Yale Football Blog

Yale’s Men’s Basketball team defeated Princeton and Harvard over the weekend to earn a 14th seed in the NCAA Tournament. Yale will face the Tigers of Louisiana State University on Thursday at 12:40 EST on TruTV.

In just over two weeks, the 2019 Yale Bulldogs football team will begin Spring Ball on a quest to bounce back from the middling 5-5 record in 2018.

The goods news is that every starter returns on our high-powered offense. Hinish, Eiselen, Strother, Cepalia and Warfield will anchor the offensive line. Tribble could reclaim his spot on the first team offense with an impressive performance.

Tight ends JJ Howland and D. Major Roman will form the best tight end rotation in the Ivy League. They are both big targets that can leave linebackers and safeties in the dust with their route running abilities.

Kurt Rawlings returns from his leg injury, while Griffin O’Connor will stand ready for the call. While the Princeton fanbase believes the Tigers have the most reserve talent at the quarterback position, Yale fans know better. O’Connor holds the single game passing yards record and was named Ivy League Rookie of the Year despite starting only three games.

The running back position is stacked and the depth continues to grow thanks to our successful recruiting efforts. Lamar, Dudek, and Alston could start anywhere in the league. Charles gives us a lightning fast option as a third-down back.

JP Shohfi and Reed Klubnik create one of the most formidable wide receiver duos in Yale history. Sprinkle in Rouse, Sandifer, White, Carrington, and Aaron and the opposition will have a difficult battle to stay balanced against the passing and running games.

To improve offensively, the Bulldogs will have to focus on strength, consistency and smart schemes. In each game that we lost last season, the offensive line was pushed around and did not show the same tenacity that we witnessed in 2017. Consistency comes down to sustaining drives, avoiding penalties, converting on opportunities and staying healthy. Developing the best schemes week to week is always a challenge for coaches, but we need to master plays that can give our playmakers the best opportunity to score and continue to tweak the scheme throughout the season to keep defenders guessing.

Draft Diamonds interviewed Yale defensive back and NFL-hopeful Marquise Peggs. You can read the interview here: https://www.nfldraftdiamonds.com/2019/03/marquise-peggs/

Men’s Basketball: Yale 88, Cornell 65; Columbia 83, Yale 75

Men’s Hockey: Princeton 3, Yale 2; QPac 4, Yale 1

Men’s Lacrosse: Yale 12, UMass 11

Baseball: Yale 4, New Orleans 1; New Orleans 8, Yale 7; Yale 8, New Orleans 7

Former Yale linebacker Foye Oluokun is continuing to make a name for himself in the NFL as The Falcoholic named him as the fourth best defender on the Falcons in 2018. Read the full article here: https://www.thefalcoholic.com/2019/2/28/18236389/foye-oluokun-atlanta-falcons-5-best-defensive-players-2018

The Greg Hall Senior Dinner will take place on April 17th at 6 PM at the Yale Club of New York. John Spagnola ’79 will be the Special Guest Speaker of the event. We’ve heard from concerned alumni that the loss of Hall will be felt most by current and graduating student-athletes seeking finance jobs on Wall Street, so we implore the alumni living in the city to step up to keep the network as strong as ever.

Spring Ball officially kicks off on March 26th.

Men’s Basketball hosts Cornell on Friday night and Columbia on Saturday night.

Men’s Hockey hosts Princeton tonight and Quinnipiac on Saturday night.

Men’s Lacrosse hosts UMASS on Saturday afternoon.

Baseball plays at New Orleans tonight, Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon.

Men’s Basketball: Yale 77, Dartmouth 59; Harvard 88, Yale 86

Men’s Hockey: Dartmouth 2, Yale 0; Harvard 3, Yale 0

Men’s Lacrosse: Yale 14, Penn St. 13

Baseball: NMSU 19, Yale 6; NMSU 14, Yale 6; Yale 4, NMSU 2; NMSU 13, Yale 6

Former Yale football player Patrick Graham is now the defensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins. Check out ESPN’s recent article on him: http://www.espn.com/blog/miami-dolphins/post/_/id/28736/dolphins-yale-guy-patrick-graham-who-dreamed-of-cia-seeks-smart-players

The Rapid City Journal published an article on incoming Native-American recruit Isaac Mitchell: https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/yale-recruits-rosebud-sioux-tribal-member-to-play-football/article_be52d8cf-a485-5fd0-b3ee-f19ccbdd57eb.html

Yale Men’s Basketball heads into the weekend as the top ranked Ivy League team with a 17-4 (7-1 Ivy) record. They have a crucial home slate ahead hosting Dartmouth on Friday night and Harvard on Saturday night.

Men’s Lacrosse dropped their home opener versus Villanova 11-10 in overtime. They hope to get back on track this weekend with a win over the visiting Nittany Lions of Penn State.

Men’s Hockey has had an up and down season with a current record of 13-9-3 (11-6-1 Conference). Yale is third in ECAC standings and has a difficult road trip ahead this weekend with contests at Dartmouth and at Harvard.

Baseball kicks off its season with four games at New Mexico State from Friday through Sunday.

Spring Ball is right around the corner and the Bulldogs are getting after it in the weight room. The focus this spring needs to be getting bigger and stronger along both lines as well as developing a cohesive secondary that can tackle.

Yale Football’s 2023 recruiting class currently has 29 known commitments to date. 247Sports ranks the Bulldogs’ class at #3 in the Ivy League. Here is the breakdown by projected position:

QB- 1

RB-2

WR-5

TE-0

OL-5 (4 Tackles, 1 Guard)

DL-4 (3 Defensive Ends, 1 Defensive Tackle)

LB-5

S-4

CB-2

K/P-1

There are eight prospects that received a 3 Star ranking from 247Sports and five prospects with a 2 Star ranking. Harvard currently has ten 3 Star prospects, while Princeton has nine 3 Star prospects.

