focus will be on putting together a team capable of making a run at the Ivy League title.

"Nothing has happened over the last two months that has taken away from our goal of winning an Ivy League championship next year," McHale said.

Reno: "The right man for the job"

2012-01-12T22:03:00.000-05:00

I was pleasantly surprised to see not only a flock of Yale football players but also former Yale coach Jack Siedlecki and current assistant coaches Duane Brooks and Rick Flanders at today's press conference announcing Tony Reno as the 34th Yale football coach.

I struck out in my attempt to set up a phone interview with Harvard coach Tim Murphy as he was on the road recruiting but I was able to talk to some people who have a history with Reno.

Flanders, who was the defensive coordinator at Yale when Reno was coaching the defensive backs, was absolutely tremendous talking about Reno and in particular any concerns that his lack of head coaching experience would be an issue.

"He is a good coach, good recruiter, good people person, all the things that you are looking for in a guy who wants to be a head coach," Flanders said. "The diversity and the kind of things that he has done ... People may only look at one part of a resume. Every Hall of Fame coach had to get their first opportunity, they weren’t a head coach when they took their first head-coaching job. He is very well prepared for this and will be a phenomenal job."

Siedlecki was not somebody I was expecting to see but once I saw him there, he was a natural person to talk to about Reno since he was the one who brought him to Yale.

Siedlecki talked of Reno's character and engaging personality but also said he is an intense competitor who will demand production from his players. Siedlecki thinks Reno's six years as an assistant at Yale will be invaluable as he attempts to make up for lost time.

"His relationships with people on campus, that is important, really important," Siedlecki said. "He is going to hit the ground running, he is going to understand the AI (academic index), understand the inner workings at Yale, he knows all the people."

Reno was involved in recruiting many of the players who will be seniors on the 2012 Yale team. Naturally I took the chance to speak to 2012 Yale captain Will McHale about his new coach.

"He was not my primary recruiter but I did speak to him and knew him a little bit through the process," McHale said. "It’s great, I think it is reflected across my class, the seniors interacted with him and to have a guy we are confident in, a guy we are comfortable with really goes a long way towards the immediate success of the program. I think it is one of those things that is going to be great even going forward to next year."

Last but certainly not least, former Yale captain Paul Rice was among those in attendance. Rice, who spent last season as a volunteer assistant coach, was a cornerback earlier in his career so Reno was his position coach.

Like so many others, he gave Reno a glowing endorsement. I asked Rice what qualities will serve Reno the best in his new gig.

"His preparedness, his intensity, his love for Yale. He is passionate about teaching and getting kids to play to the best of their ability. Even guys who weren’t coached by him, guys on the offensive side of the ball they were vouching for him. That speaks to his character to to his ability to lead.",

Reno officially introduced at Yale

2012-01-12T15:45:00.000-05:00

NEW HAVEN - The Yale football program is bringing back a familiar face as former assistant coach Tony Reno was named the 34th head coach at Yale on Thursday.

Reno spent six seasons on Jack Siedlecki’s Yale staff from 2003-08 including five years coaching the Bulldogs’ defensive backs. Reno was on the Yale staff in 2006, the last time the Bulldogs won the Ivy League title. He was promoted to assistant head coach in 2007 and in both 2007 and 2008 the Bulldogs were third among Football Championship Subdivision teams in pass defense.

When Siedlecki was pushed out the day after a season-ending loss to Harvard in 2008, Reno assumed the lead on recruiting matters until a new head coach was hired. Shortly after Tom Williams was hired, Reno accepted a job at Harvard. Speaking to the Register shortly after getting hired, Reno said it was primarily done for family reasons since he lived in Sturbridge, Mass. with his wife and kids.

Reno has been the secondary/special teams coordinator at Harvard since 2009 and he was also responsible for recruiting Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee for the Crimson. He also had coaching stints at Kings (Pa.) College and his alma mater Worcester State College, where he was named the AFLAC National Assistant Coach of the Year in 2002.

Reno was extremely popular with his former Yale players and word is that many of his ex players put in a good word with the search committee.

Reno was one of four candidates known to have interviewed for the job. Former Yale defensive coordinator Don Brown was offered the job earlier this week, according to multiple sources before turning it down. Georgetown coach Kevin Kelly and Lehigh offensive coordinator Dave Cecchini also interviewed for the job which came open last month when Tom Williams was forced to resign following an internal investigation into claims that he overstated his credentials as a Rhodes Scholarship candidate and a member of the San Francisco 49ers practice squad on his resume.

Yale is coming off a 5-5 season including a season-ending 45-7 loss to Harvard. Leading tackler Jordan Haynes, record-breaking quarterback Patrick Witt, top rusher Alex Thomas and three-year defensive starters Jake Stoller, Drew Baldwin and Geoff Dunham are among the players graduating but 29 of the 44 players on the two-deep chart on offense and defense heading into the Harvard game are returning.

Yale opens the 2012 by hosting Georgetown on Sep. 15.

Tony Reno to be Yale's next coach

2012-01-11T20:54:00.000-05:00

OK, let's try this again.

I got burned in a big-time way from a source who confirmed Dave Cecchini to be Yale's next football coach. However, I apologize for putting that out there before I was able to get a secondary confirmation. That same source got back to me to inform me that he was messed up and that it is indeed Tony Reno who will be named head coach.

I apologize to all who trust me and this blog to be the source of accurate information on all things to do with Yale football. You learn to trust your sources and there are times when wires get crossed. I still accept the full brunt of the blame on this. Instead of rushing to get this info out there, I should have held back until I was 100 percent certain of the facts.

Now onto the choice.

Reno was the secondary coach at Yale on Jack Siedlecki's staff. When Siedlecki was forced out, Reno assumed the lead on Yale's recruiting efforts. He would leave to join Tim Murphy's staff at Harvard in large part for family considerations because he, his wife and children live in Sturbidge, Mass.

Reno was a popular coach with his players and in the days following Siedlecki's departure, he was touted as the coach staff as being the top prospect to be considered for the Yale head job.

There are some alumni who have issues with the way Reno left for Harvard and some have suggested that he took some recruits with him. However, Reno received a lot of support in the Yale community - especially from his former players to get the job. If I were to go back and count the blog comments, I would think that Reno would have been the winner of that informal straw poll.

One concern is that Reno has never been an offensive or defensive coordinator above the Division III level but I personally really liked dealing with him in the time when he was on Siedlecki's staff.

Kelly removes his name from consideration

2012-01-11T19:12:00.001-05:00

Georgetown coach Kevin Kelly, one of the top candidates for the vacant Yale football job, released a statement through Georgetown declaring that he is withdrawing his name from consideration.

"I'm flattered to have been considered for the position, but have decided to withdraw my name from consideration and will remain at Georgetown. We are coming off of our best season since I've been here and with a tremendous group of young men returning, I look forward to continuing to build this program and compete for a Patriot League Championship in 2012. My family and I enjoy being a part of the Georgetown community and we love living in Washington, D.C. We really want to finish what we've started here at
Georgetown."

I'm expecting to hear some news in the next hour or so and there is still a chance the press conference to announce the 34th coach in Yale football history could be held tomorrow.

A source indicated to me of a candidate close to being offered the job but I was unable to get a second source to confirm that information, although I think that could be changing soon.

It's time for Plan B at Yale

2012-01-10T18:14:00.000-05:00

Word is Yale is still hoping to have a coach in place before the end of the week.

Obviously that seemed to be a slam dunk yesterday as multiple sources confirmed that former Yale defensive coordinator Don Brown had been offered the Yale job. I spoke with a few people today you were a bit stunned to hear the news that Brown pulled his name out of consideration. There have been plenty of phone calls being exchanged today between stunned former Yale football players and other alumni who went to bed believing Brown would be named Yale's 34th football coach in a matter of days.

While the sources I spoke to were not as adamant about who would emerge as the leading candidate as Yale moves forward, Georgetown coach Kevin Kelly's name was mentioned rather prominently. At the beginning of the process Kelly was mentioned as a viable candidate. By all accounts he had a strong interview and although his overall win/loss record at Georgetown 17-48, it should be noted that the Hoyas went from an 0-10 season in 2009 to 8-3 this past season.

The other candidates we've confirmed have interviewed are Lehigh offensive coordinator Dave Cecchini and former Yale assistant coach Tony Reno. Reno as received a lot of support from former players and is an intriguing candidate. A new name to consider is former UCLA head coach Karl Dorrell as NFL Network recently reported that Dorrell has drawn interest from Yale.

The reason why getting a coach in this week is so important is that it is Walter Camp Weekend and that is a prime showcase for recruits to be shown. I think the best-case scenario would be to have a coach officially named on Thursday but as the last 24-48 hours have shown, this can be a volatile process so stay tuned.

Coaching situation a little uncertain

2012-01-09T22:27:00.002-05:00

Earlier today I reported that former Yale defensive coordinator Don Brown was expected to be named the Bulldogs' new football coach later in the week.

Well, it's amazing what a difference a few hours can make. Sources from Yale and UConn confirmed that Brown was offered the job but withdrew his name from consideration tonight.

It's eerily familiar to what happened in 2008 as Brown was emerging as the frontrunner for the Yale job only to withdraw his name from consideration.

What I was unable to find out is if there was a snag at some point in the negotiations but it seems to me as if something like that could very well have gone down.

Yale has interviewed former Yale assistant coach Tony Reno, Lehigh offensive coordinator Dave Cecchini and Georgetown head coach Kevin Kelly. There was a recent report that Yale had reached out to former UCLA head coach Karl Dorrell.

Obviously we will continue to follow this story and hope for everybody's sake that this saga is over quickly.

Source: Don Brown expected to be Yale's next football coach

2012-01-09T16:30:00.002-05:00

UConn defensive coordinator Don Brown is expected to be named the 34th coach in the history of the Yale football program a source close to search committee confirmed to the Register on Monday.

Brown was the defensive coordinator at Yale under Carm Cozza from 1987-92 and received a ringing endorsement from Cozza as a search committee looked for Tom Williams’ replacement.

The source said he spoke to two people close to the Yale football program and both confirmed that “he is the guy.” Yale officials stressed that "it is not a done deal" and that Yale has not yet hired Brown to be the coach.

Brown, 56, was a leading candidate for the job back in 2008 when he was the head coach at UMass before he pulled his name out of contention. Not only does Brown have ties to Yale but he also fit the search committee’s criteria of having previous head-coaching experience. Brown compiled a 95-45 record in head-coaching stints at Plymouth State, Northeastern and UMass. He was also Yale’s interim baseball coach in 1992, posting a 26-10 record and leading the Bulldogs to the Eastern Intercollegiate Baseball League title.

He guided Plymouth State to two straight Freedom Conference titles and was a three-time coach of the year in the conference. He earned Atlantic-10 Coach of the Year honors at both Northeastern and UMass. He led UMass to the Football Championship Subdivision title game in 2006. More recently he had been the defensive coordinator stints at Maryland and Connecticut.

“I think we need to reestablish what Yale is all about,” said another source close to the Yale football program. “Bringing Brown in, he knows the intricacies of (coaching) at Yale. He knows the way to work within the system. I know the alumni will be enthused.”

Neither Yale nor UConn would confirm the hiring of Brown although Yale is hoping to officially announce its head coach this week. The Register reported that the tentative plan was to name the coach by Wednesday and that time frame still seems reasonable.

Yale also interviewed former Yale assistant coach Tony Reno, Georgetown head coach Kevin Kelly and Lehigh offensive coordinator Dave Cecchini. There was a recent report that former UCLA head coach Karl Dorrell drew interest from Yale.

Williams, who coached Yale for the last three seasons, was forced to resign last month after Yale investigation claims that he overstated his status as a Rhodes Scholarship candidate on his resume.

Another candidate for Yale?

2012-01-07T15:52:00.000-05:00

Pretty interesting report by the NFL Network's Jason La Canfora that Yale has expressed an interest in Miami Dolphins assistant Karl Dorrell.

I haven't heard his name mentioned with the Yale search before but the report did say that his contract is expiring at the end of the season (which for Miami already happened). Dorrell was the head coach at UCLA from 2003-07, compiling a 35-27 record.

Some thoughts on coaching search

2012-01-06T18:31:00.000-05:00

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, I would anticipate that Yale's new football coach will be hosting some recruits at this point next week.

Yale has interviewed former Yale assistant coaches Don Brown and Tony Reno as well as Georgetown head coach Kevin Kelly and Lehigh offensive coordinator Dave Cecchini.

Kelly had an outstanding interview according to sources and he certainly fit the criteria of having previous head coaching experience. Earlier today I heard from somebody close to the process that former Yale coach Carm Cozza was in Brown's corner in a major way. While that doesn't guarantee that Brown will get the job, if I were to pick the one person at Yale to have on my side during this process it would be the legendary Cozza.

Brown certainly has all the prerequisites for the job. He's been successful at three different stops as a head coach and obviously has previous Ivy League experience as a member of Cozza's staff from 1987-92 and held the same position at Dartmouth from 1984-86 and Brown in 1996 and 1997. Everything I've heard about Brown's tenure at Yale has been positive as he was a well-respected member of Cozza's staff and is still a popular man in Yale football circles. If there is a red flag about Brown it is that this would be his fourth job in the last five years if he is offered and accepts the Yale gig. If Brown was able to convince the committee that he was in this for the long haul, it would be hard to argue with the choice.

Reno will also have some support from Yale as he was a popular coach with his players during his six years on Jack Siedlecki's staff . Kelly has done a remarkable job building the Georgetown program up after a rugged start while Cecchini is a former offensive coordinator at Harvard who called the plays for a Lehigh offense which at one point during the 2011 season led all Football Championship Subdivision teams in total offense.

The process, which began in mid November when Yale began an investigation into then coach Tom Williams' claims of being a Rhodes Scholarship candidate, seems to be nearing its conclusion. I was hearing that a coach could be in place by the middle of the next week which would be good because they will need to get to work immediately during a pivotal recruiting period.

Little picks Harvard

2012-01-06T07:10:00.000-05:00

When Yale orchestrated the ouster of Tom Williams and took its sweet time pulling the trigger, the concern was the impact it would have on recruiting.

So as Yale has been conducting interviews with the four candidates (Don Brown, Dave Cecchini, Kevin Kelly and Tony Reno) this week, a prized recruit slipped away.

Cheshire linebacker Sebastian Little had been to a couple of Yale games during the 2011 season and was persistently pursued by Yale. Not only is Little not coming to Yale but he committed to Harvard. According to a story by Bryant Carpenter of the Meriden Record-Journal, Little was all set to come to Yale before Williams was forced to resign over claims that he overstated his credentials on his resume.

It will be interesting to watch Little's career at Harvard. If he become an impact player with the Crimson he could serve as a reminder of a sorry situation which is currently being played out.

The good news is that a new coach could be in place by the middle of next week. Perhaps there won't be too many other stories to emerge like Little's of players heading to an Ivy League rival because of the uncertainty surrounding the Yale football program at the current time.

Yale recruit honored

2012-01-05T10:13:00.000-05:00

Yale commit Christian Conway was named the New York Sportswriters Association Class C Player of the Year.

Conway, a 5-foot-10, 202-pound senior running back at Bronxville, N.Y. High, ran for 1,885 yards and 30 touchdowns as a senior.

He is the second straight Yale recruit to win the award as former Bronxville lineman Stephen Shoemaker won the award last season.

Shane Bannon signed to Kansas City practice squad

2012-01-04T19:07:00.000-05:00

Former Yale fullback Shane Bannon was one of six players signed to the Kansas City Chiefs' practice squad.

Here is the official release from the Chiefs

Another honor for Haynes and Witt

2012-01-04T14:18:00.000-05:00

Yale senior linebacker Jordan Haynes and quarterback Patrick Witt were the only Ivy League players named to the Football Championship Subdivision Athletics Directors Association Academic All-Star Team.

Haynes is a political science and internation studies major with a 3.62 GPA and was an All-Ivy pick as a junior and senior.
Witt, a political science major with a 3.91 GPA, was a three-year starter at quarterback who set Yale career records for passes attempted, completed and passing yards.

Witt and Haynes were also among the 12 finalists selected for the 11th Annual FCS ADA's $5,000 postgraduate scholarship. Two student-athletes will receive postgraduate scholarships during the Association's annual membership meeting held at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas, Texas, June 25-28.

The other finalists are seniors Justin Aldredge, Northwestern State, TE, 3.90; Mitch Allen, Wofford, QB, 3.96; Tim Bolte, Bucknell, LB, 3.93; Ben Boothby, Northern Iowa, DT, 3.89; Yaser Elqutub, Northwestern State, LB, 3.85; Kalan Jenkins, Georgia State, NG, 3.94; Marcus Lott, Coastal Carolina, S, 3.91; Mike McCabe, Holy Cross, OT, 3.62; Mike McElroy, Southern Illinois, S, 3.73; and Matt Rae, Rhode Island, DT, 3.71.

A new coach should be in place soon

2012-01-04T12:27:00.001-05:00

Yale is moving forward relatively quickly in naming its next football coach. Multiple sources have said that a new coach could be in place as early as the middle of next week.

Sources have said that Georgetown head coach Kevin Kelly has been interviewed and former UConn defensive coordinator Don Brown is a serious candidate for the job and Yale has been granted permission to interview Brown although I have yet to confirm if he has been in for an interview yet. Tony Reno is another candidate but a source has confirmed that he has yet to come in for an interview. According to the http://www.footballscoop.com/ site, the other candidate is Lehigh offensive coordinator Dave Cecchini.

Both Kelly and Brown fit the criteria of previous head coaching experience that the search committee is looking for in Yale's next coach while Reno and Cecchini are in the mix despite the lack of previous head coaching experience.

With one prominent member of the search committee expected to be out of the state next week, there is a sense that the interviews could be conducted by the end of this week. The weekend of Jan. 13-15 was also circled as a key recruiting weekend before Tom Williams was forced to resign last month over claims that he overstated some of his credentials on his resume. The rest of the staff has remained in place until the new coach determines which of them would be part of the new staff. Having a new coach in place by next week could be invaluable in attempting to salvage the recruiting class.

Brown just completed his first season as UConn's defensive coordinator and has the most head coaching experience among the candidates with stops at Plymouth State, Northeastern and UMass. Brown led UMass to the 2006 FCS national championship game. Brown was one of the early frontrunners for the Yale job back in 2008 before pulling his name out of consideration for the job. He left UMass to become the defensive coordinator at Maryland. Brown was Carm Cozza's defensive coordinator with the Bulldogs from 1987-92.

Kelly has ties to Connecticut as his first college job was as an assistant at Southern Connecticut State in 1984 and 1985. He also has some Ivy League experience as he was on Dartmouth's staff during the Big Green's run to the 1991 Ivy League title. He also coached at Navy, an experience which could prove helpful in dealing with a limited and select player pool in recruiting.

Reno was a member of Jack Siedlecki's staff for six years, five coaching the defensive backs. When Siedlecki was pushed out the door, Reno was the point man for recruiting before Tom Williams was hired. Reno left to join the Harvard staff, in large part because of family considerations since he lived in Sturbridge, Mass. with his wife and children. Reno doesn't have any head coaching experience but he was a defensive coordinator at Worcester State.
Cecchini, a former offensive coordinator at Harvard and Citadel, guided a Mountain Hawks offensive which finished third among Football Championship Subdivision teams in total offense and fifth in passing offense. Among Cecchini's pupils were current NFL players Andre Roberts and Ryan Fitzpatrick. He guided an offense which put up 475 yards in a 37-7 win over Yale on Oct. 1.

On another matter, I did follow up on a couple of comments on my blog saying that nobody from Yale has been in contact with players who have committed to Yale. I spoke with athletic director Tom Beckett last night during Yale's men's basketball game who said he took part in a recruiting meeting with the Yale staff and if that is the case he would like to know that. Beckett would not comment on anything regarding to the search.

I was also told that the players were e-mailed about Williams' resignation before the media was told. I received the e-mail announcing Williams' departure at 8:10 and I was told that the mass e-mail to the players was sent at 8:04. I guess I need to back off some of my criticism of Yale as I suggested the media was told before the players but I still have issues with how it was handled. I understand Yale has more than 100 players but between assistant coaches, people in the sports information department and other athletic department employees there's no reason that Yale couldn't have contacted each player directly by phone or at least text message rather than send out a form letter via e-mail.

Next couple of weeks could determine Yale's fortunes

2012-01-01T22:27:00.003-05:00

If the Yale administration has any concerns about the fortunes of the 2012 Yale football team, they'd better be hitting the ground running this week.

Beginning with the announcement that Yale's general counsel would be investigating Tom Williams' claims of being a Rhodes Scholarship candidate, the process leading to his removal as Yale's coach has moved at a snail's pace. I was told by a very reliable source that Yale had heard back from the people at Stanford verifying that they had recommended that he pursue a Rhodes Scholarship on the day that Yale played Harvard. For the record, that was Nov. 19. Yet, it took five weeks before Yale announced Williams "resignation." I believe that Williams resigned of his own accord about as much as I bought that Jack Siedlecki "retired" after the 2008 season.

I had multiple people with connections to Yale tell me the week of the Yale/Harvard game that Williams was as good as gone as soon as Yale put Williams' fate in the hands of the General Counsel. It seems to me that they waited to announce it until the week before Christmas to minimize the impact. Why not announce it when the Yale students are on break? That is exactly what happened. The Yale players were not informed of Williams' departure until after the media was notified. That is an absolute slap in the face to the Yale players and seems to me of being a case of the Yale administration acting in order to save face instead of doing what is in the best interest of the Yale program.

Today was the first one that Yale was left without a head coach. Now it is the time for Yale to get Williams' replacement. They do have about 10 early commits leaving about 20 spots left to filled. The word I have been hearing is that many of the prospects expected to visit campus in a couple of weeks have scheduled visits to other schools for the weekend of January 13-15. Among those planning to come to Yale that weekend was Wes Moon, a safety from Monarch High in Louisville, Colo. Down to Yale and Princeton, Moon recently committed to Princeton.

According to a story on the BoCoPreps.com site, Moon was quoted as saying "Yale's head coach resigned, which was the starting point, and then I was considering how much I wanted to take my official visit. My high school coach, Phil Bravo, asked me what I thought Yale could have that was better than Princeton. It took me a long time to sit down and ponder what I actually wanted, and I realized I was perfectly content with Princeton."

Even before the news of Tom Williams' departure from Yale became public, coaches from the rival Ivy League coaches were closing in on the players being recruited by the Bulldogs. The day that the Williams story broke, I spoke with Yale recruiting target Ludovic Richardson out of Notre Dame of West Haven who said a member of Brown's coaching staff had contacted him. Trust me, this was not an isolated incident.

If the people who make the call on hiring the new Yale coach don't want to Bulldogs to get completely crushed in recruiting, they may want to have a head coach in place by the end of this week or the middle of next week at the latest. At then if recruits do visit New Haven next weekend, they will be able to meet with the Bulldogs' head coach other than a bunch of assistants likely not to be around when Yale begins spring practice.

There's no reason that candidates can't be brought in for interviews this week. Two names consistently mentioned as being targeted by Yale are Vanderbilt defensive coordinator and former Yale receiver Bob Shoop and UConn defensive coordinator Don Brown. Well, Vanderbilt's season ended with a 31-24 loss to Cincinnati in the Liberty Bowl on Saturday and UConn wasn't bowl eligible so if Shoop and/or Brown are interested, let's hope Yale moves quickly to bring them in.

Yale commits honored

2012-01-01T19:06:00.001-05:00

Running backs Christian Conway out of Bronxville High and Caleb Gilligan-Evans from Archbishop Stepinac were named to the "Golden Dozen" as top scholar/athletes by the Westchester Chapter of the National Football Foundation.

Conway ran for 1,885 yards as a senior while Gilligan-Evans who had 944 rushing yards as a senior.

Calm before the storm

2011-12-27T13:23:00.000-05:00

For those wondering why there haven't been updates on this blog regarding the search for a new Yale football coach in the last few days, I took the opportunity to head out of state to visit with my sister and her family without my computer, tape recorder, notebook.Now that I am back in Connecticut, I hope to start providing some info. I know this is a key recruiting time but with so many people away for the holidays, I'd say this is kind of a dead time in terms of identifying candidates and bringing them in for interviews.

My colleague Chip Malafronte did some digging with his Yale sources while I was away and came up with an interesting list of candidates

I know Dick Jauron is somebody who would be warmly received by many alumni, I question whether he would be an ideal fit. It's not just that he will turn 62 in the middle of next season (although that does make one wonder how many years he would stay at Yale if he got the gig) but he is an NFL coaching lifer who has never coached at the college level. Certainly playing for guy who has spent part of 10 season as a head coach in the NFL would be appealing to recruits, it would surprise me if he opted to leave his job as the defensive coordinator with the Cleveland Browns to take over at Yale.

Bob Shoop was a name I heard as a possible candidate during the Yale/Harvard week. He has the basic qualifications I would think the committee would be looking for (previous head coaching experience, ties to Yale and/or the Ivy League). The defensive coordinator at Vanderbilt seems to be in a great spot right now but the former receiver on the Kelly Ryan-led Yale squads of the late 1980s is somebody to keep an eye on. I know he was just 7-23 in his stint as Columbia's head coach but I doubt too many people could have won games at Columbia during the time he was there.

The next two names (Brian Polian and Pat Graham) certainly have bright futures in coaching. Polian would concern me because he has not only never been a head coach but hasn't been an offensive or defensive coordinator either. Graham, just 32, would probably benefit from more seasoning before taking over a college program.

I would be shocked if former New Haven coach Tony Sparano has any interest in the Yale job. I think it is more likely he lands on his feet as an NFL assistant after getting let go as the Miami Dolphins head coach recently.

Now for some of my thoughts on other candidates.

Don Brown was a serious candidate back in 2008 before leveraging Yale's interest into a pay raise as the head coach at UMass. He then headed to Maryland as the defensive coordinator for two seasons before taking the same job at UConn. He certainly is qualified for the job with three head coaching stints in the Northeast. Brown was Yale's defensive coordinator from 1987-92 under Carm Cozza, whose input will be sought out during this process. Will he leave UConn after one season to take the job (if offered it) that he passed on in 2008? That remains to be seen. If he did, Yale would be his fourth job in five years so I'm not sure he is bringing the kind of stability Yale is looking for.

New Haven coach Peter Rossomando, who I've heard is interested in the job, is a pretty interesting candidate. He has done a remarkable job turning the once dormant New Haven program back into a national power. I know people will say his experiences as a scholarship Division II school may be a case of apples and oranges going into a situation where he'd have to recruit from such a small player pool but Rossomando is an outstanding coach that I think Yale should give serious consideration to during this process.

A name I am just throwing out there because I think Yale would be wise to get a gauge of his interest is South Florida assistant coach and New Haven native Vernon Hargreaves. Although he has never been an offensive or defensive coordinator or head coach, Hargreaves can count NFL stars Jon Beason, D.J. Williams and Jonathan Vilma as pupils of his during his eight seasons as the linebackers coach at Miami.

Another person with Connecticut ties who I would think the people at Yale should at least send out feelers to is Iowa assistant coach Ken O'Keefe. The Milford native began his coaching career at the University of New Haven in 1976-77. He has been Iowa's offensive coordinator for the last 12 seasons.

The name of Holy Cross coach Tom Gilmore was a prominent one early on in the search for Jack Siedlecki's replacement three years ago before he removed himself from consideration. His name is always a popular one when an Ivy League job becomes available because of his time as a standout lineman and former Ivy League MVP during his playing days at Penn. I'm not sure of his interest level. I will put Hargreaves, O'Keefe and Gilmore on the backburner list until I get a sense that either they or Yale have an interest in the opening.

Naturally staff members on other Ivy League teams could emerge as candidates. Former Yale assistant coaches Joel Lamb and Tony Reno have been extremely successful at Harvard and I know some people who read this blog have thrown their names out there.

I would expect candidates to be brought in for interviews in early January and for Yale to move very quickly once that part of the process is underway. When this happened in 2008, the search began in late November. They are a full month behind in 2011 and will need to move quickly in order to minimize the recruiting impact.

As for what the new coach is walking into, Yale has a pretty solid nucleus of returning players especially on offense even with the graduation of record-setting quarterback Patrick Witt, leading rusher Alex Thomas and starting guards Gabe Fernandez and Colin Kruger. John Whitelaw is an untested but athletic quarterback who got some time working with the first unit during practice last season. He isn't blessed with as strong of an arm as Witt but will make more plays with his feet. Mordecai Cargill should be the go-to back next season although Kahlil Keys was a highly-touted freshman would likely would have received some varsity carries had he not missed all of last season due to injury. With the return of Chris Smith, Deon Randall, Cameron Sandquist, Allen Harris, Jackson Ligouri and others, Yale may have the deepest set of receivers in the league. Yale also returns nearly all of its tight ends, h-backs and fullbacks. James Talerico, who saw time at both tackle and guard last season, figures to be a top candidate to fill one of the starting guard spots. With three tackles returning who started games last season (Roy Collins, Wes Gavin and Ben Carbery) it would not surprise me if the new staff chose to move one of them inside (the extremely athletic Collins would be my choice) to compete for a starting guard spot.

It is on defense where I think the new coach will have his work cut out for him with five of the top seven tacklers off a team which struggled at times a season ago. No position will be hit harder by graduation than the front four as defensive tackles Jake Stoller, Reed Spiller and Pat Moran as well as defensive ends Matt Battaglia, Austin Pulsipher and Cliff Foreman are leaving. Defensive end seems to be in a little better situation with Allen Davis and E.J. Conway returning. There are some talented young defensive ends but it will be interesting to see which defensive tackles step up to join Chris Dooley in the rotation.