Only one commit hails from the Nutmeg State, Quarterback Nolan Grooms. Oddly enough, there are more commits from the state of Arizona than Connecticut.

Josh McKenzie from Bergen Catholic is the highest-rated recruit despite tearing his ACL and missing his senior year of football.

Some of the faster safeties could wind up playing corner and a few of the tackles might transition to guard or center. There still could be room for more recruits especially if we have any members of this class heading off to Choate. Another commitment at defensive tackle would be nice to see in the coming weeks.

Ben Olson, the David D. Kelley Defensive Line Coach, has left the Yale coaching staff to join the staff at McNeese State. McNeese State hired former USF offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert in December to lead the FCS program based out of Lake Charles, Louisiana. Ben’s brother, Jake Olson, remains Chief of Staff for the Bulldogs. Reno has a difficult task ahead as he must swiftly replace Olson while still winning vital recruiting wars for defensive linemen. Best of luck to Ben in his future endeavors!

The 2018 football season marked the last season of grass in the Bowl as the grass field will be converted to field turf once the weather warms up.

Men’s Basketball is now 12-3 and plays at Harvard on Friday and at Dartmouth on Saturday. James Jones notched his 300th victory last week making him just the third Ivy League coach to ever achieve such a feat.

Men’s Hockey is 10-7-3 and hosts Brown this Saturday in New Haven.

Phil Steele recently posted his All-Ivy selections and here are the Yalies who made the cut:

First Team-Reed Klubnik, Dieter Eiselen

Second Team- Alan Lamar, JP Shohfi, Sterling Strother, Ryan Burke, Hunter Simino

Third Team- J. Hunter Roman

Men’s Basketball is off to a 10-3 start with a 6 game winning streak. They face off against Brown this Saturday in Providence (ESPN+ 3:30 PM EST).

Men’s Hockey is currently sitting at 8-5-3 and they host Clarkson this Friday at the Whale (ESPN+ 7:00 PM EST).

We will continue updating our recruit list as the news of more commitments trickles in. Reno is likely targeting offensive and defensive linemen in this final recruiting push to bolster a talented class.

Gerron Duhon- Cornerback, 5’10”, 170 lbs., Washington-Marlon (Lake Charles, LA)

Nolan Grooms- Quarterback, 6’2″, 180 lbs., The Taft School (Watertown, CT)

Jermaine Baker- Safety, 6’2″, 200 lbs, Nazareth Academy (La Grange Park, IL)

Hamilton Moore- Linebacker, 6’1″, 200 lbs., William G. Enloe (Raleigh, NC)

Ryan McCann- Tackle, 6′ 5”, 260 lbs., Rumson-Fair Haven (Rumson, NJ)

Michael Connor- Linebacker , 6′0″, 220 lbs., Ramapo (Franklin Lakes, NJ)

Jack Bosman- Kicker/Punter, 5’9″, 162 lbs., Santa Fe Christian (San Diego, CA)

Wande Owens- Running Back, 5’11”, 185 lbs., Glenelg (Glenelg, MD)

Archie B. Russ, III- Wide Receiver/ Cornerback , 6’1″, 180 lbs., Landon School (Bethesda, MD)

Brandon Babcock- Tackle, 6’6″, 275 lbs., Casteel (Queen Creek, AZ)

Jonathon Durand- Guard, 6’3″, 250 lbs., Basha (Chandler, AZ)

Tyler DiIenno- Safety, 6’1″, 205 lbs., Cheshire Academy/Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, NJ)

Brayden Carey- Wide Receiver, 6’0″, 180 lbs., East Coweta (Sharpsburg, GA)

Joey Felton- Wide Receiver, 5’10”, 178 lbs., Linganore (Frederick, MD)

Josh McKenzie- Running Back, 5’10”, 180 lbs., Bergen Catholic (Oradell, NJ)

Clay Patterson- Defensive End, 6’3″, 230 lbs., Reedy (Frisco, TX)

Jack Twyford- Tackle, 6’6″, 270 lbs., Winter Haven Senior (Winter Haven, FL)

Trenton Johnson- Safety, 6’2″, 190 lbs., St. Mary’s (Albany, CA)

Josh Eboboko- Running Back, 5’11”, 180 lbs., Charlotte Christian (Charlotte, NC)

Aidan Maloney- Wide Receiver, 6’1″, 180 lbs., Liberty (Portland, OR)

Jailon Henry- Defensive End, 6’2″, 220 lbs., Lincoln (Tallahassee, FL)

Du’Shaunte Holloway- Linebacker/Running Back, 6’0″, 200 lbs., Villa Rica (Villa Rica, GA)

Mason Tipton- Wide Receiver, 6’0″, 185 lbs., Bishop Hoban (Akron, OH)

Joseph Vaughn- Outside Linebacker, 6’3″, 200 lbs., Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, CA)

Jonathan Mendoza-Offensive Tackle, 6’8″, 310 lbs., Westhampton Beach (Westhampton Beach, NY)

Marcus Mauney-Outside Linebacker, 6’1″, 219 lbs., Hunter Huss (Gastonia, NC)

Brandon Benn-Defensive Back, 6’1″, 195 lbs., The McCallie School (Chattanooga, TN)

Nathan Puletasi- Defensive Tackle, 6’3″, 265 lbs., Mead (Spokane, WA)

Isaac Mitchell-Defensive End/Tight End, 6’4″, 246 lbs., Salina South (Salina, KS)