Replacing Jordan Haynes, Yale's top tackler the last two season, at linebacker as well as Drew Badwin and Geoff Dunham, three-year starters in the secondary won't be easy. Yale does seem to have options at those positions. Team captain Will McHale will be one of the best players in the Ivy League next season and a potential starting linebacking corps of McHale, Brian Leffler and Will Vaughan could be the most athletic group the Bulldogs have had in a while. A bunch of guys saw time at the corner position next to Baldwin (although that isn't necessarily a good thing considering how many big plays Yale gave up in the passing game). Kurt Stottlemyer and Collin Bibb drew starting assignments last season as juniors and I wouldn't be surprised to see them head into the spring as the starting corners although Yale brought in a bunch of talented DB recruits in the last two seasons. At safety, special-teams star John Powers could be ready to become a starter. Nick Okano, a starter as a sophomore, could emerge as the leader of the secondary as a junior.

It's going to be an interesting period for a Yale team with the potential to compete for an Ivy League title but also with enough question marks that if a new coach doesn't get the chance to hit the ground running, a second-division finish is also a realistic possibility.

What's next for Yale?

2011-12-21T14:19:00.001-05:00

When Jack Siedlecki "retired" in 2008, Yale still had time to go through the process, hire a coach and bring in a pretty solid recruiting class. Of course the process of finding Siedlecki's replacement began in late November. However, with the news that Tom Williams resigned on Wednesday puts the Yale program in a tough spot. This time it is late December and if the Yale administration doesn't act fast it could have some negative ramifications towards recruiting.

"We would like obviously to try and do this early, that is our top priority," Yale director of athletics Tom Beckett said. "We want to get as much feedback as we possibly can from all of our stakeholders in all of this I don't have a time line that I would want to identify at this point."

I asked Beckett if they are looking for somebody with previous head coaching experience as well as somebody with ties with the Ivy League and he said that is still to be determined.

"We are going to meeting with the committee, interested parties affiliated with Yale football in particular our student-athletes, members of the faculty, leaders of the institution, our alums," Beckett said. "We are going to be doing a very thorough analysis of that very question and at this point, I know we are looking at a tough timeline here with the recruiting issues staring at us in the face but we want to be thorough, we want to do our best to identify all of the priorities associated with the leadership of Yale football. There is a great pride and tradition associated with Yale football and we are confident that our search will help us to identify some outstanding candidates."

Beckett said that Williams' entire staff is remaining in place - for the time being. Beckett said he would be meeting with the staff today. When this happened in 2008, the assistant coaches took on additional responsibilities without a head coach in place with Tony Reno taking the lead in recruiting. Beckett said those decisions have yet to be made. In my opinion since he already has the title of recruiting coordinator, I would expect to see Kyle Metzler fill the same role that Reno did back in 2008.

"The members of the staff are working to help us in all aspects of the program, in particular the focus right now is communicating with the students and also their focus is on helping to recruit this class and they are continuing with those efforts," Beckett said.

"We are going to be talking to the staff later here and as we go through that process, we will be making those kinds of decisions and talking to everybody about what their roles will be."

I asked Beckett if the university will be changing the way they conduct background checks on applicants since Williams claims of being a Rhodes Scholarship candidate as well as a member of the San Francisco 49ers practice squad resulted in an internal investigation and ultimately the end of his tenure with the Bulldogs. However, Beckett said he could not comment on that.

One thing that surprised me is that the Yale players were apparently informed of Williams' decision after I was. One player said he found out about Williams by reading this blog and received a generic e-mail later in the morning. I also spoke to a player being recruited by Yale and he said the only coach he heard from in the last couple of days about the situation at Yale came from a member of the Brown staff. That's a pretty poor job, if you ask me.

Also, Yale's investigation into Williams' background is now considered closed.

Tom Williams resigns

2011-12-21T08:26:00.001-05:00

Tom Williams resigned as Yale's football coach on Wednesday.

Williams, who was hired back in 2008 off the staff of the Jacksonville Jaguars to replace Jack Siedlecki, had his claims of being a Rhodes Scholarship candidate investigated by Yale. Although the investigation results were never made public, Williams decided to step down and the resignation is effective on Dec. 31.

“I wish to clear the record,” Williams said in a statement. “On the Rhodes Scholarship issue, I was encouraged to apply by the Stanford Fellowship office, which identified me ‘as the kind of student who demonstrates the intellect, energy and commitment that the Rhodes selection committees seek in their applicants.’ I considered the opportunity, sought advice and was encouraged to apply by faculty members and my coach Bill Walsh, but I did not apply.”

“During the spring of my senior year, I was given an opportunity to attend a tryout camp with the San Francisco 49ers, and I participated in that three-day event. I did not sign a free agent contract with the 49ers or participate in their summer training camp for signed players.”

“I am extremely proud of my academic, athletic and coaching career. If there was confusion created, I take full responsibility. The timing of this inquiry has been difficult for everyone. At this point I believe it is in the best interest of my student-athletes and Yale University that I step down.”

Williams was quoted on multiple occasions, including by the Register, about his experience as a Rhodes Scholarship candidate when he was a senior at Stanford while Yale senior quarterback Patrick Witt went through the process. Witt eventually became a Rhodes finalist but chose not to attend the final interview because it conflicted with the season-ending game agaiinst Harvard. The New York Times had the Rhodes Trust check their records and they had no application from a person with the name Thomas Williams during the period when he was eligible to apply. Speaking two days before the Harvard game, Williams said it was just a misrepresentation and he was in contact with the people at Stanford to back up his claims.

“I was talking about making a choice of pursuing a Rhodes and pursuing an opportunity to keep playing football. That was all that was. We just have to make sure we clarify it," Williams told the Register on Nov. 17. "These guys (Yale spokesmen) are here to make sure it gets represented correctly, that is all it was. There is no intention to deceive. I never said I was a finalist for the Rhodes candidacy. The Rhodes shouldn't have any record of me because I didn't do it. I didn't go through the process; I pulled out long before it got to that point.”

While Yale never released the findings of the internal investigation, a source who was closely involved with the decision to hire Williams said his Rhodes Scholarship background played a role in him becoming such a intriguing candidate.

Yale's director of athletics Tom Beckett said the university would immediately begin a search for Williams’ successor.

Williams went 16-14 in his three seasons at Yale including a 7-3 mark in 2010. However, despite returning the majority of the 2010 squad the Bulldogs were just 5-5 and lost to Harvard 45-7.

Williams and his staff continued to go among their business as usual after the season ended, hosting recruits and making preparations for next season.

I have reached out to Williams for comment and obviously I will be providing updates on the resignation and the search for Williams' successor.

Army's Andrew Rodriguez wins Campbell Trophy

2011-12-06T23:01:00.001-05:00

Army senior linebacker Andrew Rodriqguez was named the winner of the Campbell Trophy on Tuesday night in New York, beating out a star-studded field of top scholar-athletes including Yale senior quarterback Patrick Witt.

The other finalists for the award known as the Academic Heisman were Georgia kicker Drew Butler, Michigan State quarterback Kirk Cousins, Delta State quarterback Micah Davis, Navy guard John Dowd, Northwestern State linebacker Yaser Elqutub, South Dakota running back Chris Ganious, Colorado School of Mines quarterback Clay Garcia, Northern Illinois quarterback Chandler Harnish, Kansas State defensive back Tysyn Hartman, South Florida offensive lineman Chaz Hine, Purdue linebacker Joe Holland, Washington State receiver Jared Karstetter, Texas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill and Dubuque receiver Michael Zweifel.

Witt to receive Swede Nelson Award

2011-12-02T16:45:00.000-05:00

Record-breaking Yale quarterback Patrick Witt will receive the Gridiron Club of Boston's prestigious Nils V "Swede" Nelson Award next month
Witt finished as Yale's all-time leader with 549 completions, 913 attempts and 6,033 yards in three seasons after transferring from Nebraska. He is a history major with a 3.91 grade-point average who was a Rhodes Scholarship finalist. He is also one of 12 finalists for the Campbell Trophy, commonly referred to as the academic Heisman Trophy. That award will be presented on Tuesday in New York while the "Swede" Nelson Award will be given to Witt on Jan. 12.
New Haven native Floyd Little is one of the prominent players to have won the award. Witt will be the sixth Yale player to win the award and will join Brian Dowling as the second Yale quarterback to receive the honor.

Scholarship started for victim in Yale Bowl parking lot accident

2011-11-24T08:41:00.000-05:00

A scholarship in honor of Nancy Barry, who was struck and killed by a U-Haul in Lot D before Saturday/s Yale/Harvard football game, was been created by her employers Jacalyn E.S. Bennett and Company.

The company made a $2,000 contribution to the Massachusetts College of Art where Barry graduated from in 2003. For those who wish to donate, make checks payable to Massachusetts College of Art and Design Foundation, 61 Huntington Ave., Boston, Mass. 02115 and write "The Nancy Ann Scholarship Fund" in the memo section.

Lively debate or crossing the line?

2011-11-23T12:49:00.000-05:00

In the last few days the comments on this blog have taken a turn for the worse. A relatively simple post stating that junior linebacker Will McHale has been voted captain for next year's team turned into target practice on McHale's leadership ability and bordered on character assassination. Rather than spend part of the holiday season deleting more of these comments, I made the decision to delete the entire entry. One reader asked me for an explanation since he/she viewed it as a lively debate.

I have a different opinion. I think it was a case of people sitting behind the their computer and posting hurtful anonymous comments about a college junior. If comments were directed at me, as some have been over the past three years, I would post them since I am getting paid to deal with it. The same thing with Yale football coach Tom Williams and athletic director Tom Beckett. However, I found some of the comments directed McHale as crossing the line. It is not the first time I have felt that was. I have always been amazed at the cattiness of some of the comments to this blog. Quarterback Patrick Witt is a popular target as he was subjected to utter nastiness even on entries announcing an honor for his academic achievement. Now it is McHale in the crosshairs.

I have taken great pride in maintaining this blog and providing updates on everything from scheduling, recruiting and even the results of the JV games because I believe Yale fans deserve to have this beat covered in the same manner with which we cover UConn football and basketball. However, I am beginning to wonder if I am catering to the wrong crowd. Most of the 500-700 hits this blog gets on a daily basis come from the silent majority of fans wanting to keep up with the team's progress. There is a select few who look at this blog as their sounding board where they can take shots at anybody they choose. This is not a message board nor do I have an aspirations for it to become one. It is a forum for me to provide updates on the team and state my opinion on matters surrounding the team. There is at least one message board dedicated to Ivy League football and if you wish disparage members of the team without anything to back up those attacks, I would suggest you take the comments there. I seem to have appealed to the lowest common denominator among the Yale fan base and may have to rethink how frequently I provide updates since I seem to be giving these people a forum to spew their propaganda.

Look, I know this is a tough time for Yale football program. This year's squad was too good to finish 5-5 and get lit up by Harvard 45-7. Add in the tragic accident in Lot D before the Harvard game and the internal investigation surrounding Williams claims of being a Rhodes Scholarship candidate combined for a rather forgettable week. I am sure there are some frustrated people out there but if anybody thinks that this blog will be the place to take those frustrations out on Yale's newly-named captain couldn't be more incorrect.

Finally, I want to thank people who frequent this blog. I regret taking this step but everybody has their breaking point and enough is enough.

Haynes named first team All-Ivy

2011-11-22T15:15:00.001-05:00

Senior linebacker Jordan Haynes was Yale's lone representative on the All-Ivy League first team.

Haynes, the team captain, led Yale with 81 tackles while sharing for the team lead with five tackles for losses and two fumble recoveries.

Chris Smith, who was honored as a receiver and returnman, offensive guard Gabe Fernandez, running back Alex Thomas, defensive tackle Jake Stoller, linebacker Will McHale, cornerback Drew Baldwin and return specialist were second-team selections.

Quarterback Patrick Witt and receiver Deon Randall were honorable mention selections.

Princeton running back Chuck Dibilio was named the league's rookie of the year while Penn offensive tackle Greg Van Roten and linebacker Erik Rask, Dartmouth running back Nick Schwieger and Harvard defensive tackle Josue Ortiz and defensive back Matthew Hanson were unanimous All-Ivy selections.

Rough ending for Yale's seniors

2011-11-19T20:19:00.000-05:00

When Jordan Haynes and his fellow seniors came to New Haven, expectations were high.

Yale had won 17 games over the previous two seasons and visions of Ivy League championships were bouncing around in an impressive recruiting class.

However, their run at Yale ended without any league titles, no H-Y-P crowns and one of the most humbling losses in recent Yale football history.

Haynes, the linebacker and team captain, was a rock solid spokesman right to the end trying his best to express his disappointment after a 45-7 loss to Harvard, the worst in the series since 1982.

"It came down to us not executing against a good football team and being the captain and ending my career this way it is definitely a low point for me in my 12 years of playing football," Haynes said. "All I can hope for is we have a good group of football players (coming back) and Yale football doesn't end here. I can hope that the guy in the coming years can make things happen."

The loss was a tough one for record-breaking quarterback Patrick Witt who threw three interceptions including one which was returned for a touchdown.

"In the same way that a pitcher goes out there and get shelled a little bit, I just didn't have my good stuff today and it is unfortunate on such a big stage not to perform the way you know you can," Witt said.

The focus in the coming days and week figure to center around the future of Yale coach Tom Williams, the subject of a Yale internal investigation to verify he is the Rhodes Scholarship candidate he said he was when applying for the Yale job and in recent interviews when Witt was going through the process of picking to play in the Harvard game and pass on his Rhodes final interview.

A source told me that Stanford has confirmed Williams' claim that he was endorsed to pursue a Rhodes Scholarship during his days at the school while other sources believe Williams could be in danger of losing his job.

One confirmed dead in accident at Lot D of Yale Bowl

2011-11-19T11:51:00.000-05:00

A 30-year-old Massachusetts woman was struck and killed by an out of control U-Haul on Saturday morning according to New Haven Officer David Hartman.

Hartman said that three women were struck by the U-Haul around 9:30 a.m. and the U-Haul then collided with two other U-Hauls.

At 10:16 a.m., the woman was pronounced dead at Yale-New Haven Hospital. The other trwo women were taken to area hospitals. Hartman said one suffered relatively minor injuries and the other is in serious but stable condition.

"The drriver of U-Haul has been taken to police headquarters," Hartman said. "Accident reconstruction team is on scene and is investigating. This investigation in its infancy and we will try to get you more information as quickly as possible.

"This is treated as a crime scene and cars will not be (allowed) into this area. There will be other exits than can be used."

Some thoughts on the Rhodes aftermath

2011-11-18T20:12:00.001-05:00

This has been an interesting couple of weeks covering the Yale football team, to say the least.

Patrick Witt's pursuit of the Rhodes Scholarship and then his decision to withdraw as a candidate because he was not willing to skip Saturday's game against Harvard became a national story. I couldn't even come up with another sports story which generated nearly as much attention at an Ivy League school in recent memory. Now the story of his quest for the Rhodes Scholarship has taken a bizarre turn.

Yale coach Tom Williams has been listed as a Rhodes Scholarship candidate on every bio I have found on him but the Rhodes Trust has no record of him submitting an application. Yale has started an internal investigation to determine if Williams has misrepresented himself or even flat out lied about his Rhodes Scholarship credentials.

I think it is about to get interesting. When I spoke to Williams after Thursday's practice he said there was no intention to deceive anybody on the issue and he never claimed to be a Rhodes finalist. He is correct in that but he did speak as if he was faced with the same situation as Witt recently wrestled with. He did not. Williams said he was endorsed to pursue a Rhodes Scholarship but never went as far as Witt did in the process. His future employment at Yale could hinge on a few factors. First, will people at Stanford substantiate his claims? Next, will the people conducting the internal investigation at Yale consider him to be a Rhodes candidate if he never submitted an official application or met with a Rhodes Scholarship committee? Finally, how much did Williams play up his Rhodes Scholarship candidacy when he was interviewing for the job at Yale. I am hearing rumbling that his Rhodes Scholarship past did play a factor in him getting the job at Yale. If he played up how far along he went in the process and it is thought that he misled the people involved in interviewing him for the Yale job, he could be a former Yale coach soon.

I have found him to be very straight forward in my dealings with him on any and all subjects and I believe that he did receive an endorsement to pursue a Rhodes Scholarship when he was at Stanford and that his pursuit of a pro football career led him to short circuiting any aspirations of going all the way through the Rhodes process. I also think he did a poor job in making distinctions of just how far he went in the Rhodes process during recent interviews. The way he spoke about his past made reporters, including me, refer to him as a Rhodes finalist. He never used those words in describing himself but also never said he considering going after the Rhodes before changing his mind early in the process which seems to be a more accurate portrayal of the events 19 years ago. I find it hard to believe he would make up this stuff about a Rhodes Scholarship candidacy, especially when he had a couple of stints at Stanford where it would have been so easy for him to be caught up in a lie.

Another question I have is where was Yale in verifying the items on his resume when he applied for the job with the Bulldogs. Two months passed between the time that Jack Siedlecki "retired" and Williams was hired. If it comes out that Williams' Rhodes Scholarship claims are false, somebody at Yale will have some major explaining to do.

Something tells me that the post-game interview session tomorrow could be rather interesting considering recent events.

Now on the subject of Witt's decision. Never in all the times I interviewed the quarterback on the Rhodes Scholarship matter did I ever get a sense that missing the Harvard game was an option. He always planned to play on Saturday and said as much when I did the story on him being a Rhodes finalist. The issue was attempting to get an interview when it didn't conflict with the game. Friday interviews have taken place in the past, including back in 2008 when Yale cornerback Casey Gerald had his interview in Houston and was able to make it to Boston to play in The Game. Once Witt realized that there would be no Friday interviews in Atlanta, he made his decision to pull himself out of contention for a Rhodes Scholarship. If there is one question that I wanted to ask Witt and would have if he had not refused interview requests for the last week and a half, it would be why didn't he apply in the New England region. He had that option as a Yale student and logistically would have been more realistic for him to interview for the Rhodes and play in the football game tomorrow.

There have been people critical of Witt saying his claim that he left Nebraska and transferred to Yale to be challenged more academically proves he places sports over academics. I disagree. He carries a 3.9 grade point average at Yale so obviously he has put his money where is mouth is in terms of being a student-athlete. His decision came down to honoring his commitment to the Yale football team. He was there in the spring, in the summer and the fall as an offensive leader and I'd question what his legacy with the Bulldogs would look like if he was a no show for tomorrow's game? I believe Witt's future is still incredibly bright even without a Rhodes Scholarship and his decision did not come as a surprise to me or any of his teammates or coaches. The final act in Witt's picking football over the Rhodes Scholarship will play out tomorrow while Williams story could just be starting to unfold.

Harvard rolls past Yale in JV game

2011-11-18T17:56:00.000-05:00

It was not the best of starts to the football portion of The Game festivities as Yale lost 37-6 to Harvard in the junior varsity version of the game.

A bad snap on a punt, interception and fumble led to three of Harvard's four touchdowns.

Henry Furman played the entire game at quarterback and passed for 120 yards, including a 10-yard touchdown pass to Grant Wallace for Yale’s only points.

Russell Perkins led Yale with five catches for 41 yards while Wynston Bouknight carried the ball nine times for 37 yards.

Defensively, Kolu Buck had a team-high 10 tackles.

Tyler Caveness had scoring runs of 5 and 29 yards while Tyler Hamblin ran for one score and passed for another for Harvard.

There was a scary moment with 3:12 left in the third quarter as freshman linebacker Everett Johnson collided with Harvard quarterback Cory Briggs. Johnson laid motionless on the Yale sideline for an extended period while he was attended to by medical personnel. The good news was that Johnson was later seen on the sideline chatting with teammates.

JV game is today at 1 p.m.

2011-11-18T11:06:00.000-05:00

Injuries and a lack of depth at quarterback and offensive line have limited the number of junior varsity games Yale has played this season but the Bulldogs will host Harvard at 1 p.m. on Clint Frank Field in the final JV game of 2011.

It will be interesting to see what Yale does at quarterback since the Bulldogs only carry four QBs and it would be risky to play either backup QB John Whitelaw or Jake Semones, who has been outstanding as the holder for field goals and extra points.It could be Henry Furman's show for the entire game unless one of the players who came in as quarterbacks and converted to another position return to quarterback today.

This is also a big recruiting weekend for the Bulldogs. Among the recruits expected to be on campus are Derek Ross and his twin brother Dustin, both offensive linemen at Oak Hills in Cincinnati, Notre Dame of West Haven lineman Ludovic Richardson, Cheshire tight end/linebacker Sebastian Little, Berlin linebacker/defensive back Tommy Undercuffler, Xavier lineman Sean Marinan, Tyler Drake, a linebacker out of St. Thomas Aquinas in Ft. Lauderdale (and younger brother of Yale DE Dylan Drake), Bronxville (N.Y.) running backs Christian Conway and Jackson Conway and defensive linemen Pat McHugh out of St. Anthony's (N.Y.) Undercuffler, the Conway brothers and McHugh are the only ones who have orally committed to Yale.

Thomas spreading his wings

2011-11-17T20:03:00.000-05:00

Despite all the hype surrounding senior quarterback Patrick Witt's decision to skip his Rhodes Scholarship final interview so he could play in Saturday's Yale/Harvard game and the recent controversy surrounding how head coach Tom Williams portrayed his own pursuit of the Rhodes Scholarship 19 years ago, there actually is a game on Saturday. So you'll excuse me if I put this Rhodes Scholar stuff on the backburner and turn my attention to one of the key players for Yale

Senior tailback Alex Thomas came to Yale after rewriting the Connecticut High School rushing record book. It seemed like the perfect segue as former New Britain High star Mike McLeod was leaving with most of Yale's rushing records and another homegrown talent would take over for McLeod.

It didn't quite work out like that. Thomas didn't have as good of an offensive line as McLeod did earlier in his career and he was still adjusting to life as an Ivy League student-athlete as a sophomore in 2009. It all came together as Thomas ran for 124 yards against Harvard in the 2009 season finale. Now he will leave among Yale's top 15 career rushers but more than anything, he will depart Yale as a better and more confident person than he was upon arrival.

"Adjusting academically was one of the toughest things I've had to deal with in my life," Thomas said. "I think last year when I felt a little more at ease. I saw an end in sight, I saw the work paying off. It was definitely encouraging to see that improvement. This year, I am a lot more at ease and saw the improvement.

"I would say once I got halfway through my credits, at the end of the sophomore year going into junior year, I knew that I was going to make it. It was not going to be easy. It is still not over, I still have a lot of work to put in ahead. Knowing that there is an end in sight and I was going to make it was definitely encouraging to me and it carried over to every other aspect of my life here, socially and athletically."

Thomas was the leading rusher on Yale's junior varsity team as a freshman but managed just one varsity carry for one yard in 2008. Seeing most of the coaching staff leave after the season didn't make the adjustment go too easily. The new coaching staff knew of Thomas' gaudy high school numbers but also saw a kid still trying to fit in.

"It started to me with his confidence in the classroom,' Williams said. "When I got here, he was coming off that freshman year and he was an introvert, he would hardly look up, his shoulders would slump and it related to the struggle in the classroom and just get situated. Once he started to do better in school and getting used to being at Yale, his productivity increased on the football field. Now he is one of the leaders on our team. It is great to see, he smiles, you can have a conversation, he talks about a lot of stuff. It is great to see a young man blossom like that."

There will be more on Thomas in Saturday's edition of the Register.

Tom Williams clarifies his remarks on his Rhodes Scholarship candidacy

2011-11-17T11:14:00.000-05:00

Yale football coach Tom Williams wanted to clarify the level in which he pursued a Rhodes Scholarship as a senior at Stanford in the early 1990s.

Several publications including the New Haven Register have referred to Williams as a Rhodes Scholarship finalist based on his comments that he faced the same situation that Yale senior quarterback Patrick Witt recently found himself in. The New York Times ran a story saying that the Rhodes Trust does not have a record of anybody by Williams’ name having applied for a Rhodes Scholarship from 1991-93 when Williams would have been eligible to apply.

After Thursday’s practice, Williams addressed the topic stating that he was endorsed by a faculty advisor at Stanford to apply for the Rhodes but never went as far in the process as Witt did.

Williams was asked if he was a finalist for the prestigious academic scholarship.

“No, nor did I intend to,” Williams said. “If I misrepresented that, it wasn't my intention. I was talking about making a choice of pursuing a Rhodes and pursuing an opportunity to keep playing football. That was all that was. We just have to make sure we clarify it. These guys (Yale spokesmen) are here to make sure it gets represented correctly, that is all it was. There is no intention to deceive. I never said I was a finalist for the Rhodes candidacy. The Rhodes shouldn't have any record of me because I didn't do it. I didn't go through the process; I pulled out long before it got to that point.”

Williams’ resume, dating back to his days as a Stanford assistant coach and up to his current biography, has been consistent in referring to him as a Rhodes candidate which would be the case had he been endorsed by Stanford to begin the application process.

Witt, Yale’s all-time leader in passing yards, attempts and completions, was named a Rhodes finalist on Nov. 1. However, with his interview scheduled the same day as the Yale/Harvard game, Witt withdrew from consideration for the Rhodes so he could play on Saturday.

Parking passes are sold out

2011-11-16T16:56:00.000-05:00

Anybody without a parking pass for Saturday's Yale/Harvard game are out of luck as Yale announced that it has sold out of parking passes for The Game. What that means is those people with tickets to the game but without a parking pass will need to park downtown and take a shuttle to the Yale Bowl.

Game tickets are still available for purchase.

Smith, Moyer won't play against Harvard

2011-11-15T16:50:00.000-05:00

An ankle injury will keep Yale's most dangerous receiver out of Saturday's season finale against Harvard and senior linebacker Wes Moyer will also be out after injured his knee in last week's Princeton win. Other than starting tackle Roy Collins, who is still nursing an ankle injury, it looks like Yale will have the rest of its players for The Game.

For those who want to see the future of Yale/Harvard football, the JV game is set for Friday at 1 p.m. at Clint Frank Field. The good news is you won't need a parking pass for that one but if you have tickets for the varsity game and don't have a parking pass by now, you might be out of luck. The only passes left are for lots X and Y behind Yale Field and according to Yale officials, those passes are going quickly.

Update on parking situation for The Game

2011-11-14T19:09:00.002-05:00

Only parking passes for Lots X and Y, behind Yale Field, are remaining for Saturday's Yale/Harvard football game.

Unlike the other Yale home games, no general admission parking will be available for purchase on the day of the game as Yale officials attempt to cut down on traffic jams going into and leaving the Yale Bowl

In order to park at the Bowl for The Game, parking passes are required. Parking passes must be purchased in advance and are available on a first come first served basis. In order to purchase a parking pass, fans must purchase at least two game tickets; two purchased tickets will then entitle them to buy one parking pass.

Parking passes can be purchased online by visiting www.yalebulldogs.com or by calling the Yale Athletics Ticket Office at (203) 432-1400. All Yale Bowl parking lots will open at 8:30 am on Saturday.

There will be shuttle buses taking fans to and from parking lots in downtown New Haven for those who don't have parking passes at Yale Bowl parking lots.

Parking is available for a daily rate of $3 from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. at the Crown Street and Temple Street garages. The Orchard Sherman Lot will also be available at 9 a.m. for a cost of $10. The lot is located between North and South Frontage roads approximately one mile from Yale Bowl.

Witt will be playing against Harvard

2011-11-13T17:04:00.000-05:00

Patrick Witt has decided to play in Saturday's season finale against Havard and is no longer actively pursuing the Rhodes Scholarship.

Witt made the decision official on Sunday, a day after he set Yale's career record for passing yards.

Witt made it through the first two levels of the process for the Rhodes Scholarship and was named a finalist for the prestigious scholarship. His final interview was scheduled for Saturday in Atlanta, meaning that he would have to pick between attending the interview and staying around in case the Rhodes committee requested a follow-up interview or suiting up against Harvard.

“I will be playing in the Yale-Harvard game this Saturday," Witt said in a statement released by Yale. "I have withdrawn my application for the Rhodes Scholarship. My focus this week is solely on preparing for the Game alongside my teammates and coaches.

Jordan Haynes, Patrick Witt Academic All-District selections

2011-11-11T15:41:00.000-05:00

Yale senior linebacker Jordan Haynes and senior quarterback Patrick Witt were named to the Capital One Academic All-District 1 squad.

Haynes, the Yale captain, leads the Bulldogs with 70 tackles and has recovered two fumbles. He also carries a 3.62 grade point average with a double major of political science and international studies.

Witt, a Rhodes Scholar finalist and also a finalist for the Campbell Trophy, had thrown for 1,763 yards with 13 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He already owns Yale's career records in passes completed and attempted and needs 54 yards to break Alvin Cowan's school record for career passing yards.

Friday night Rhodes Interview for Patrick Witt seems unlikely

2011-11-10T15:02:00.002-05:00

I just got off the phone with Elliot F. Gerson, the American Secretary for the Rhodes Trust who said that he does not believe it is possible for Yale senior quarterback Patrick Witt's Rhodes Scholarship final interview to be moved from Nov. 19.

I reached out to him because back in 2008, Yale defensive back Casey Gerald was in the same situation that Witt currently finds himself in. Gerald was able to be interviewed on Friday night in Houston and flew out the next morning to Boston. He made it back in time to play in the Yale/Harvard game.

Gerson said that the region that Witt is a finalist in is not planning to do any Friday night interviews but more importantly, if Witt were to do an interview in Atlanta early on the morning of the 19th, it is not as simple as jumping on a plane bound for Connecticut.

"Very few of the districts interview on Friday and they all interview on Saturday," Gerson said. "Some years, if some of the 16 districts, if they have a lot of people to interview, if they have a long 'short list' somewhere between 10-16 will do some of the interviews on Friday night and do the rest on Saturday. The point that people aren't appreciating here is that the often require reinterviews as well and the reinterview would be some time in the mid to late afternoon so it really isn't possible to leave and be able to come back for a reinterview especially if he is interviewed in Atlanta, even if we gave him an interview Friday night - they don't do it Friday night - but first thing Saturday morning, he couldn't be back to New Haven and then back again in Atlanta for a possible reinterview at 3 o'clock which is the time that the Atlanta district schedules its reinterviews. The reinterview is a critical part of this process as well."

What this means is that Witt has three options.

1) He can play in the game against Harvard and take himself out of contention for the Rhodes Scholarship
2) He can skip the game and take part in the interview and any possible re-interviews requested by the Rhodes Scholarship committee
3) He can defer his decision and apply for a Rhodes Scholarship next year.

"This is not a simple matter involving changing an interview time," Gerson said. "All Rhodes committees meet the same day around the country. The committees have seven members who specially assemble for a reception with the finalists and the interviews and decision. The interview is central to our process, and is not at all like interviews for most other kinds of opportunities or awards or jobs, and where rescheduling an interview would seem an easy matter, and usually is. This is not remotely a matter of deferring to one or even several other peoples' convenience as interviewers, and it involves an intense and dynamic process over two days involving about 20 people each, and simultaneously in 16 committees across the country."

In an e-mail, Gerson provided some more background of the protocol for attending the Rhodes' final interview.

The Rhodes final interviews have been on Saturdays (morning and afternoons) for at least 50 years. We surveyed colleges and our selectors most recently about 5 years ago and Friday/Saturday remained the preferred dates for our finalist reception and interviews.

Any date we might pick would have some students in conflicts. The dates are set a year in advance and are on the application, which has been available since July. Mr. Witt should certainly have known of the conflict when he applied.

The precise interview time for him in Atlanta, which we could change for his convenience within the time allotted for all interviews, is essentially irrelevant in this context. Candidates have to reappear for possible reinterviews at a time set by the secretary just after all candidates have been interviewed once, usually around 3 p.m. on the Saturday. The finalists must remain there until the committee is certain of its decisions and with no further need to reinterview, and until the decisions are announced.

Importantly, this is not Mr. Witt's only chance to apply for a Rhodes Scholarship. Many students apply (or reapply) the year after they graduate from college, and some two or even three years later, as long as they are not yet 24. Many think they will be stronger applicants then and no doubt some choose to apply then because of conflicts such as his, or for other senior year issues, even simply being too busy with senior year academic work, which is intense for most students of the calibre we see. In recent years, we have has as many as 10 of the 32 winners apply after they have graduated.

We have candidates every year miss games for the interview (as others would miss other games and/or concerts, or other important engagements, if it were a day different from Saturday). We of course regret this but some conflicts are sadly inevitable.

Finally, the Rhodes Scholarship is an academic award, and is not an award for "scholar-athletes" despite some popular perception of it in that explicit light. I think the fact that it is often perceived that way makes it somewhat harder for people to appreciate that the problem you decry is simply a kind of regrettable but unavoidable conflict. Athletic success is, famously, a factor in our criteria deriving from the late 19th Century Will of Cecil Rhodes, and we still honor it. But while exceptional sporting success benefits a Rhodes candidate, our selectors look primarily at academic ability and then at factors relating to leadership, character and likely commitment to serving the public good.

We are very sorry when our schedule presents conflicts such as this.

Witt has stated that he knew of the potential conflict if he were selected as a Rhodes Scholarship. Earlier this week, he said that had he suffered a season-ending injury early in the year he would have regretted not applying for the scholarship. He is still weighing his options and his decision will come next week.

Alex Thomas looks good to go

2011-11-10T12:26:00.000-05:00

Alex Thomas looked pretty good in practice on Thursday and after missing the last two games, Yale's leading rusher should be back in the lineup on Saturday against Princeton.

Thomas injured his left knee in the fourth quarter of the Oct. 22 game against Penn. He practiced a bit last week and was a game-time decision but when he came out to test his knee in last week's Brown game, it did not feel right so he was held out. Thomas is anxious to get back into action.
"It's been frustrating, obviously I wanted to get back sooner but I have been rehabbing and doing whatever I could to get back as soon as possible," Thomas said. "It is never fun watching and wanting to be out there."

Yale coach Tom Williams has seen Thomas make tremendous strides in practice this week.
"He looked great," Williams said. "I teased him, I said 'is the A-Train back? He said 'it is more like the trolley right now but I am getting close.' He looked good today and he is getting close, he made some good cuts where he looked like the old Alex."

There was no sign of junior receiver Chris Smith at practice so I'd be surprised to see him in action on Saturday when Yale plays at Princeton.

As has been the custom all season long, NFL scouts were checking out Yale's practice. On Thursday, representatives from the Indianapolis Colts and Miami Dolphins were in attendance. On Tuesday, the Dallas Cowboys had a scout at practice.

The Yale admissions department is currently looking over the transcripts and applications of some players who have committed to Yale including Berlin's Tommy Undercuffler, who projects as a linebacker/safety for the Bulldogs. Others looking to get the approval include Bronxville (N.Y.) High brothers Christian and Jackson Conway, Lake Brantley (Fla.) linebacker Adam VanValkenburg and New Jersey prospects Matt Rubino and Roger Kilgore.

Finally, if you want to hear Williams' thoughts on the Penn State situation and firing of legendary head coach Joe Paterno, here is a video on the suhttp://www.nhregister.com/video/?va_id=3010597&pl_id=21367&ref=syndbject

Patrick Witt's scheduling dilemma story picking up steam

2011-11-08T20:29:00.000-05:00

Patrick Witt has heard the "I'd love to be faced with that problem" so many times in the last week or so that he simply lost track. However, he doesn't look at the possibility of either skipping the Harvard game in a week in a half or kissing goodbye his dreams of becoming a Rhodes Scholar as a win-win situation.

“It’s exciting and stressful,” Witt said. “To be named a finalist is a huge honor and something I am excited about. At the same time, different people are weighing in on the issue and I don't want to let anybody down so it is a distraction, I wouldn't say it’s a welcome distraction. It is obviously a great opportunity but at the same time, I'd love to have a decision made and move forward from here knowing what I am going to do.

“It is tough. I lean on people around me, I lean on my family, on Coach (Tom Williams) to help me make the decision but it is difficult. There are people who will second guess your decision and think you are wrong and that is fine. I will make the right decision for me, my team and the university.”

When Witt began the process of applying for the Rhodes Scholarship, he was fully aware that if he became a finalist, the interview would take place in Atlanta in the morning of the Yale/Harvard game. Knowing of the possibility of being asked to stay behind for a follow-up interview would mean not playing in his final collegiate game.

“I don't know if a clear answer is going to reveal itself to me so I have to make the best decision with the information I do have but in a lot of ways this is a decision of principle,” Witt said. “Coach mentioned that leadership is a major facet on who they select as candidates and as finalists. My big arena to display my leadership is on the football field as the quarterback. I have a duty to uphold and in some ways if I were to attend the interview and miss the game, I wouldn't be acting as the leader that they selected.”

Witt’s dilemma, which was the subject of a report on the NBC Nightly News on Monday, drew writers from the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News Service to Yale’s weekly media gathering at Mory’s on Tuesday. Representatives from the Dallas Morning News, Boston Globe and NCAA.com have also requested an interview with Witt.

Witt’s hope is that his Rhodes interview could be moved so he could both go to the interview and play in the game. That is what happened in 2008 when Yale defensive back Casey Gerald was faced with the same situation. Gerald was able to interview the night before The Game and fly out the following morning.

That possibility still exists and there is a lot of work behind closed doors to try to make that happen.

“I am still in contact with the folks at the Rhodes,” Witt said. “I am still trying to work out some kind of solution from this. When I hear definitively one way or another, I'll go back and make my decision based on that. At this point, it is all speculation because I haven't made a decision yet. Hopefully I won't have to. I will continue to exhaust every means possible.

“They (the Rhodes committee members) are very understanding. In their defense, these dates were set long before the season started. I knew when they were. I understood the conflict that could exist and I guess in some ways I held out hope that we could work around it.

Yale football coach Tom Williams was faced with a similar decision when he was Witt's age. The timing of the Rhodes final interviews was a little different but he had to pick between attending a San Francisco 49ers training camp after wrapping up an impressive career at Stanford or heading to his Rhodes Scholarship interview. Williams picked football and has no regrets.

"He and I have talked frequently about this situation and I still believe you have to follow your heart, whatever your heart tells you," Williams said. "If you do that, you won't be disappointed, you won't have any regrets. I am one of those people that say you live your life with no regrets and just told him to soul search and do what feels right. I think if you do that, you can't go wrong.

"I think you would be inhuman if you didn't have stress associated with this. I just think the nature of this decision can weigh on you and you have the media, you have preparation for your games, nothing changes. You still have all these things you have to take care of and are involved in addition to this heavy decision you have to make."

Alex Thomas on pace to return to field

2011-11-08T13:31:00.000-05:00

Senior running back Alex Thomas was not ruled out of Saturday's game against Brown until about an hour before kickoff. But he was back at practice on Tuesday and Yale coach Tom Williams believes he will be good to go after missing the last two games with a knee injury.

"He got some reps early in practice and then we shut it down," Williams said. "I talked to him right after and he said it felt.. I fully expect to have him on Saturday. I thought we would have him on last Saturday but he said when he was warming up, it didn't feel good. He came out ready to go, he went through all the motions and wasn't ready."

The news isn't as positive on junior receiver Chris Smith, who had a walking boot on his right foot after injuring his ankle on Saturday.

"I don't know if he will have him on Saturday," Williams said. "The walking boot on Tuesday is a precaution. Tomorrow we will reevaluate it and see if he can get some reps. I would anticipate him not being available this weekend.. That was kind of a freak deal.

"He made that one-handed catch and the guy fell on the back of his leg and rolled him up. Totally different injury. He is tough and if there is a way he can go, he will go."

Yale used both Philippe Panico and Kyle Cazzetta on field-goal tries on Tuesday and Williams didn't rule out making a change this week.
"The placekicking thing, we have to find a guy to get points when we have to go out and get points and do it when it is a big game," Williams said. "Competition always but we are always making a bigger emphasis of it this week. He's been great as a punter but he can also do that. When he kicks the ball, it goes (up). He has a nice little lob wedge but we have to get his timing a little quicker, He is coming. I would like him not to have to focus on that (field goals and extra points) but if we have to..

Williams has not ruled out making a switch at punt returner either Gio Christodoulou lost fumbles in the fourth quarter in each of the last two games. Christodoulou is Yale's all-time leader in punt return yardage but when the team works on punt returns tomorrow, both Christodoulou and Deon Randall will get looks.

"We are competing there. We will give a chance to give him and Deon back there and the best guy is going to play on Saturday," Williams said.

Patrick Witt's scheduling dilemma to be featured on tonight's NBC Nightly News

2011-11-07T13:48:00.000-05:00

NBC Nightly News will air a piece tonight on the scheduling conflict Yale senior quarterback Patrick Witt could be faced with on Nov. 19.

A crew was on campus on Friday and at Yale's game with Brown on Saturday getting interviews and footage for the story and here is a link to a portion of the interview

For those who haven't been following the story, Witt is a Rhodes Scholarship finalist and his final interview is scheduled for Nov. 19 in Atlanta. That is the same day that Yale hosts Harvard in the regular-season finale. Three years ago, the Dallas regional committee allowed Yale cornerback Casey Gerald to do his final interview on Friday night. He was able to fly out first thing Saturday morning and get to Harvard Stadium in time for the game. Yale officials, who played a key role in getting Gerald's interview moved, are attempting to do the same for Witt.

When I spoke to him for a story I wrote on the subject last week, Witt said his inclination is to honor his commitment to his team. He is scheduled to be in attendance at tomorrow's gathering at Mory's with media members so look for an update on the subject at some point tomorrow.

NBC Nightly News is slated to start at 6:30 p.m.

Another reported Yale commitment

2011-11-07T10:31:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since my last recruiting update although that could be changing. This is normally the time of the year when likely letters start going out to recruits who have been given the OK from the Yale admissions department for early admission.

In the meantime, the Orlando Sentinel is reporting that linebacker Adam VanValkenburg out of Lake Brantley High has committed to Yale.

I'd expect that VanValkenburg as well as the Conway brothers out of Bronxville, N.Y. High and Holy Spirit (N.J.) receiver Matt Rubino to be among the first players to receive likely letters from Yale.

Taking a look at Ivy League race

2011-11-06T12:00:00.000-05:00

Here's the look at what needs to happen for Yale to have a chance at the Ivy League title.

Obviously, Yale has to beat Princeton and Harvard.

Next week Penn needs to beat Harvard and then the Quakers have to lose to Cornell. Brown would need to lose to either Dartmouth on Saturday or Columbia on Nov. 19.

Stranger things have happened but I don't see Brown losing another game nor can I see Penn falling to Cornell. If Penn can beat Harvard, at least there will be a little drama heading into The Game. If Harvard wins on Saturday, the Crimson will clinch at least a share of the Ivy League title.

Mistakes prove costly in Yale's loss to Brown

2011-11-05T17:46:00.000-04:00

As stunning as it was to believe, had a Yale player recovered the ball on Brown's final offensive play, the Bulldogs may have been able to walk out of the Yale Bowl with an Ivy League championship still within their grasps.

In a mistake-prone game, Brown quarterback Kyle Newhall-Caballero fumbled the ball when all the Bears needed to do was take a knee and let the final seconds tick off the clock. After a wild scramble, it was ruled that Brown maintained possession and as a result, earned a 34-28 victory.

Capitalizing on three Patrick Witt interceptions and a key fumble by punt returner Gio Christodoulou, the Bears had a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter before the Bulldogs mounted a frantic comeback.

Patrick Witt, who passed for two scores and ran for two more, had a 2-yard touchdown run and an 18-yard TD pass to Mordecai Cargill to pull within 34-28 with 1:28 to play. That set the stage for the final fumble in the game. Yale senior defensive tackle Reed Spiller came out of the pile with the ball but the officials ruled that Brown had already been awarded possession.

"I know we had our hands on it, they had their hands on it," Williams said. "The officials said that he ruled simultaneous possession to them, that is what he told me on the sideline."

The fact of the matter is that the Bulldogs were fortunate to even be within six points at game's end. Yale had enough miscues to last a season and those mistakes mean the Bulldogs would need all sorts of help to be able to go into the season-ending Harvard game in position to earn a share of the Ivy League title.

"We were playing until the last second, we had guys grabbing trying to get the ball but the fact of the matter is that we didn't play well enough to win in a game of that magnitude," Williams said. "We turned the ball over too many times, we didn't take advantage of good field position to score and we gave up a couple of easy touchdowns defensively. We had a punt blocked for no reason at all. If you do things in a game of this magnitude against a good team like Brown, you are going to lose the game. We had plenty of opportunities to have a good day and we didn't do it.

"It starts with me. I have to figure out the right buttons ti push with my football team so that we can execute with poise in a game of this magnitude. This is the point in the season with a team that has been around for at least three years with our staff that we felt confident that we would be able to finish these types of games and to have those things pop up in the biggest game of the year is a head scratcher to me."

Speaking of head scratchers, I asked Williams about the curious play call of having Deon Randall run the ball out of the Wildcat formation with Yale having a 2nd and 3 on the Brown 5. Randall was thrown for an eight-yard loss and Philippe Panico missed a 30-yard field goal. I know Yale was struggling to run the ball at that point but I'd take my chances with a powerful back like Cargill getting a couple of cracks into the 5 rather than the Wildcat.
"That is a play that we practiced all week in that situation and we didn't execute the blocking of it," Williams said. "There was a particular block that needed to be made. It wasn't and that caused us to move backwards. It came down to execution, we liked the play, we knew what we were going to get from it. When you aren't able to execute plays, it doesn't really matter what you call."

It also didn't help that Yale gave up the longest run in Brown football history as Mark Kachmar had 95 of his 192 rushing yards on the Bears' third offensive play. The Bulldogs had a hard time defending both the run and pass in the first half. Brown helped Yale come back by going a bit conservative in its offensive play calling in the second half.
"You kind of knew they had it in them with the kind of skill that they had to come back but when you are up by three touchdowns, it is a matter of getting first downs and we blew it down there," Brown coach Phil Estes said of Yale's late offensive barrage.

"We were up 20 points and we are going to be OK. We have to get some first downs and we just couldn't get the first downs. The problem is you just start watching the clock. You don't want to throw. They have great skill at receiver, great skill at running back, defensively they play some soft coverages but they really wrap up, they hit hard and tackle hard."

Yale senior running back Alex Thomas missed his second straight game with a knee injury while Chris Smith appeared to suffer an ankle injury in the second half. If there was a positive for Yale, it is the continued emergence of freshman defensive end E.J. Conway who had another strong game.

Witt finished with 370 yards and is now just 69 yards shy of Alvin Cowan's Yale career record. Speaking of Witt, a film crew from NBC Nightly News was on campus yesterday following Witt around and also at today's game. They are planning to run a segment on Monday's show about Witt's potential conflict with his final Rhodes Scholarship interview. The interview was set for the morning of Nov. 19 in Atlanta and if it is not shifted to the previous day, Witt would have to choose between playing in The Game and going to interview for the most prestigious scholarship in this country.

Alex Thomas not in pads

2011-11-05T11:27:00.000-04:00

Looks like Yale is going to err on the side of caution with senior running back Alex Thomas. Thomas, who missed last week's game against Columbia with a knee injury, practiced on a limited basis during the week but he came out in sweatpants, without shoulder pads and without a helmet so I am taking that as a pretty good indication that he will be held out for another week.

Receiver Chris Smith is out during pre-game drills so he is back for the Bulldogs.

Gavin to miss rest of the season

2011-11-03T10:53:00.000-04:00

There has been mostly good news coming out of the Yale football camp this week in terms of injuries as offensive tackle Roy Collins, receiver Chris Smith and running back Alex Thomas returned to practice. But the news was not all positive. Starting left tackle Wes Gavin will need surgery on his injured ankle and will miss the rest of the season.

"The ankle is going to require some surgery and he is not going to be able to make it back," Williams said. "They want to do it ASAP so pretty soon so it is just a matter of clearing out his schedule and getting it done."

Freshman Ben Carbery has played well in Gavin's absence so he will become the starter at left tackle for the rest of the season.

Of the previously-mentioned trio, Collins has been in there the most at practice this week although all three should be able to play against Brown on Saturday.

"Smith is good to go, Thomas is good to go although he is still gimpy but he practiced a little bit today and Roy Collins is good to go," Williams said.

Collins should move back into his starting right tackle spot. While it's no guarantee that Smith and Thomas will start, look for them in the game. That won't make the Brown coaches happy since Smith and Thomas played starring roles in Yale's 27-24 win over Brown last year. Smith returned kickoffs 79 and 83 yards for touchdowns in a span of 2:23 in the second quarter and also caught a team-high six passes. Thomas ran for 121 yards including a 27-yard TD.
One change in the starting lineup I have neglected to mention is that Brian Leffler has moved ahead of Wes Moyer at linebacker.
"We gave him an opportunity to start (against Columbia), he played well last week against Columbia so he is going to get that start this week against Brown. "He is stouter and against a team like Brown that really likes to establish the run game, he is a better match for what they do. With the competition that he was have at that position, we feel like he has played better than Wes at this point so we gave him an opportunity last week and he held serve so he gets the nod again this week. We will still play multiple guys but he will be the first guy out."

When Williams addressed the team after Thursday's practice, he told the team he thought it was a good week of practice. He also emphasized that the Bears are in the same situation as Yale in terms of being able to win the Ivy League title by winning out. That is not entirely accurate. Yale would earn at least a share of the title by winning its last three games since the Bulldogs would have to beat first-place Harvard (the only Ivy League team unbeaten in conference play). Brown would need to win and have Harvard lose a game in order to claim a portion of the title. Still, Saturday's game has the feel of an elimination game. It certainly makes it easy to get motivated for the early-morning practices at this time of the year.
"I think it changes the energy level," Williams said. "I think our guys come out with energy anyway but certainly when you have something to play for and you are back in the hunt, it makes it more enjoyable with a goal in mind. You have something you can touch out there. We were in the same situation last year playing Brown at Brown, we have some experience from last year. I like playing at home this year. We haven't been at home in a long time so this will be great, it should be a great game."

Practice ended on Thursday will Williams having senior defensive end Austin Pulsipher address the team. Pulsipher is the only Yale player to have an Ivy League championship ring. He was a reserve on the 2006 Yale team before taking a two-year Mormon mission.

Another honor for Cargill; Heroes Day update

2011-11-02T15:32:00.000-04:00

Yale junior running back Mordecai Cargill added the Golden Helmet to his weekly haul of individual awards.

Cargill ran 42 times for a career-high 230 yards in Yale's 16-13 win over Columbia on Saturday. It was the fourth highest single-game total in Yale history and second most against an Ivy League opponent.

Cargill is the first Yale player to earn the New England Football Writers’ Gridiron Club of Greater Boston Gold Helmet Award this year.

Also, there has been an impressive response for Yale's Heroes Day event as more than 200 military members including the following groups:

U.S. Navy, Submarine Base Group

National Guard
US Army
Yale Veterans Council
Yale Veterans Association (an alumni veterans group)
Yale Police
US Coast Guard

Yale is inviting military veterans, active service members, police officers, and firefighters along with their families to Saturday's home game against Brown.

Tickets as well as pre-game food and drinks will be handed out at the Heroes Tailgate located in the Hospitality Village. For more information contact Jennifer O’Neil at (203) 432-1414 or jennifer.oneil@yale.edu.

Tough decision could be coming for Patrick WItt

2011-11-02T09:53:00.000-04:00

Yale senior quarterback Patrick Witt received the call he had been hoping for on Monday when he got word that he made it through the second level of consideration and was a Rhodes Scholarship finalist. However, his exhilaration did not last long. Witt knew when he applied for the Rhodes that the final interview is scheduled for the weekend of the Yale/Harvard game. Now there is a chance that he will have to pick between going to the interview in Atlanta (since that is the district he applied in) or playing in his final game at Yale.

"I had thought about it even before applying. I was aware when the interview weekend was," Witt said. "I am not exactly sure how this works. I met with all the people at Yale who can reach out and potential work out a solution to this."

Back in 2008 Yale cornerback Casey Gerald was faced with the same dilemma. Fortunately, with some assistance from the academic community at Yale, cooled heads prevailed and Rhodes committee allowed Gerald to conduct his interview on Friday. Gerald flew in for the Yale/Harvard game the following day.

The folks at Yale who have aided Witt in his pursuit of the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship have already started the process of trying to allow Witt to interview for the Rhodes and still be able to play in The Game.
"I believe all the Rhodes committees from each region have a bit of autonomy with decisions such as this so it is really up to them," Witt said. "I am hopeful that something will get worked out but there is really no way to know."

I asked him point blank if he had to choose, which one would be choose.

"The commitment I made to this team I believe would come first and I would want to honor that," Witt said. "It wouldn't feel right letting them down for not being there for the Harvard/Yale game."

Here's the story I wrote on the subject for today's Register

Collins, Smith and Thomas back at practice

2011-11-01T11:24:00.000-04:00

It's looking like Yale's offense is getting closer to being at full strength.

Offensive tackle Roy Collins, receiver Chris Smith and running back Alex Thomas took part in Tuesday's practice in varying degrees. All three players were injured in the loss to Penn. They were all held out of practice last week and missed Saturday's game against Columbia.

Collins, who injured his ankle, saw the most action on Tuesday. In the time I was there, he saw most of the time at right tackle with the starters. Thomas, who suffered a knee injury against the Quakers, was in the backfield for a handful of snaps. Smith, who has missed two games with a tender hamstring, did not take part in an team drills but did some individual workouts.

"(Thomas) is still a little tender but he got a few reps in today," Yale coach Tom Williams said. "Roy was back and pretty close to full speed and Chris was back. He didn't go through everything but he did go through individual (drills) and tomorrow we are going to try to get him some team reps and just kind of slowly ramp him up. I think we are getting closer to where we need to be health wise. They should be available for Saturday. Obviously the next couple of days will be important for Chris and Alex to get full-speed reps but they are on their way. The plan today is try to ease them into it and tomorrow and Thursday get them ready for game speed."

Starting left tackle Wes Gavin is still unable to practice because of an ankle injury and seems unlikely to be back for Saturday's game against Brown.

SEMONES HOLDING STEADY
I didn't get a complete sense of the quality of the hold on Philippe Panico's 38-yard field goal under white-out conditions on Saturday until I replayed the tape of the game.

The snap on the kick was low and slightly wide but sophomore Jake Semones calmly snared the snap and was able to get it down in time for Panico to make the kick for the first points in Yale's 16-13 win.

"I couldn't see it on the field because his back was to me and also because of the snow," Williams said. "That ball was about this low off the ground (holding his hands about an inch or two apart) and to the side. He picked it and got it back in place with no problem at all. That is why he is so valuable.

"His holds have been like that all year and Philippe has great confidence in him. That is what made a difference in the kick, the fact that Philippe did not have to break stride at all. It was the difference in the game. I thought three points might be enough to win it and it ended up being the difference. It was a great hold, unbelievable but he has been like that all year. I think I was watching the TV copy and the guys said that the holder never gets any attention unless he drops the ball. That has been great because Jake has been good the whole year."

Cargill honored by Ivy League

2011-10-31T15:51:00.002-04:00

Yale junior running back Mordecai Cargill was named the Ivy League's Offensive Player of the Week after rushing for a career-high 230 yards including scoring runs of 19 and 4 yards in a 16-13 win at Columbia on Saturday.

Cargill's effort was the fourth best rushing total in Yale history and just five yards shy of the school record in an Ivy League game as Robert Carr ran for 235 yards against Cornell in 2002. Cargill, who had 153 of those yards in the second half, allowed the Bulldogs to make some Ivy League history. With Alex Thomas running for 204 yards the previous week against Penn, it is the first two an Ivy team had two different runners top the 200-yard rushing mark in consecutive games.

Cargill's 42 rushing attempts is four shy of Yale's single-game record set by Rich Diana against Princeton in 1981.

Cargill was also on the six Football Championship Subdivision players named by the College Football Performance Awards as "running back performer of the week."

Some info from Yale on upcoming home games

2011-10-30T21:22:00.000-04:00

Yale's athletic department has sent out some info pertaining to the last home football games of the year. First, military veterans, active service members, police officers, and firefighters along with their families will get free tickets to Saturday's game against Brown.

There will be a Heroes Tailgate located in the Hospitality Village to pick up the tickets. For information, contact Jennifer O’Neil at (203) 432-1414 or jennifer.oneil@yale.edu.

Also, for the second straight time there will be no general admission parking passes sold for the Nov. 19 Harvard game.

Here is the part of the release from Yale regarding the parking passes.

All parking at the Bowl will require a purchased pass. Parking passes must be purchased in advance and are available on a first come first served basis. In order to purchase a parking pass, fans must purchase at least two game tickets; two purchased tickets will then entitle them to buy one parking pass. Yale students and Yale employees can purchase one parking pass by visiting the Yale Athletics Ticket Office and providing proper identification. Fans without Yale Bowl parking should plan to park downtown, in the new subsidized option described below, or make other arrangements for transportation and parking.

There are approximately 4,000 available parking spaces around the Yale Bowl and these will be sold until they have been allocated. Yale does expect to sell out the parking passes in advance. Parking passes for regular-sized vehicles are being sold for $20.00. A limited number of oversized vehicle and bus parking passes are on sale for $25.00. All parking passes can be purchased online at the Yale Athletics Tickets website or by calling the Yale Athletics Ticket Office at (203) 432-1400. All Yale Bowl parking lots will open at 8:30 am on Nov. 19.

Yale and the City of New Haven will have shuttle bus service for fans. As the game gets closer, I will post the locations or you can head to Yale website for the details.
Tickets for the Yale Harvard Game are available. Premium Reserved Tickets are $30, Side Reserved Tickets are $15 and General Admission Tickets are $8. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit the Yale Athletics Tickets website or by calling the Yale Athletics Ticket Office at (203) 432-1400.

Snow, Yale offensive line dominate Columbia

2011-10-29T21:09:00.001-04:00

When the Ivy League announces its weekly player of the week, it would be fitting for one or more of Yale's offensive linemen to get the nod. Of course, there would have been a better chance of finding a sun bather at Saturday's Yale/Columbia game.

In a game played in a surprisingly potent storm, Yale made some Ivy League history.

After paving the way for Alex Thomas to run for 204 yards in a loss to Penn, the Yale starting offensive line of Ben Carbery, Gabe Fernandez, John Oppenheimer, Colin Kruger and James Talerico were at it again as Mordecai Cargill ran for 230 yards in the 16-13 win over Columbia.

I went through the record books for the Ivy teams and as far as I can tell, it is the first time an Ivy team had two backs rush for 200 yards in consecutive games. What makes the feat so impressive is that the Bulldogs were playing without both starting tackles as both Wes Gavin and Roy Collins were out with ankle injuries.

"Our O-line has really come together," said Cargill, who surpassed the 1,000-yard mark in career rushing yards late in the game. "It was (unfortunate) that Roy and Wes went down but we have a lot of solidarity up front. Our O-line is starting to mesh and we are looking to build momentum going forward."

I asked Columbia coach Norries Wilson how impressive it is to have two backs run for 200 yards in back to back games and I had to laugh at his response.

"I think Nebraska does it every week," Wilson said. "I think just looking at the stats, they have been intermixing the two backs. I don’t know what’s wrong with 41 (Thomas, who missed the game with a knee injury), we didn ‘t know he wasn’t going to play but (Cargill) made the most of his opportunity and they did a good job blocking for him.

"They are a real good group. They are playing Carbery as a freshman, they have a freshman who played last year (Gavin) who is a really good player. I really like 57 (Roy Collins). I think they have done a good job of playing some athletic kids who can play offensive line. They can reach block on the second step, they do a real good job of protecting their quarterback."

It is NOT the first time Yale had a 200-yard rusher in consecutive games as Robert Carr accomplished the feat in games against Cornell and Holy Cross but it is the first time it was done by different running backs.

A few defensive details thanks to Jordan Haynes since it was extremely difficult to make out many of the plays. On the fumble recovered by Will McHale which led to Panico's field goal, McHale deflected a pass which was caught by a Columbia lineman. Cliff Foreman then jarred the ball free and McHale recovered. Haynes recovered a fumble after a huge submarine tackle. Again, I couldn't make out the player and he said it was Kurt Stottlemyer. Because of the conditions made passing extremely difficult, Yale was able to aggressive blitz its defensive backs on obvious passing situations. Collin Bibb led the way with two tackles for a loss including a sack.

Wilson was asked whether he felt the play before Nick Okano's game-clinching interception should have been called pass interference.

"You have to ask the official on that side, it doesn’t matter what I think," Wilson said.

The Yale players heard that Brown beat Penn 6-0 as the Bulldogs were running the final few seconds off the clock. Now Yale can clinch no worse than a share of the Ivy League title it it wins its final three games. Had Penn won out, Yale would not be able to catch the Quakers in the standings.

The main focus on my game story is on Cargill's monster effort and the fact that Yale did not attempt a pass in the second half. I have a notebook with reaction from Yale players about the winter wonderland they played in as well as Philippe Panico somehow getting a 38-yard field goal through the uprights.

Speaking of the snow, Yale history buff Bob Barton (a former New Haven Register copy editor and regular at Yale games for years) came up with a list of other Yale games of the last 50 years impacted by snow.

Temple 1953 (Yale 32-6) early November, probably 4 inches

Harvard 1955 (Yale 21-7), probably 2-3 inches

Princeton 1967, there were snowflakes but rain, thunder, little of everything, no accumulation

Think there was also a little snow at Princeton in 1985, but nothing serious.
I am thinking that if you said this was the most serious snow during a game in more than half a century, you'd be right.

Info on live blog

2011-10-29T10:56:00.000-04:00

As promised, here is the link to the live blog.

The blog is up and running with Chris Hunn providing updates from the UNH game. I will start posting to the blog in about 30-45 minutes

I'll be blogging live from Columbia tomorrow

2011-10-29T00:02:00.000-04:00

I will be blogging live from the Yale/Columbia game beginning around 11:45 a.m. I'll be putting up a link when I get to the stadium tomorrow or you can check the http://www.nhregister.com/ website for a link to the blog.

Update on Alex Thomas

2011-10-27T11:29:00.004-04:00

It was a bit of good news mixed in with some bad for Alex Thomas regarding his knee injury.

The senior running back from Ansonia, who ran for a career-high 204 yards in Saturday's loss to Penn, underwent tests on his injured knee on both Sunday and Tuesday.

While the results of Sunday's tests were inconclusive, the second examination revealed an injured posterior cruciate ligament. As a result, he will be forced to miss Saturday's game at Columbia. It could have been worse and put him on the sidelines for the rest of his senior season.

Thomas spoke about the situation after Thursday's practice.

"There is not a tear, it is just a PCL injury," Thomas said. "I am going to sit this weekend and hope to be back next week. I have a brace on and I am just rehabbing like a maniac right now trying to get back to where I need to be."

Thomas, who is third in the Ivy League with an average of 99.5 rushing yards per game, was understandably concerned about his availability for the rest of the season after falling awkwardly in the fourth quarter of the Penn game.

"You never know, you know something doesn’t feel right but you don’t know what it is until the doctor tells you," Thomas said. "At the beginning of the week, I was just playing the waiting game and hoping and praying for the best. This is not the best news, I have to sit a week which is not what I want to do but (realizing) that I get to play three more games here at Yale, it means a lot."

While Thomas may not consider missing this week's game "good" news, Yale coach Tom Williams believes that is about the best possible outcome.

"It is as positive as it could be hearing from the doctors that he is going to have the chance to get the strength back and continue playing," Williams said. "Obviously he has been a great player for us this season but him being able to finish his senior season would be important for him and important for us."

Mordecai Cargill is an experienced tailback for Yale with 769 career yards including 73 in the 2009 win at Columbia. Deon Randall may see more snaps at running back, although he may also be called upon to pick up the slack for injured receiver Chris Smith. Other options figure to be fullback Elijah Thomas, who was a tailback as a freshman, and freshman walk on Wynston Bouknight.

"Mo (Cargill) knows what he is doing and Wynston and Elijah both know what they are doing, they have a good grasp of the offense," Thomas said. "I am here to answer any questions they have, I am here on the sideline each and every play. I am pretty confident in the guys that we have. I know they are pretty confident and excited to get out there on Saturday."

Witt named finalist for Campbell Trophy

2011-10-26T11:18:00.003-04:00

Yale senior quarterback Patrick Witt was one of 16 players named as finalists for the Campbell Trophy, often referred to as the academic Heisman Trophy.

Of the 16 players honored as part of the National Football Foundation's recognition of the nation's top scholar-athletes, Witt was the only Ivy League player to make the list.

Witt will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship and will be honored along with the other finalists at the 54th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 6 at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. The winner of the Campbell Trophy will be announced at the dinner.

Witt is a history major with a 3.89 grade-point average. He has completed 58.5 percent of his passes for 1,377 yards with 11 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He is Yale's all-time leader with 463 completions, needs three attempts to become the Yale leader in that category. Witt needs 440 passing yards and 11 TD passes to become Yale's career leader in those categories.

BANNON PLACED ON INJURED LIST
Former Yale fullback/h-back Shane Bannon whirlwind rookie season took another turn when he was placed on the practice squad's injury list by the Kansas City Chiefs.

Bannon was drafted by the Chiefs in the seventh round but was a late cut before being placed on practice squad. Bannon was cut from the practice squad last month only to be brought back a few days later.

Officially, Tom Williams not a happy camper

2011-10-25T22:06:00.001-04:00

In his 2 1/2 seasons at Yale's head coach, Tom Williams has gained a reputation for not sugar coating things and speaking his mind. So it should not have come as a surprise when he didn't pull any punches when he was asked about the 10 penalties Yale was called for in Saturday's loss at Pennsylvania and if it was a concern heading forward.

Williams categorized the officiating in the game as "poor." He was especially perturbed at - among other things - what he perceived to be three uncalled helmet to helmet hits by Penn defenders on Yale quarterback Patrick Witt. The flagging of helmet to helmet hits has been a particular point of contention since the Ivy League suspended Yale sophomore safety Nick Okano for the Lafayette game for a hit he made in the fourth quarter of the Dartmouth game.

Here is what else he had to say about the officiating in the Penn game at Yale's weekly media gathering with Williams and a couple of his players (senior defensive tackle Jake Stoller and sophomore receiver Cam Sandquist were the players present on Tuesday).

"I am taking issue with it because every big game I have coached in since I have been here has been like that and it hasn't been very good. And I have video evidence of it. It is not great. My hands are up in the air right now because I am not exactly sure what can be done with it but I know there were some bad no-calls which are sometimes worse than the ones that are called. We have not been a very heavily penalized team since the first game of the season and we had 10 on Saturday which is unheard of for our football team. Most of them were questionable. I have a real issue with that. I don't know what is going on but I do know that it affected the outcome of the game. We have to do our part, don't get me wrong. We have to field the sky kick, we have to not fumble the kickoff return, we have to execute the 3rd and 1 and do all the things that we have to do to win the game but we don't need any help from the officials. We do enough on our own. Those are real concerns that I have. I think a lot of those calls are bogus to be quite honest with you, that is my answer to your question about penalties."

There will be those who will view Williams' words as sour grapes but the fact is that he has voiced his dissatisfaction with the officiating with me after wins and he is quick to give Penn credit for the victory. I believe he feels that his complaints about the officiating in the Ivy League have fallen on deaf ears so he is going public with his thoughts. I am sure his quotes will not be well received at Ivy League headquarters but I am also sure he will not back off his words even if discipline comes from the league.

Not much to report on injury front

2011-10-25T12:41:00.002-04:00

Injured offensive starters Roy Collins (tackle), Chris Smith (receiver) and Alex Thomas (running back) did not take part in Tuesday's practice but none of them have been ruled out for Saturday's game at Columbia.

Yale coach Tom Williams said that Collins, who injured his ankle, and Smith, who reaggravated a hamstring issue he had earlier this season, are considered to be day to day. Both Collins and Smith were at practice in uniform but did not take part in drills. I did not see Thomas there and his situation is a little more up in the air.

Williams said that tests on Thomas' injured knee were "inconclusive" and he was undergoing further tests today.
Williams is hoping that Smith can return to practice as early as tomorrow.

"I think he wil get some more opportunity tomorrow to practice," Williams said. "We gave him Tuesday to get an extra day of healing. AT (Thomas) is going to see a doctor today. We didn't get the clear information yesterday. (Tackle Wes) Gavin (who has missed the last two games with an ankle injury) probably be out for another couple of weeks."

What this means is that Yale could play at Columbia on Saturday without both of its starting offensive tackles, leading rusher and leading receiver.

"This is the time of the year when teams get beat up," Williams said. "We are coming off a difficult couple of weeks. It does erode your depth but fortunately we have guys who are ready and willing to step up. We have good running backs so Mo (Cargill) will have a chance to step up, Wynston Bouknight - a young guy, Deon Randall will get a chance to play some running back as well. The depth issues are very challenging but I think if we prepare like we are capable of preparing, those guys should be ready to play."

In my opinion, the most intriguing story to emerge out of Yale's loss to Penn on Saturday was the performance of sophomore offensive lineman James Talerico.

Talerico started at guard against Cornell before suffering an Achilles injury that was feared to be of the season-ending variety. He returned to practice last week and took part in two practices including one at tackle. When Collins went down, freshman William Chism got the call but after getting beaten for a sack bringing the end to an offensive series. Talerico was in there on the next series and played the rest of the game at right tackle. Talerico was with right tackle with the first unit at practice and if Collins can't play, Talerico should get his first career start at tackle.

I spoke with Talerico following practice and he will be the focus of the story in tomorrow's paper.

Mante reflects on UFL experience

2011-10-24T17:51:00.001-04:00

Ever since graduating from Yale in 2010, all Tom Mante wanted was a chance to prove he was good enough to punt at the professional level.

Although he failed to stick following a tryout with the NFL's Chicago Bears, Mante finally got his wish when he beat out two other punters to earn a spot with the Omaha Nighthawks of the United Football League.

The UFL's financial instability and an elbow injury limited Mante to just three games but he hopes it was enough to draw interest from the NFL.

Mante struggled in his first game, averaging just 30.4 yards on five punts including a 17-yard effort. Mante chalked that effort up to a case of first-game jitters.

"The first game that we played against Virginia, I was nervous and a bit anxious," Mante said. "I was doing too much thinking instead of just going out there and punting. After that, I took a step back and realized I was putting too much pressure on myself. After that week of practice, I got a lot more comfortable with our snapper and our protection. I think that showed because in the last (two) games that I played, I averaged 43 yards a punt."

Mante only punted once for 39 yards in the next game against Sacramento. Against Las Vegas, Mante had punts of 50 and 53 yards and finished with an average of 43 yards on the five punts. In the three games, Mante averaged 39.3 yards on 17 punts.
"I was happy with the way I finished the season, being at the 43-yard mark but there is definitely room for some improvement," Mante said. "That is what the offseason is for and hopefully I can start making the corrections now.

"It is obviously something I have been preparing for a long time, since graduation," Mante said. "It was a feeling that I definitely relished. Playing for four years at Yale, you kind of take it for granted being out on the field. When you have the opportunity to compete with all of these pro caliber players, it is quite the experience. I took in every single moment of it. I didn’t let the moment get ahead of me. The first day, I was pretty nervous after not playing for about a year and a half. That first practice was a little nerve wracking but after hitting the first couple of punts, everything kind of came back naturally to me. It was validation of all the hard work I put in over the last year and a half so that was a great experience for me. It was one thing to get the job but another to hold onto it."

The UFL canceled its final two weeks of the regular season as a cost-saving move so there is no guarantee the league will even be around in 2012. After getting a taste of pro football, Mante isn't ready to abandon his dreams of a pro football career just yet.

"It is up in the air.," Mante said in reference to his football future "That is kind of out of my control. I was waiting for my next opportunity whether a guy goes down in the NFL. I am going to send my agent all the film I had from all my practices and games. We are going to do the best we can to throw it out to teams. It is just a matter of staying ready. I am hoping something is going to happen, it is just a matter of when and be prepared for it. The next step is to wait for a workout whether it is mid season or after the season as a futures contract."

Opportunity lost

2011-10-22T19:15:00.000-04:00

With Alex Thomas running wild and Penn unable to cover Chris Smith, all indications pointed to this being the day when Penn's Ivy League winning streak would be coming to an end.

With a 10-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, a confident Yale team believed it was on the verge of a breakthrough victory. However, it all unraveled in a mistake-filled fourth quarter.

Penn took advantage of two special-teams miscues to score 27 points en route to a 37-25 victory.

"Obviously a disappointing loss for us," Yale coach Tom Williams said. "We felt we did enough good things to give ourselves an opportunity to win the ball game. I thought the key play in the game was the sky kick they recovered. It gave them some life and gave them an opportunity to score quickly during that stretch. It is a play we need to execute and we need to keep possession of the football. Give Penn credit, they are champions for a reason. They execute down the stretch and do a nice job making the plays they are supposed to make."

Former Cheshire High star Billy Ragone had just thrown a 16-yard TD to Luke Nawrocki to pull the Quakers within four points. Connor Loftus chipped the ensuing kickoff into the air. A couple of Yale players retreated and Penn recovered.
"The wind was blowing in and the ball hung up," Williams said. "It had started to drift away from him and I think he didn't react accordingly. We knew because we think we are a good return team, whether it is a squib or a sky kick, rarely do they kick it of deep and if they do, we think we have a chance to make people pay."

With Smith out of the game with a hamstring injury, Deon Randall fumbled a kickoff leading to another one of Penn's four fourth-quarter touchdowns. So instead of Yale remaining in first place in the Ivy League, it is Penn which improved to 3-0 in league play.

"It is a crushing loss but that is what happens when you don't make the plays when you need to," Thomas said. "You have to credit Penn they did a great job of finding a way and that is what champions do."

It could be a costly loss in other ways as starting right tackle Roy Collins (ankle), Smith (hamstring) and Thomas (knee) were all knocked out of the game. Smith and Thomas are hoping to play next week against Columbia although Collins' injury looked the most severe of the three as he was on crutches on the sidelines.

We'll be live blogging from the Penn-Yale game

2011-10-22T10:24:00.000-04:00

Beginning at around 11:30, I'll be live blogging from Franklin Field. Feel free to check it out and/or ask questions. The link is below

2009 Penn game bring back painful memories for Smith

2011-10-21T11:09:00.000-04:00

As if suffering a shutout loss at the hands of Penn wasn't a bitter enough pill to swallow, Chris Smith saw his freshman season come to an end when he suffered a hip injury in the 2009 game at Penn.

Earlier this week, I asked Smith to look back to his last experience at Franklin Field.

"I remember coming back with a broken hip," Smith said. "It wasn't exactly what I had planned. It was my freshman year, I was kind of just getting the hang of college football. I remember catching a post and a guy's helmet came in, kind of popped me and ended my season a little early. I am definitely going down there looking to get a 'w' this time and come back healthy.

"I've made that ride back from Penn once after not winning and kind of ending our season at that point. I think a lot of guys remembered how that tasted, how that felt taking that 3-hour bus ride back after a loss. We are going to do all we can to make sure that doesn't happen."

Yale coach Tom Williams vividly recalls the injury Smith suffered against Penn in 2009 and how it preventing him from continuing to develop as a go-to receiver for the Bulldogs as a freshman.

"That was difficult because we was just starting to come on as a freshman," Williams said. "Gio (Christodoulou) had gotten hurt against Cornell, Chris had started to really emerge as a go-to guy and then he gets hurt. I think that devastated for our football team because at that point we didn't really have anyone to be a threat down the field. He used that to get his body stronger and when he came back he was physically stronger, bigger, faster. As painful as it was at the time, I think it has made him a better football player."
Picking up a victory and remaining in first place in the Ivy League is No. 1 on Smith's priority list this week as Yale plays at Penn Saturday at noon on a game being televised by VERSUS. But he does have a chance for some personal milestones.

With one catch, he would move into a tie for eighth on Yale's career charts and he needs just three catches to tie former teammate Jordan Forney's for seventh place on the all-time list. He needs 131 receiving yards to break into the top 10 in that category while he is 100 yards away from Robert Carr's Yale career record for kickoff return yardage. The remarkable part of all of this is that Smith has done all of this and he still has as many as 15 games left in his Yale career.

More than any individual statistics, it is Smith's toughness that stands out when Williams thinks of his star receiver. It was an attribute Williams noticed when Smith took a recruiting visit to Yale shortly after Williams was hired at Yale. Williams jokingly questioned whether Smith was a glamour boy and wondered how important football was to him. Smith looked Williams in the eye and told him he lives to play football. Williams has discovered that wasn't just idle chatter on Smith's part.

"He's one of the toughest guys I have ever been around at any position," Williams said. "I think the reason why is that he is mentally tough but he is also physically tough. He worked to put himself in great condition. He really works hard at that but he is just a gritty, hard-nosed guy who loves to play the game. He really enjoys being around it, loves everything about it. He is one of the few guy who I have been around who really likes practice. Those guys are few and far between. I think the combination of all those things is what makes him such a tough football player."

Emotions riding high at Tuesday's practice

2011-10-18T12:49:00.000-04:00

The first practice of the week did not lack for intensity but after seeing a few scuffles between teammates and some chirping back and forth did not sit well with Yale coach Tom Williams.

Williams began his post-practice address by challenging his players to talk the talk only if they can walk the walk, something that did not happen enough in Saturday's loss at Lafayette.

"I made that point after practice that the line is drawn when the play on Saturday is not a result," Williams said. "When you can talk the game on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and not play that way on Saturday, it is just talk. They have to make sure they back it up. That is my whole point. If you want to be a tough guy, you have to be a tough guy on Saturday. Don't be a tough guy Tuesday-Thursday, be a tough guy on Saturday. I am anxious to see if we can do that."

It was a pretty productive practice other than the stuff after the whistle. Chris Smith, whose 174 receiving yards against Lafayette was the 11th best performance in Yale football history and most since Peter Balsam's 181 yards against Brown in 2008, made some impressive catches including a sweet grab of an underthrown ball which resulted in an enthusiastic greeting from his position coach Kefense Hynson. His fellow receivers were not having as much luck holding onto the ball.

Defensively, Jake Stoller (who has 3 1/2 sacks in the last two games) and Jordan Haynes came away with turnovers with Stoller bringing a fumble back about 50 yards for a score.

Wes Gavin, who started the first four games of the season at left tackle, remains on crutches with his injured left ankle protected by a walking boot. It doesn't look promising for Gavin to be back for Saturday's game against Penn. Freshman defensive back Nick LaTesta, a special teams standout, missed Tuesday's practice with a shoulder injury but Williams is hopeful LaTesta will be ready for Saturday's game.

Williams to appear at New Haven's NFF meeting

2011-10-17T16:35:00.001-04:00

Yale coach Tom Williams will be a guest at the next meeting of the New Haven Chapter of the National Football Foundation on Thursday at the Knights of St. Patrick, 1533 State St. New Haven, beginning at 6:30 p.m. UConn head coach Paul Pasqualoni and offensive coordinator George DeLeone as well as University of New Haven coach Peter Rossomando are also expected to speak at the event.

Tickets are available at the door. The cost is $15 for members and $20 for non-menses.

Okano suspended for Lafayette game

2011-10-14T13:11:00.003-04:00

The Ivy League announced that it has suspended Yale's starting strong safety Nick Okano for tomorrow's game against Lafayette.

Okano was whistled for a 15-yard penalty as he left his feet and hit Dartmouth receiver Ryan McManus on the Big Green's first offensive play of the fourth quarter which I felt was a fair call.

Here is a portion of the release from the Ivy League explaining why Okano was suspended.
Rule 9, Section 6, Article 2 of the 2011-12 NCAA Football Rules and Interpretations Manual states when a foul is called for initiating contact/targeting a player "that does not result in a player disqualification, there shall automatically be a video review by the conference for possible additional sanctions before the next scheduled game."

Additionally, as outlined in the Ivy League presidents’ July 2011 series of recommendations aimed at lowering the incidence of concussions and sub-concussive hits in football, the video review of helmet-to-helmet and targeted hits conducted by Executive Director Robin Harris includes taking appropriate but firm action in response to such hits, including suspension when appropriate.

My first thought is the release should specify targeting a player in the head because every defensive player targets the player with the ball, it's what is known as tackling. I'm not sure why this ruling couldn't have come earlier in the week. Does it really take six days to rule that Okano launched himself at McManus? The good news for Yale is that players like John Powers and Chris Brady see plenty of snaps during a regular practice week so they should be prepared for additional duties.

Okano has started all four of Yale's games and has 15 tackles, an interception and a team-leading three pass breakups. Powers is likely to start in Okano's place. Powers, a special-teams standout, is one of Yale's most physical players so the Bulldogs won't take a step back in that department but it will be interesting to see if Lafayette tries to isolate Powers in pass coverage.

Okano is the first player to be suspended under the new Ivy League guidelines. He will be back for next week's game against Penn.

Sacred Heart doubling its pleasure

2011-10-12T14:06:00.000-04:00

A quick peek at the Ivy League standings will show the perennial contenders Harvard and Yale are currently tied for first with 2-0 Ivy records. However, the Crimson and Bulldogs are not the only teams with 2-0 marks against Ivy League competition.

Nationally-ranked Lehigh beat both Princeton and Yale, hardly a surprise. However, Sacred Heart's wins over Dartmouth and Columbia certainly opened some eyes.

"We are 2-0 in the Ivy, we are tied for first but that's not our goal," said Sacred Heart coach Paul Gorham with a laugh on Wednesday morning.

Sacred Heart was 0-2 when it hosted Dartmouth on homecoming weekend on Sep. 24. After almost knocking off the Big Green last year on the road, the Pioneers were hoping to finish the deal this year.

Freshman running back Keshaudas Spence ran for 129 yards and scored twice while Matt Linnehan blocked a potential game-tying 53-yard field goal as time expired to give the Pioneers a 24-21 victory.

"We knew we could play with those people so we had an opportunity to play them down here this year and we won it with a field goal," Gorham said. "We broke the ice, it was our first win of the season. We gained a lot of confidence from it. We know the tradition from those schools and where we are coming from, we are a 22-year-old program growing from (Division) III to II and to I-AA. It was big for us and to back that up two weeks later on the road against Columbia, a program that has had football for over 100 year. It has been a good shot in the arm for the kids and the program."

Using the momentum from the victory over Dartmouth, Sacred Heart snapped a seven-game losing streak to fellow Northeast Conference foe Central Connecticut. This past weekend, the Pioneers traveled to Columbia and came away with a 34-25 victory.

"The administration here is aware of it and very happy for it," Gorham said. "I know they when they started the program that they had any thoughts that they'd be playing Ivy League school, not only competing against them but having the opportunity to beat them. It has been a positive all the way around."

The Columbia game looked like a one-game deal but Gorham said the series with Dartmouth will be continuing.

"We play Dartmouth again next year, I think there is another two-year contract with them," Gorham said. "We are playing Colgate next year and we are looking to pick up others. The Ivy League schedules are so far out, I believe somebody dropped Columbia or Columbia dropped somebody which allowed us to pick them up. I was talking with (Dartmouth) Coach (Buddy) Teevens before the game with Dartmouth. He wants to continue to series. It is not that bad a trip, 2 1/2 hours, 2:45 and it is pretty evenly matched. It is good for both teams, I think."

Win or lose, Gorham likes the idea of playing Ivy League teams or any squad which will prepare his team for conference play.

"In the past we were playing programs, some no longer even have football and it was hard motivating kids for those games," Gorham said. "We didn't always get as much out of them as he had playing teams that are as well coached at Columbia and Dartmouth. It is much better for you when you get against our league which is very difficult, getting more difficult as the years go by. We think we can compete with the Ivy League and Patriot League. We'll compete with them, I won't say that we will always beat them. It might be a little bit long for us to get up against those CAA teams but that is what we want to do. It makes it an easier week of preparation as a coach knowing that you have a quality opponent."

As Gorham, a former assistant coach at Brown mentioned, Ivy League's non-conference schedules tend to be completed years in advance. A couple of days after Sacred Heart's win over Dartmouth, I asked Yale coach Tom Williams if Sacred Heart's name ever came up in non-conference scheduling talks. He said he had not heard of any chatter of attempting to get the Pioneers into one of the non-conference slots. Obviously, Sacred Heart have proven its willingness to play Ivy League competition so if a previously contracted non-conference game were to fall through, a Sacred Heart/Yale game could be an intriguing one.

Strong game for Mante

2011-10-11T22:19:00.000-04:00

Former Yale punter Tom Mante had the best game of his young UFL career on Saturday. Mante had punts of 48 and 49 yards and punted six times for an average of 43.7 yards in Omaha's 30-10 loss to Las Vegas on Saturday. Mante also had a tackle.

In Mante's first two games as a pro, he averaged just 31.8 yards per punt.

Omaha will play Las Vegas again on Saturday.

With 2010 Yale captain Tom McCarthy having been released from the Jacksonville Jaguars practice squad last month, I believe Mante is the only former Yale player playing professionally in this country.

Injury update; the loss of a legend

2011-10-11T12:48:00.001-04:00

Starting left offensive tackle Wes Gavin was on a crutches with his injured left ankle in a walking boot while holder Jake Semones had his arm in a sling at this morning's practice. Obviously, neither of them took part in practice although according to Yale coach Tom Williams there is a chance both could play Saturday at Lafayette.

"Gavin's got an ankle, we don't know how severe it is but we have it is the walking boot just to make sure," Williams said. "We are going to keep him out today and will reevaluate him this afternoon to see how he feels. The MRI came back negative so there is no ligament damage or anything like that so it is just an ankle sprain. Semones shoulder contusion so I think today he is going to be in the sling, tomorrow he is going to get out of the sling and Thursday he'll be ready to practice.

"Wes' (injury) on tape looked like it could have been a lot worse. He was able to pull his foot out at the last minute but it looked like it could have been bad. With Jake's, he just have to fall better. He just didn't know how to take that shot and got hit right on the point of the shoulder."

If there are any questions about Gavin's injured ankle, Yale is likely to err on the side of caution to make sure he is good to go for the remainder of the Ivy League schedule. If Gavin can't go, freshman Ben Carbery would likely get the start at left tackle.

Carbery got the call after Gavin went down with 3:15 left in the third quarter. Although he was whistled for a holding penalty (which was declined) on his first play, Carbery drew raves from his coaches for his performance.

"He came in and played very well when Wes went down," Williams said. "We have been trying to get him into the game the last couple of weeks. He has played some spot duty but he is ready and we are ready to give him an opportunity. If he is pressed into action, I have no doubt that he will be ready to go."

The kicking game is always a popular topic when I receive e-mails from readers. With Philippe Panico's extra point being blocked after the Bulldogs' second touchdown, this week is no different. After watching the tape, Williams said the block was a result of a protection breakdown and not because Panico's kick was too low.

:That was a missed protection, a protection issue," Williams said. "It was the first time we had a protection issue. It was my own fault. Nick Schneider had gotten hit and we weren't sure what his status was but he ran out there and just kind of blanked out. That's (on) me, we should have made sure he was on the sidelines By the time we looked out there, he was already lined up in the huddle. We wanted to see if he could do it and he couldn't. (Matt) Battaglia is his backup and he came in and did a nice job the rest of the game.

WILLIAMS REFLECTS ON PASSING OF AL DAVIS
Just moments before Saturday's game against Dartmouth, Williams was stunned to hear of the death of NFL icon Al Davis.

Although Williams served two years on the staff of the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars, his dealings with Davis actually dated back to his days at Stanford when Davis would occasionally stop by to meet up with good friend Bill Walsh.

After Tuesday's practice, I asked Williams to reflect on the legacy of Davis, who died on Saturday at the age of 82.

"I got to know him through Bill Walsh, those guys were really good friends," Williams said. "He would come by the Stanford facility every now and then to say hi to Coach Walsh so that was how I was introduced to him. He was very nice, a very genuine guy, a real football guy. You tell that, his passion for the game and obviously he has been an innovator for a long time in the NFL. He will be sorely missed, he is kind of the last of the old guard."

Like so many others, Williams admits it wouldn't take long for him to mention Davis' name when rattling off the most influential figures in NFL history.

"I think he is going to be up there, certainly in terms of hiring" Williams said. "(He) hired one of the first black coaches in the NFL, a woman administrator, first lLatino coach in Tom Flores so as far as I am concerned, he ranks pretty high in terms of being an innovator. I know Coach Walsh spoke very highly of him as somebody who was very instrumental in the development of the league. I would say he is going to be in the top five of all of those guys in terms of his effect on the game.

While he did not know Davis as well as he did Walsh, who was one of Williams' mentors, Williams admitted he flashed back to his emotions after Walsh's death in 2007 when he heard the news of Davis' passing.
"Right after the national anthem I put my head set on. Coach (Kefense) Hynson was up in the press box and he said that Al Davis had died so right before kickoff. I thought of Coach Walsh actually because I remember my first year in Jacksonville, we were on the practice field and I had found out that he had passed away. That was obviously a crushing blow for me. I thought of some of the old guard, some of the guys who have been leading the league for a long time are starting to die. It is sad, obviously. Those guys have made their impact and hopefully the younger generation can keep it going."

Williams believed it was fitting that the Raiders honored Davis the best way they knew how, with a 25-20 win over Houston.

"(Raiders head coach) Hue Jackson is a friend of mine and I saw the emotion he let go after the game," Williams said. "I know he and Al were very close. I know that Al loves his players. If you play for the Raiders and you are part of that organization, he takes care of his people. I know those guys wanted him to go out with a victory. I think that is going to propel them on for the rest of the season, I really do."

Christodoulou honored by Ivy League

2011-10-10T14:09:00.001-04:00

Yale senior Gio Christodoulou has been named the Ivy League's special team player of the week after returning a punt 53 yards for a touchdown and later becoming Yale's career leader in punt-return yardage in Saturday's 30-0 win over Dartmouth.